Volume Seven Issue Fifteen
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..../ /_/..\______/./_____/./__/.../__/./_______/ MUD
.../________________/ running on mud.legendmud.org 9999
208.188.102.145 9999
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VOLUME SEVEN, ISSUE FIFTEEN July 11th, 2000
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Calendar of Events
NEWS & REPORTS
June Connection Analysis
Movie Trivia with Fatale
The Immortals' Prayer
LEGENDITES
Announcements
Clan News
Vahn's Transformation
A Temple Disturbance
The Conspiracy
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/__| UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS |__\
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[All times are system time unless otherwise specified]
o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_July_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o
LegendMUD Summer Odyssey continues...
A monthlong celebration of the Medieval era.
Thursday, July 14 at 7:00 pm Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
Saturday, July 22 at 2:00 pm Trivia! with Fatale
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/__| NEWS AND REPORTS |__\
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June Connection Analysis
Peak Mortal Players 63
Average Peak was 48
Peak PKOK Enabled Players 30
Pkok enabled Characters represent approximately
36% of active players.
The first two tables below show the Average Mortal Players and Average PKOK
Enabled Players 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
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avg 34 32 27 25 18 21 20 21 22 23 27 31
pke 6 7 3 6 5 4 4 3 3 4 3 6
hour 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
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avg 32 31 35 36 35 35 40 38 43 41 38 35
pke 6 4 8 9 9 10 10 10 9 10 14 8
day MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
------------------------------------------
avg 30 29 29 28 29 33 31
pke 10 9 11 11 11 11 11
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Movie Trivia with Fatale
Join us on Saturday July 22nd at 2pm mud time for a huge movie trivia! There
will be three distinct categories - quotes, trivia, and common bond in which
I'll state three movies and you tell me who's in all of them or say the names
of two actors and you tell me what movie they're in together.
There will be over 100 questions, and I expect it should take up to and
possibly over three hours so if you plan on attending, keep that in mind!
First prize will be a multicolor coupon, second will be a one-color coupon
and third will be a non-color coupon. There may also be cookies and other
treats for fourth, fifth, and sixth place if enough people show up to play. I
will be providing my own prizes.
Fatale
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The Immortals' Prayer
As I log in today, I pray for patience, humor, and enough coffee to get me
through the day. Let the playerbase be in a good mood, and let there be no
ugly player kill scenarios for me to deal with before lunch. Let no one
complain about offensive tells until I've had at least one sandwich.
Make me not see the system warning for multiple log-ins from one site until
I'm awake enough to remember how to look up IP addresses. Grant me patience
when I read the discussion board so that I do not respond in haste or anger,
not even when the silly idiots ought to have read the latest announcement of
code changes or just the rules before posting.
Please let no one ask ridiculously stupid questions on chat, and when they do
anyway, grant me patience to respond to the same question twenty-odd times
with a smile. The same goes for games requests - help me find the peace of
mind to politely refuse not only the first and second character who asks me
for recalltag, but also numbers ten and twenty.
When I have been online and visible for 2 hours or more, grant me the
strength to politely respond, 'What do you need?' when someone asks whether
there are any immortals on on chat. More so, help me not grit my teeth too
loudly when the question is followed up by the answer, 'There are never any
imms on'.
Make me remember to check my afk buffer before I log off, so that no one
shall say of me later that I don't care when they tell to me. Let no player
send me a 'help me' tell that I find in my afk buffer, and then find that the
player logged off 20 minutes ago without telling me that they no longer
needed my assistance.
When I log off the mud, let no player remember my ICQ number unless they want
to say something nice to me. Let no player send me 50 pages long logs,
complete with prompts, that should have gone to someone else in the hope of
getting someone sitebanned; at best, let them hope for justice to be served.
________________________
/ \
o O | Wonder what folks are |
`\|||/ | doing over at LegendMUD?|
(o o) \________________________/
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/__| LEGENDITES: Information Regarding the People of Our World |__\
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Announcements
Trumpets blast and cymbals crash, heralding the tremendous success of some of
our inhabitants.
Typhoid-Mary has reached 100 million experience!
Santina has reached 100 million experience!
Congratulations to you both.
* * *
Clan News
A new RP clan, The Collective has been founded. They state their cryptic
purpose thus: Born in lust turn to dust. Born in sin come on in.
Contact & Other Info: Harlequin or Victim.
