Volume Three Issue Eight
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............./ / THE LEGENDARY TIMES
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..../ /_/..\______/./_____/./__/.../__/./_______/ MUD
.../________________/ running on mud.aus.sig.net 9999
199.1.78.16 9999
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http://mud.aus.sig.net/ ftp://mud.aus.sig.net/pub
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VOLUME THREE, ISSUE EIGHT May 22, 1996
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**NEW IMMORT STRUCTURE**
-Immort Code Of Conduct-
-Legend Goals-
UPDATES
-Who/Whos/Whois Command Updates-
-Contest Updates-
ANNOUNCEMENTS
-Report Channel Thank You's-
SOCIAL EVENTS
-Clan Happenings-
-General Rumor Mongering-
-Feisal and Catherina's New Baby-
-Lori and Lancorn Turne to the Dark Lord-
-Report on Jonah's Death-
-Merrick's Story-
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Please send your responses to articles to the Legendary Times address
at [email protected]. Letters to the editor are welcomed.
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NEW IMMORTAL STRUCTURE
Players should expect many changes on Legend shortly. We are putting in
place a new immort structure using a "wizbit" system. Hopefully you will
be better able to tell who the appropriate people are to ask for help.
A few realignments in the ranks among the immorts come with the change:
Rusalka is now head of player relations. Her job is to handle all PR,
of course, and also administer things like the Expies, the LT, trivia
games on a regular basis, recall tags, tinyplots, rp competitions, the
lecture series, description approvals, and so forth.
Rufus is returning to the Legend staff as head Builder. He'll be doing
a lot of stuff, mostly offline, related to increasing game balance,
upgrading all areas to take advantage of new features, fixing all area
bugs, managing the installation of new areas, etc.
Ganelon is rejoining the imm staff as head coder. We intend to make Legend
a publicly available mud code base eventually, and the coders will be
working towards this goal, implementing many new features along the way.
Chocorua will be handling the job of Head Administrator. This includes all
disciplinary aspects, complaints, reimbursal requests, etc.
You will be able to tell what immort has what job by checking WHO or
WHOSHORT.
Effective immediately, proposals for immorting may be done for any given
wizbit, not only for building. Do note that building staff is still our
highest priority and greatest need.
Effective immediately, we accept proposals for players 45 and higher.
(Please see specific department heads for proposal guidelines)
*****************
IMMORT CODE OF CONDUCT
(This code becomes effective immediately)
General Principles:
* the immortals are here to improve the mud
* the immortals are here to make the experience of being on Legend
enjoyable for everyone, not just your friends
* use your head! if you have to stop to think whether an action is
illegal, it's better not to do it, and ask someone, than to chance it
* respect the players--they are why we are here
* do nothing to harm the growth of the mud
Punishment structure:
First offense: warning
Second offense: demotion (stripping of wizbits and/or level)
Third offense: deletion
This means that if you are given a warning for command abuse and are then
caught harassing a mortal or another immort you will be demoted. This is
a very strict punishment system but should be easy enough to live with if
we all behave like adults.
Warnings remain on record for six months, so you can screw up once every
six months until someone catches on to the pattern.
Command Abuse:
Using your immort powers to give benefit to ANY mortal (yours or others')
beyond the scope of your normal immort duties, is considered abuse of
immort powers. Likewise, using your immort's skills and spells to benefit
ANY mortal is abuse.
Examples of some things not to do:
* transfering a player from anywhere but OOC unless within the scope of
your job
* attacking or killing a player by any means
* snooping or otherwise spying upon a player or other immortal
* healing a player
* useing immort knowledge or commands for in-game benefits such as telling
another player where an item or mob or player is
* revealing anyone's site or other characters to anyone
* stealing from a player
* loading or otherwise obtaining objects for players
* altering or affecting a character's attributes or equipment
* transferring mobs
* registering unapproved descriptions
* stringing items without a coupon
* etc
This is a pretty small list of possible offenses. It represents the
SPIRIT of the rules. If you violate the spirit of the rules, you will be
held as accountable as if you violated the letter of the law.
There is a small list of things that may seem counter to these rules but
are permissible IF you have the appropriate wizbit. Ask your dept. head
about them.
Harassment:
An immortal harassing a mortal in any way has no place on Legend, and may
result in summary demotion or deletion.
Immortals harassing other immortals will be considered on par with any
other offense.
Information and actions as a mortal:
An immortal may not give out any information beyond hints or explanations
of why something happened. If you do not know why something happened, SAY
SO. Do not simply tell players, "You must have done something wrong." At
all times, be as helpful as possible within the rules. The mortals of
immorts are held to the same standard, which means they must not give out
quest solutions, teacher locations, skill information, item stats, etc.
Similarly, immortals' morts may not engage in playerkilling or stealing
without extremely clear in-context reasons that are clearly evident to
the victim. If the victim is not aware of the reason, then the immortal
is at fault. Yes, this limits the scope of an immorts' actions as a mort,
but all immortals MUST serve as an example of ideal player behavior, or
the credibility of all immortals is undermined. It may also serve to help
immortals broaden the scope of their actions and roleplay, rather than
falling back on the typical mortal behaviors.
Summary:
All of the above are intended to do the following:
- encourage trust in the immort staff
- encourage the immort staff to take a more creative and helpful role in
the development of the mud
- encourage a more mature and polite atmosphere
If you do not feel comfortable with the principles embodied in the above,
it is suggested you depart from the immort staff as quickly as possible.
[Editor's Note: a Player Code of Conduct will be released very soon]
***************************
LEGEND GOALS
What follows are the literal goals presented to the immort staff by the
implementors, broken down by wizbits. Comments on any and all of these
goals is welcome on the Legend Discussion List, letters to the LT, and
in player-imm meetings.
______________________________________________________________________
What follows below are the long-term goals for each of these wizbits,
including particular aspects that are going to be addressed. The tasks
below are what the department heads will be prioritizing and assigning as
ongoing tasks to those with wizbits in that specialty.
Player relations:
LONG TERM GOAL: to make this the friendliest mud on the Net, with a
welcoming atmosphere, a rich diversity of people, a mature atmosphere,
and a depth of social context unmatched anywhere.
- weekly Lecture series events with interesting guest speakers from
OUTSIDE Legend
[Editor's note: speakers from inside Legend are welcomed too, however]
- promoting and encourage roleplaying
- promoting Legend's OOC aspects as a community of players with similar
interests and goals
- promoting Legend's IC aspects as a community of characters with
extremely different (and changing) goals and interests
- find ways to acknowledge imm and mort accomplishments better
- extending the OOC to support a library, additional lounge areas, a
trophy room, and immort offices
- roleplaying impromptu competitions
- regularly scheduled trivia with a standings board
- regular meetings with players, including weekly feedback on reported
bugs and fixes in progress, on development of new features, and
acknowledgment of those who submit or report bugs and ideas.
- immort-sponsored tinyplots and pkill tourneys on a regular basis
Builders:
LONG TERM GOAL: to make Legend capable of supporting 150 players, that
takes full advantage of the code and showcases it to best effect, and
that all areas are cohesive, well-designed, and balanced.
- making sure that all areas use all code features
- working with coders to ensure comprehensive and accurate docs
- maintaining all areas and fix all problems found
- adding extra descriptions and exit descriptions to every area and every
room
- adding increased detail in all acts and conversations, quest hints where
appropriate, and greater interactivity
- making all hometowns for skill trees into acceptable hometowns
- attempt to balance all hometowns
- supervising the overall balance of the mud, redistributing access to
stat quests and items as necessary
- revising the stock areas (such as limbo) into something more
flexible and usable
- placing generic low level mobs in limbo and making sure that they are
used consistently across the mud
- generating highly specific and useful building guidelines, including for
distribution and access to stat boost items
- creating firm standards of area proposal and acceptance
- revising areas command so that it gives details and credit
- standardizing learning and costs of skills
- creating a set of quest templates
- help files for all areas
- devising widely applicable procedures, including fight strategies for
mobs
- establishing the rule that every new area installed implies an overhaul
of an old area
- local weather everywhere
- greater attention paid to the Americas
Coders:
LONG TERM GOAL: to get the mud code in good enough shape to release
publicly as a code base for other muds. To make it flexible, efficient,
stable, expandable, and configurable.