We now have 19 RP clans and 11 PK clans for you to choose among, and 2 free
slots for new ones to form.
* * *
'Thirst for blood? Like to kill things? Allergic to the sun?' Thus was the
wording of the formal invitation to join the vampires of Intempesta Nox that
my servant Ed delivered to me the other day. As a formal response would seem
to be in place, let me hereforthwith deliver the official stance of the Seven
Circles in a language that no one can misunderstand: HELL NO!
Thank you for your time,
Marcel Alexander, Esquire.
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Vahn's Transformation
The day I met Kindred, my whole world turned upside down. My urge to set sail
was gone. The urge to settle down in a house and get married was very strong.
The urge to have children was even there. The darkness I felt was gone.
It was as if I was locked in the dark for all my life, and Kindred opened the
door and let the sunlight in. The hatred I carried with me for so long, over
the murder of my father and my kidnapping, seemed to have just melted away.
And I liked it.
I didn't know what was happening to me. I was a pirate captain. I was not
supposed to feel this way. I feel like a stranger to myself. I must look
like a stranger to others, especially the people who have known me for the
black-souled pirate I was.
But the happiness I feel when I am with Kindred is too strong to fight. I
feel as though this is where I should be in my life, and so I accept the new
me. Kindred and I will settle down in our little home, and live happily ever
after... I hope.
If you see me in the future, you may recognize me as:
a familiar young stranger
A handsome young stranger smiles at you, looking vaguely familiar.
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A Temple Disturbance
by Mizquina
**
I was working late hours in the temple, sweeping and performing my devotions,
when the thunderous voices of the masters and warriors began to echo through
the space. I hid myself in fear... for well I know that when the dark nobles
clash, lowly servants such as I, Mizquina, are more likely to be used in some
macabre demonstration than tolerated.
Their voices were so loud, the pillars shook! I think the whole world
could have heard them.
The argument was already in progress when they entered the temple, but from
what I could discern, it involved a struggle over power and loyalty in the
ranks of the Dark Enforcers, with Lord Aginor himself and Lord Barabas at the
center of the maelstrom. It seems that Lord Barabas had grown disillusioned
with the Enforcers, and now sought to serve the Dark Lord, honored be his
name, from the ranks of the Ministers of Darkness.
**
Barabas: btw Aginor.. you are one of the weak.. the Dark Lord despises
you as such.
Aginor: You know not of what you speak, fallen Bonecrusher. You aid one
of those who is beneath His notice.
Barabas: Heh.. you hide behind a calendar.. and you call yourself one of
the strong? You are to be pitied if you were not so despised
Aginor: You could repudiate the Lost One and all he has given you, but
you will not. I know your mind better than you do mine, Barabas.
Barabas: you haven't been listening old fool.. I have built more power
than you have dreamed.. haven't you seen?
Aginor: You never did have feeling for more intricate matters. You always
advocated yourself as the thug, and thug you shall ever remain, I am afraid.
There is far, far more to the Dark Lord's power than mere blood and death.
They are but two of the Nine Pillars, Barabas.
Barabas: aye and a favored thug.. a champion rather than a windbag
Aginor: I possess power in the greatest of the Nine Pillars, that which
you will never know. Wisdom.
Barabas: and those are the pillars that are feared.. you are afraid to
see your own blood .. afraid to raise your hand
Aginor: The Dark Lord denied your dominion over Rage. What else does he
deny that you cannot even see?
Barabas: heh you think he has denied me? You, you old prune?
Aginor: Once I respected your abilities in the field of battle. You
ever were strong, and deadly dangerous. It is really too bad that it has come
to this.
**
The heart of their disagreement was clear to me now, and I listened closely
to see how it might be resolved. A passing lady doctor spoke up, her calm
voice carrying the disinterested tone of an observer, but also the clarity
which comes only from wisdom.
**
Mertjai: why not just challenge the Dark Lord and take his place then,
if you're got the power?
**
But they ignored her challenge, and their argument went on and on. Barabas
grew bolder and bolder, the confidence in his powerful voice amazing to my
ears.
**
Barabas: I am indeed proud.. and powerful.. you Aginor are a worthless
failure. So go and hide.. you are no longer worthy of being in His service!
Aginor: You misconstrue, Infidel.
**
Barabas only laughed, a great booming, sinister sound which pried mortar from
between the stones and shook my very bones.
**
Aginor: You are unfaithful. You are lost. You are nothing, Barabas.