- fixing all memory bugs (highest priority!)
- polishing skill trees
- identifing and fixing bugs in the code
- returning the mud to the cutting edge of server design
- a working mud economy
- hardcoded guidelines flags that show when areas are loaded
- a better area file reader that is more flexible and also does not permit
loading of out of guideline areas, and is less cryptic with error
messages
- fully commented code
- ACT_TALK system for generic conversation AI
- moods integrated into socials and personally settable moods
- configurable prompt
- threaded board system
- temperature and effects in local weather
- MOTD and NEWS to become boards accessible from anywhere
- Macintosh and DOS testmud ports
- the ability to run on as many flavors of Unix as possible
Admin:
LONG TERM GOAL: to have a mature, professional staff to set a good
example for the players.
- enforcing guidelines for behavior among immorts and players
- making immorts more accessible to mortals, including a series of immort
offices located in the OOC
- fixing the help files
- organizing the revamping of the proposing process
- handling clanning requests
- handling archive requests
- handling monthly playerfile purges
- handling player housing
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NEW WHO, WHOSHORT, AND WHOIS COMMANDS
WHO now shows immorts at the top and gives their primary area of
responsibility. Levels no longer show. You may notice titles on
some people.
WHOSHORT now shows immortals at the top, and levels no longer show.
Titles also show here.
WHOIS is a new command. Simply type WHOIS and a list of some
of their accomplishments will show. You can do it on yourself as well.
Several quest flags have accomplishments listed in WHOIS now, and more
will be coming. Expie winner flags will also show (Expie winners from
last year should talk to Rusalka to get the flags put on).
Please note that you can see what jobs immorts have with WHO and WHOSHORT.
Please try to direct inquiries to immorts based on their jobs. The most
likely to be able to help you with questions are PR people; if they can't
help you, they can tell you who can.
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CONTEST UPDATES
We've received numerous entries for the border contest, but havn't had the
time to judge them all yet (however, that should happen pretty darn
quickly, time and Sprint-net allowing).
Rusalka's gotten very few entries for her Tudor inn name contest. Since
she'd like a larger field before making any judgements, she's extending
the contest until June 15.
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REPORT CHANNEL THANK YOU'S
We know that progress fixing problems on the mud is often slow and seems
erratic... nonetheless we DO read the bug reports, ideas, and typos that
players submit. So here's a big thank you to all these players who have