Begone from my sight.
Barabas: I am more powerful than you .. that is what is eating you. I follow
you and you did nothing.. so I followed another. It bothers you to know that
you are without power..
Aginor: Eating me? Eating me? You misconstrue ever more. You are so lost,
you do not even *know* the Nine Pillars of Darkness!
Barabas: You are a windbag.. a failure .. a useless OLD man!
Aginor: You were the combat force of the Dark Lord, Barabas. I grant that.
But grunts are easy to lose, and even easier to replace. Warriors and heroes
are a dime a dozen.
**
Now a new voice spoke, and though I did not know it by sound, I peered into the
dark recesses of the temple and recognized the leader of the Ministry.
**
Craven: Really. As a fellow leader, I disagree. Grunts like Barabas are few
and far between.
Aginor: You are not a fellow.
Craven: I'd be hard pressed if I lost him. Your loss is my gain I suppose.
Aginor: You rely on fighting, Craven. That is why you'd be hard-pressed.
Myself, I can release him without thought. Who is more powerful: the soldier
who goes out and destroys and kills, or the person who rids himself of that
soldier when the soldier loses his power?
Barabas: You fear the soldier's return home.
Craven: You of all people Aginor should know the Dark Lord plays people
against each other. Even against you.
Aginor: Ah, and he has in the past. But he doesn't play with pawns who
don't believe, Craven.
Craven: But perhaps he is testing your strength by matching you against us.
You are only proving your weakness to him.
Aginor: Impossible. You do not serve the Dark Lord, Craven.
Barabas: You refuse to fight.. you are no longer worthy of the name
Craven: Apparently being a Dark Enforcer means to run when the Enforcing
isn't going too well.
Aginor: The Dark Lord is my Master, and most humbly do I serve Him to the
last shred of my very soul. You are not Ministers of Darkness. You are
ministers of Chaos. Go on, and spread your Chaos. I will stay back, to keep
the power which is real.
**
I wondered at this fearful turn of events. Aginor went on.
**
Aginor: Do not claim servitude any longer, Barabas. It is denegrating
to those who still have faith.
Barabas: Do not claim Power any longer Aginor. It is denegrating to
those who still have it.
Aginor: Keep your power, Barabas. I have eternity to gather power you
cannot even imagine. I have eternity to gather power over worlds, over
everything.
**
They might have fought forever in this manner, but something completely
amazing happened...I can still scarcely believe it. Barabas began to chant,
and his request was granted. A voice so cruel, so commanding, and so
all-powerful it could only have come from the Dark Lord shattered my
eardrums. My soul shivered at the absolute thrill of being in His presence,
in this place where I had so often whispered His name and found solace in His
service.
**
The Dark Lord: *scowl* Why do my minions squabble like children?
Barabas: he claims to lead the enforcers.. but instead leads them into
hiding
Aginor: Your servants do not squabble, my Lord. One servant squabbles,
and one fallen squabbles back.
Barabas: do I not still serve Your power oh Dread Dark Lord?
Aginor: How do you serve, Barabas? By fighting alongside one who openly
denegrates His power?
The Dark Lord: Barabas, if I had sought to discipline Aginor, mine own
shadow on this cursed planet, would I not have done it myself?
Barabas: aye Lord.. but perhaps through a human weapon. If that was your
will.
Aginor: Humans are pitiful weapons.
The Dark Lord: Do neither of you understand that my purposes are many
and varied, and my servants of many shapes?
Aginor: I have always understood that, my Lord. I merely find
it...unfortunate...that my fallen colleague Barabas is no longer among them.
Barabas: no Lord. I understand only the power you have given me to inflict
suffering in Your Name. I do not claim to be able to understand your mighty
plans -- and I think Aginor only pretends to.
Aginor: There are many plans which I do not know of His. But I know
more of His will than you could even comprehend, Barabas.
The Dark Lord: I will judge my own servants, Aginor. Do not forget whose
hand carries the Sceptre of Ar'kanoc.
Aginor: *growl* Could you put that in a terminology from my original
realm? I am unfamiliar with the Sceptre.
Barabas: growling at our Lord.. you are obediant
Aginor: I growl only in frustration. I do not growl at him.
The Dark Lord: *chuckle* *flip Sceptre* Find an answer to your quarrel, and
you might have it for your own. There is but one of them in existence.
Barabas: What answer shall we seek oh Dread Lord?
Aginor: I still serve, my Lord. It is Barabas who follows a heathen.
Barabas: I follow you, my Lord
The Dark Lord: Aginor and Barabas, you will reconcile these differences.
Whether it is by force or by treaty, by bloodshed or by ink spilled upon a
page, one of you will be victorious.
Barabas: How can I fight him if he hides oh Mighty One?
Craven: After witnessing your great power, myself and my counterparts agree
that we have erred in our ways and wish to follow you. We wish your favor
over the Enforcers.
Barabas: Lord, I offer you these men. These Killers who will enhance Your
Name and Terror. Please accept them oh Mighty Lord.
Craven: we are stronger and more knowledgeable then any 5 enforcers put
toegether.
The Dark Lord: I have but one right hand. One of you squabbling children will
rise above this battle and serve me thus.
Aginor: Ay, my Lord. You have but one right hand. And for a millenium
and a half I have been thus.
Craven: I believe we can suceed where Aginor has failed.
**
Now spoke another voice, also a Minister by his garb.
**
Ruby: So it is true. The forces of the dark go to war for the favor of
the Dark Lord.
Barabas: there can be no war if the Enforcers flee, Ruby
Ruby: So shall we call Aginor the Spider from now on?
**
The lady doctor spoke again from the threshold, her words again unheeded by
the arguing men who were beginning to fill the chamber.
**
Mertjai: If he's hiding, and you can't fight him, and the Dark Lord said it
could be by paper or bloodshed, why not go with paper?
The Dark Lord: Win my favor as you see best. End this squabbling and
screeching, and claim the Sceptre of Ar'kanoc as your sign of leadership when
all is settled again.
Craven: unlike most of your miserable life Aginor, you will not have
milleniums to win this fight. You will not have decades for the tide to turn
Aginor: There are far more insidious weapons than brute force, Barabas.
Remember it.
Barabas: And you lack the strength to lift any of them old man.
Craven: You will be crushed quickly and you will not know what to do.
Aginor: Ah, but I always have time, infidel.
Barabas: So how did you wish to settle this Aginor?
Aginor: If I cannot spread the Enforcers here, then elsewhere. I am quite
certain there are other realms where a Ninth Legion could flourish. But
there is an easy way to settle this, Barabas. Denounce your heathen leader,
and return to us.
Barabas: *laugh* running again?
Craven: But he's so easily replaced, Aginor.
Barabas: No, Aginor, I will not return to your weak leadership. Make the
Enforcers strong again.. do it for our Lord.
**
Another young acolyte, of a similar age to myself spoke up. But the
dark nobles would not be dissuaded from their war of words.
**
Nekrum: I do not claim the wisdom of the Dark Lord, but as a humble follower
of his ways, I must ask one question of you both. Why are you so consumed by
yourselves? You, like I, are but mere tools of his Power, he needs you not
more than he needs an ant. Kill him, kill her, kill it. Is it not better to
die for the Dark Lord than to kill for him?
**
None heeded his question. They argued over mortality and inevitability, and
there seemed no end to it.
**
The Dark Lord: I am beginning to believe that you are complacent, Aginor.
Aginor: I will do what I have never done, my Great Lord. I call you into
question. You know you must have expected it when you sent me here. There's
something resistant about this place. It creates questions.
Barabas: Aginor, that is fear that makes you question.
Aginor: Why have you sent me to what could only be classified as an astral
backwater? Why have you told me to remain for these past 80-odd years? I
have lost much to this place, my Lord. Your orders have reaved me from my own
wife!
Barabas: lucky you, I've seen her.
The Dark Lord: Why does this astral backwater remain so? Why is it not a vast
center of power?
Aginor: You don't get it, my Lord. This place has become a center of
power. For them!
Barabas: And me.
The Dark Lord: It is a backwater, as you say. Must I look after every
celestial mudhole personally?
Aginor: There's nothing here to look after! Burn it out! Destroy this place
as if it never was! It is of no use.
Barabas: You grow too bold. Know your place old man.
Aginor: It is much worse than of no use. It is our death!
The Dark Lord: Perhaps it is only yours, Aginor.
Aginor: This place is going to be our undoing! I say undo it first! The
Enforcers wither here. Where next? Perhaps the very place they were
formed?
Nekrum: If you believe that this place will be the Dark Lord's undoing,
you put way too much value on your own existance, as well as the existance of
this plane.
Aginor: You don't even realize. This place will destroy us.