taken the time to help out and improve the mud by submitting ideas and
bug and typo reports:
IDEAS:
Agyar, Al'Thor, Aliera, Andi, Arcane, Arioch, Arturos, Ashke, Augustus,
Away, Axilla, Bahzell, Baldrick, Blah, Blaze, Blondie, Bobbin, Cassandra,
Cathrina, Chogori, CLeo, Cody, Concerto, Cora, Cyanide, Cymoril, Daer,
Daerwynn, Darkling, Deadpool, Deathtrap, Deirdre, Dolt, Dorothy,
Dreamspeaker, Dulcinea, Ea!, EagleFeather, Ecstasy, Eidyn, El, Elidan,
Eric, Esteban, Executioner, Executor, Exotica, Farnsworth, Fatale, Fource,
Fresh, Gho, Gnat, Gnat, Greebo, Guapo, Gustav, Hazred, Hidalgo, Howard, Hp,
Jamie, Jehovah, Joker, Jondalar, Juliet, Juma, Justice, Kaedon, Kelvin,
Key, Khojem, Kiera, Killer, Kir, Kretch, Lagmonster, Landy, Landyn,
Laurent, Law, Lethargio, Luki, Luna, Luna, Lust, Luthian, Lynche, Mael,
Maelstrom, Magda, Magrat, Mallory, Malorn, Mandolin, Manic, Mercenary,
Milky, Mip, Mitra, Miziraq, Mordrid, Morrin, Morwynn, Mystbane, Nadamar,
Nett, Nilrem, Nimbus, Nocturne, Nuke, Ollamh, Ounound, Paladine,
ParticleMan, Percy, Persephone, Phineas, Pol, Poof, Popeye, Professor,
Psydhe, Psytrac, Puke, Quetzalcoatl, Relem, Rodney, Rom, Roo, Ryan,
Sabella, Sabrosa, Sara, Sarang, Saria, Scrofula, Shaeman, Shiazar,
Silmaric, Slaveboy, Snapper, Snow, Solomon, Sorka, Spike, Stark, Steffanie,
Stein, Stuff, Swamptroll, Tad, Tadhg, Tamara, Tao, Tao, Tarrant, Terror,
Terryn, Terryn, Thread, Tofu, Toranthaz, Toren, Tsarran, Vagoth, Vasco,
Vendetta, Virtue, Vradna, Warhawk, Warke, Warrl, Wesley, WhiteRose, Wiley,
Wren, Xaemil, Zack, Zair, and Zenturus.
BUGS:
Aliera, Alistaire, Amadan, Amagi, Andi, Arturos, Ashke, Ashke, Blackbear,
Bladen, Bones, Buckman, Butch, Candide, Carter, Cinco, CLeo, Cody, Collen,
Cora, Crupusculom, Cupcake, Cyanide, Cyrano, Daer, Daerwynn, Dagger,
Deadpool, Deirdre, Destiny, Deva, Dial, Dolt, Dominic, Doofus, Drexi,
Dulcinea, Ea!, EagleFeather, EarthWarrior, Elidan, Esteban, Executioner,
Executor, Exotica, Farnsworth, Fatale, Gavekel, Gerry, GKing, Gleep, Glock,
Gnat, Greebo, Gulfdelta, Gwyn, Harkon, Homero, Hp, Ichabod, Insanity,
Jamie, Jehovah, Jonah, Jondalar, Joule, Juma, Justice, Kaedon, Kale, Keiko,
Ketchem, Key, Khai, Kretch, L'Ancienne, LadyAce, Lagmonster, Lah-Khiah,
Lancorn, Landy, Law, Lethargio, Linda, Ljohn, Luna, Lynche, Mael,
Maelstrom, Magda, Malorn, Mandolin, Manic, Marquis, Mars, Marya, Mercenary,
Miguel, Mime, Mitra, Miziraq, Mohr, Mole, Mordrid, Morwynn, Muirne,
Mystique, Nimbus, Nocturne, Pandora, ParticleMan, PermaDeath, Phineas,
Piper, Pol, Psytrac, Racheal, Rodney, Rom, Roo, Ruby, Sabella, Sarang,
Sarang, Sethir, Shaeman, Sharra, Sierra, Sigil, Silent, Silk, Six, Solomon,
Sorka, Spencer, Stark, Stein, Stephen, Tad, Tadhg, Tao, Teal, Tesla,
Toranthaz, Trunks, Tsarran, Vasco, Vicky, Warhawk, Warke, Warrl, Wiley,
WolfChild, Wulfen, Xenon, and Zeyxon.
TYPOS:
AbuMussa, Aemos, Ahnold, Amadan, Anastasia, Armstrong, Augustus, Axilla,
Bellitor, Boffo, Busch, Calderon, Candide, Carrot, Cassandra, Centauris,
Ceres, Collen, Concerto, Cory, Cyanide, D'sparil, Daer, DarkFred, Dec'lan,
Deva, Devilman, Dominic, Drake, Ea!, EagleFeather, Elanor, Ezra, Flagg,
Florence, Forrest, Gerry, Greebo, Gwyn, Hayden, Hazred, Hecate, Jehovah,
Jhenni, Jonah, Jondalar, Joule, Juma, Justice, Kale, Kat, Kelvin, KiLLiDER,
Landy, Law, Lotus, Lust, Lyu, MacPhisto, Maelstrom, Magda, Magrat,
Mahamoti, Malorn, Mandolin, Manic, Mercenary, Miguel, Mip, Mithrandir,
Mitra, Miziraq, Mohr, Morwynn, Nocturne, Obmig, Pegasus, Phineas, Pol,
Priss, Professor, Ren, Rhiannon, Ryan, Saria, Sebastien, Sentinel, Sethir,
Shaeman, Shawna, Sigil, Silhouette, Silmaric, Six, Sol, Steffanie, Stephen,
Tad, Tao, Teki, Terryn, TheDarkLord, Tigernach, Toranthaz, Tsarran, Tunis,
Turd, Twin, Ugh!!, Vasco, Warrl, WolfChild, Wyatt, Zair, Zekefried, and
Zobeide.
If you don't know how to use the commands that send in these reports, try
reading HELP BUG (it covers all three commands).
In the future, we'd like to go further than this thank you and actually
report back to you once bugs and ideas have been checked, and give credit
to those whose ideas are impemented.
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________________________
/ \
o O | Wonder what folks are |
`\|||/ | doing over at LegendMud?|
(o o) \________________________/
ooO_(_)_Ooo_____________________________________________________________
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RUMORS HEARD.....
For reasons that remain a mystery to all, Sir Somar, GuildMaster of the
Knights of Legend, recently committed permadeath near the Sargosso Sea.
We've heard that he's reincarnated, however. At present, the clan is
headed by Sir Stephen, and the Knights will be electing a permanent leader
in the near future. Meanwhile, the Knights seem to be at war with the
newly rejuvinated Anti-Paladins. Also in this war are the Hermetics (who
remain un-allied with the Knights, save where Grendels are concerned). The
Hermetics recently lost long time member Lancorn to the dreaded Dark Lord
(they also lost Mitra, but that seems to have been due to a fit of pique
rather than Dark Lords). Lori has likewise defected to It (for full
coverage on her and Lancorn, see our story below). Little, if
anything has been heard from her former clan, the Secretives (save that
Grendel Gho has been in the habit of jumping Secretives lately, though
deaths are few, if any). Crash did recently kill Butch for saying nasty
things about Lori (apparently, Butch called her "fishy"). And both Somar
and Solomon recently attacked Lori and Lancorn in retaliaiton for an
attack on Solomon (this was _before_ Somar's death...).
In more peaceful (?) news, Conan recently abandoned his pursuit of
Mandolin, giving up his claim and the numerous quests that she had laid
upon him. Instead, he turned his attentions to Govan, whom he persuaded to
leave her knightly lord, Chutulu. Some say that the couple even planned to
marry. Alas, though, even more recent rumors report that Conan was bought
for 80 thousand gold pieces by Humility for perhaps less than honorable
purposes....what Govan's reaction to said news might be is yet unknown....
Feisal and Catherina, whose wedding we recently reported, are pleased to
announce the birth of their first child, daughter Jennifer. Be sure to
congratulate the proud parents!
And Blah, Obmig, and Kheldar celebrate their birthdays this week!
****************
The Turning of Lori
as observed by Sten the Luckless
Wandering about the German countryside, I caught the words carried on
the wind, snippets of dismay and shocked suprise. I recognized the voices as
Solomon, Lori and Lancorn.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Solomon: She's already tried to do me in once!
Lori: Lucky you ran
Solomon: Crazy she may be, but she's good at what she does.
Lancorn: Perhaps an exorcism?