Nekrum: But we are of no matter, Aginor.
Aginor: I call you to question. Why do you persist in preserving this
place that spells our doom?
The Dark Lord: *chuckle Aginor* Your wisdom is failing you in your old
age, along with your zeal for my purpose.
Aginor: You think so? I still hear bits of what goes on elsewhere. You
know, as I do, there are many places which could use my strength better than
here. If you want this lost, infidelous cretin to serve you here, my Lord, by
all means, do. You certainly don't need me anymore. Not here, at any rate.
The Dark Lord: I am not impressed with your strength, Aginor, and tired of
your mouth. You challenge me, you fight with my faithful, you ponder the
future like an old man does his childhood. Immortality has made you soft,
perhaps a return to flesh would remind you of your true purpose.
Aginor: If you want to destroy me, strike me down where I stand. But I
highly doubt you will. There are other deities who would grant me immortality
if you brushed me aside.
The Dark Lord: If you think some other god would take you, go and seek him.
Your torture will be ever more painful when you return to me.
Aginor: I refuse to aid this any further. This place is insignificant, my
Lord. By your leave or without it, I am going to harness my skills
elsewhere, in your name. Whether you will it or no, my Lord, I will fight in
your name. But not here. It is no longer needed here. Good-bye, lost ones.
To my loyal Enforcers, I regret that there is nothing more for you.
**
It was another conflict which held no promise for resolution. The
ever-practical warrior spoke.
**
Barabas: My Lord, Aginor is lost.. grant me the sceptre to be your
champion and killer.
The Dark Lord: Whoever can bind this chaos back to Our purpose will hold
the sceptre. Let Aginor stumble on his myopic way.
Barabas: I will try, oh Lord.. What shall signal our triumph?
The Dark Lord: Let there be death dealt in my honor. Let the ranks of
our movement swell.
Barabas: Aye Lord. I shall try to make it so, in Your Name!
The Dark Lord: I will have but one right hand, and it must be strong and
fierce and cruel, with wisdom and cunning to match its strength. Let it be so.
Barabas: I shall strive for that honor, oh Lord!
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THE CONSPIRACY
Diary notes by Lord Marcel Alexander of the Seven Circles
The other day I was enjoying a quiet cup of cafe au lait at a French cafe. It
was a sunny day, and the sparrows were all but jumping onto the table to pick
at the crumbs of my croissant - all in all, an ordinary, if pleasant scene. I
remember that there was a piece of Mozart playing in the background, gentle
violin tones lingering on the breeze.
There were a couple of young ladies sitting at the next table. I don't
remember what they were talking about; I wasn't listening in on their
conversation, just quietly paying attention to the fact that both were
unusually attractive. I think it wasn't until one of them dug into her purse
and took out a palm pilot I really began to stare.
Well, really, palm pilots aren't that common in Paris, 1875 AD.
The woman noticed me staring at her. She winked at me conspiratorially. It
was probably my 1945 newspaper that gave me away. We shared a secret right
there, at the little French cafe. A secret, which the astrologers,
astronomers, esoterics, sorcerers, chiromancers, diviners, and whatever other
people attempting to know the future, would trade their souls for without
much consideration. We were time travelers.
The ladies left before I could question them. Oh, I wanted to, but as they
got up and walked away, they were gone before I managed to catch up. Magic,
no doubt - I dare say there is not the mortal who can sneak away from me when
I don't want them to.
So I sat back down and hid behind my newspaper once again, but this time the
headlines did not interest me; I was too busy studying the passers-by,
looking for other little signs of people who have mastered the secrets of
traveling between the eras. Isn't it fascinating, after all? You never know
whom, when, or where they are. Sometimes you can tell how they got to be
there, sometimes you can't.
After all this time, all these centuries with sightings of strange tools,
foreigners speaking about things they should not know, people bringing news
from past and future times - mankind has still not caught on.
Sometimes I wonder how long it will be, if ever, before the great gray masses
of humanity realizes that there is a conspiracy, a small group of individuals
who travel back and forth in time to further their own means. People to who
laws are irrelevant; to whom time is just another road to explore. I also
wonder what humanity will do about it, if it ever dares believe.
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Legendary Times is published by the immortals of LegendMUD. Please send
all replies, additions, or corrections to our address at [email protected]
for inclusion in the next edition. We, however, reserve the right to
moderate this discussion, and may object to some submissions.
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