Solomon: Sure, *you* drag her to the Abbey.
Lancorn: Lori, you must see reason.....
Lori: I *am* seeing it, finally!
Lancorn: Can anyone here perform an exorcism? (more to the point is anyone
couragous enough to try with Lori?)
The Dark Lord: I can perform the exorcism
Solomon: Ack!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
As my eyes and ears searched for a clue that would lead me to the meaning
of these events, little did I realize that they were unfolding in the
Hall of Legends.....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lancorn gazed with dismay at the omnious figure that loomed over Lori's
shoulder. His normally kind smile was pressed into a thin grim line. His
pleas to Lori to see reason and sense were falling on deaf ears, and he
began to fear the worst. Suddenly he turned on the Dark Lord, trying to take
a different tack.
"Stay away from my friend Dark Lord!" he spit.
The Dark Lord peered at Lancorn, looking him up and down.
"I've tried to kill Solomon," Lori confides to The Dark Lord. Her blue eyes
burned with a fey light, and her pleasant features were twisted into
visage of unholy passion as she sighed loudly with frustrated bloodlust.
Lancorn turned back to Lori, pleading, "But you must see that's wrong!"
Lori pointedly ignored Lancorn.
The Dark Lord said to Lori, "As is befitting of those who will not and can
not understand."
"They're all against me," she murmured.
"I am here for you...." Lancorn replied.
Lori turned on him, words firing between gritted teeth, "You!? You're
trying to stop me!"
"No, to help you!" he protested, shaken by her sudden fury. "There is a
key difference!"
Lori's withering laugh was her answer. "Help?" Lori said to Lancorn,"I
don't need it."
"I would give my life to help my friend," Lancorn returned.
Lori rolled her eyes, exasperated with Lancorn. "I don't NEED help!"
Disappointed, Lancorn sighed, "It's no good! Her soul is his now."
Squaring his shoulders with determination, he exclaimed, "Dark Lord I
challenge thee to a duel. If I win, you will release Lori's soul. If I
lose, you may take mine."
The Dark Lord rumbled with amused tolerance. "A wager of your own soul
that I may keep you as a servant?" it inquired.
Lori's scornful grin echoed her tone. "Lancorn, you're almost as silly as
your pathetic GM..you might as well give in without the fight!"
Lancorn answered, undaunted. "Yes, I am not afraid of you, your evil has
no control over me."
Suddenly, Jag burst in on the tense scene, drawing up short with shocked awe
at the tableau.
Lancorn flashed a quick smiles at Jag. "Behold the Dark Lord," he said
wryly. With a sudden flare of pure hatred, Lancorn spit in The Dark Lord's
face.
Jag pled with the golden-tressed lass, to no avail.
Slowly, The Dark Lord hissed out its answer to Lancorn. "You are
pathetic in the light of pure evil. I will destroy you and take your
soul as you suggest."
"Try it Dark One, I would gladly risk my soul for my friend!"
Lancorn shot back hotly.
"Prove your power to him, he's a fool," she begged her Master. Her petite
figure trembled with unholy worship, but her eyes seemed distant and
murky, clouded with the hazy stare of a fanatic.
Lancorn recoiled from the hatred in Lori's voice. "I do this for you." he
whispered to her. Shrugging off her obstinance, he turned back to the
demonic patron. "Prepare to test your powers agains mine, fish" he
taunted.
With an amused twitch of a finger the Dark Lord called down a bolt of the
purest evil! Lancorn's frame was transfixed, and he withered in agony as his
lifeblood poured out of his torn flesh.
Strangely, when the concentrated night lifted, Lancorn appeared to be
whole and unharmed, naked as the day he was born. At his feet was the frail
shell of what he once was. Slowly, as if in a daze, he collected his weapons
and belongings from the battered ruin which once was himself.
Lancorn bowed before The Dark Lord. "I have wagered my soul, and lost," he
sighed.
Jag recoiled with shock at this.
Lori turned her attentions once more to Solomon, yelling out her challenge
in a clear voice, "Solomon if you were wise you'd come here so I could
kill you quickly, I only get more angry the more I have to chase you!!"
Solomon's reply was light-hearted, "Do you need exercise, Lori? Does the
Dark Lord let you get out enough?"
Lori fired back cooly, "I'm fine, did I look like I needed exercise when I
had you almost dead earlier?"
Solomon's voice echoed through the hall "Well, let me stop for a quick
blessing and I'll be right with you. Perhaps killing me will shock you back
to your senses."
A low mirthless chuckle from the blue-eyed lass greeted this news.
Jag attempted to reason with Lori, yet his words fell unheeded.
Lancorn bowed to his new Master, then a wave of dismay crossed his face
at the shadowy figures words. "Ordered to kill my own clan?" he whispered
in shock.
Suddenly, Solomon burst into the room, hailing a deadly rain of blows
on the petite lass. Chanting the final words of a spell, he sent Lori
reeling backwards with a stunning blast of power! Pressing his
advantage, his weapon hammered down on her, a furious barrage of blows.
Amazingly, the tiny girl somehow managed to turn or evade the brunt of
his attack, though she was bleeding from several small wounds. Shaking
her head to clear it of the cloying magic, she straightened and sent her
blade into the offensive until it became only a blur of deadly steel in
the dim light. Solomon was finally forced to halt his advance, as the two
traded lunge and riposte at breakneck speed!
Frowning at Lancorn's hesitation, The Dark Lord sternly said, 'Do my
bidding now.' Almost as if in a daze, the Hermetic finally hurled a spell
at his former leader!
Suddenly, spying a tiny chink in Solomon's defense, Lori lunged like a
panther, trusting in her armor to protect her for the instant. Solomon
saw the attack and wrenched sideways, but not before her steel had torn a
shallow gash in his scalp. The quick flowing blood suddenly blinded the
hapless mage.
Solomon shook his head, trying to parry Lori's furious blows, clear his
sight, and shake off the effects of Lancorn's magic all at once. Seeing
his distraction, Lancorn kicked out, catching the younger man squarly and
knocking him back. Suddenly realizing his plight, Solomon tried to make
a break from the room, but the tiny blonde's weapon became a shimmering
curtain of death that blocked off his escape. Desparately, he attempted to
ready a new spell to turn the tide, only to reel back with a cry of pain
as Lancorn lunged in to bury his long dagger almost to the hilt. Solomon
staggered as the venomed blade unleashes a fiery poison into his veins.
Spying his hesitation, Lori hurled her tiny frame at the foe, knocking
him off balance. As Solomon crashes into the wall, crumpling, she buried
her steel in his breast. A pained groan was torn from Solomon's lip as the
keen blade pierced his heart, cursing with his dying breath, "And as for you,
Lancorn, you are cast out of the Hermetics. Find warmth with your new master,
if you can." Then the valiant Solomon breathed no more.
Cackling with glee, Lori wiped her weapon clean on the fallen man's
cloak....
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Editor's Note: We recently intercepted this top secret communication:
(certain details such as mob names were inked out or stamped with
"CENSORED")
The Death of Jonah: Part One
To: Captain Jester
From: SuperGnat
Action Report: 29 April; Grendel/Secretive War
I arrived at Legend around 10:00 PM on 29 April only to discover that my
clanmates had been brutally murdered in my absence by a member of the
Grendel clan, Quetzalcoatl. Jag informed me that our security had been
breeched, and that he had been attacked and killed in our hall. When he
attempted to regain entry to our space and retrieve his equipment, Quetz
killed him twice more. I also learned that Jolamhir had fallen prey to Quetz's
advanced (for this world) weaponry. One of the Knights of Legend, Sir Somar,
had been similarly abused during this period. Considering Quetzalcoatl's
outrage at my accidental multi of him previously (last report) and the
Secretive/Grendel truce entered into at my request while he made up the
experience this cost him, I felt his actions indicated an escalated situation.
I attempted to open communications regarding this situation with
Quetzalcoatl, but received no reply to my inquiries. I was also informed that
Agyar (another Grendel Clan member) had killed Genn, a friend of our clan,
many times, and as she was then near permanent death (as it works on this
world), she took her own life for the final time. I was disturbed at this
news, and my clan mates were also angry at the actions of the Grendel Clan.
Determined to avenge these deaths, I proceeded to the hall to meet with the
members of my group.
A [CENSORED] Room
[Exits: s]
The corpse of Jag is lying here. [2]
A dashing young pilot in a leather flight jacket stands here polishing his
weapon.
Jolamhir is standing here.
'Give me a second to wake up,' I said as I came into the Hall.
Jolamhir giggled at me.
'This is going to get ugly,' a dashing young pilot said.
'It already has,' I pointed out.
'Yeah,' Jolamhir agreed.
Wanting to speak to a friend of Genn, I asked Mother for a connection on my
wrist communicator:
Gnat: 'Genn perma'd?'
Clutch: 'Yes, in the dark, who's this?'
Gnat: 'Gnat'
Clutch: 'Ahh...yeah, she did'
Gnat: ''
Clutch: 'Agyar killed her 3 times, she had 5 mil to level, and he took half
her stuff'
Gnat: 'Sigh, maybe I'll just perma the whole damn clan'
Clutch: '*nod*'
A dashing young pilot laughed, '4 angry grendels.'
I raised my eyebrow at him. 'What're THEY pissed about?' I said sarcastically
'These people need to die.'
Jag nodded.
'I am fed up again,' I said disgustedly.
'Very.' A dashing young pilot concurred, 'Lori is inviso. May be coming in.'
'Sucks when he hops in blinds you and then just snipes you here in the hall,'
he continued. 'Then multies you as you try to get in.'
I nod agreement with him. 'But he gave me all that shit over multi,' I said.
A dashing young pilot angrily intoned, 'Jag is going to be bad if he gets a
chance.'
An alarm sounded, alerting us that someone had arrived at the front door.
Lori arrived and said, 'Ok Somar is waiting for us. Lan is grouped with me.'
'Ok, i'm fed up,' I repeated to Lori.
Lori nodded her agreement.
All concentrating on the same goal, we organized our communications through
Mother in order to facilitate discussion:
Lori: 'ok how are we gonna do this?'
Lancorn: 'I am there now.'
Lori: 'ok'
Lancorn: 'Could someone give me a token please? I'm feeling a little like
a target'
Lancorn: 'Don't forget Somar, Stephen and Dominic, I think they'll wanna
help, The [Mob X] is aggressive? Anyone sloth it?'
Jag: 'It's agg, that's why Juliet died'
Lori: 'heh I think juliet tried :P'
Gnat: 'Should I come to ancient then?'
Lori: 'nod, want faded?'
Gnat: 'nod'
Lori withdrew inward and began chanting under her breath.
I slowly faded from sight.
Jolamhir: 'Who uses magic? Jonah?'
Jag: 'Nope. Juliet,'
Lori: 'Juliet and Mordrid do'
Jolamhir: 'Boy, I haven't died 2x in a long time'
Leaving the hall, I originally intended to travel to Roman Britain,
but was unable to travel there. Therefore I decided to head for
Beowulf.
Lori: 'Mordid is in Tara at the inn'
Lancorn: 'Is he cause or create?'
Jolamhir: 'How you doing Gnat?'
Lori: 'Stephen is almost ready'
Gnat: 'Bleh, I'm being stupid. I don't have any money. Is there a banker
here?'
Jag: 'Ack'
Jolamhir: 'Nope just kill someone'
Gnat: 'Nod'
Jolamhir: 'Err but not [Mob X or Y] ;-)'
Lancorn: 'rofl'
Gnat: 'I'm not being that stupid. You guys still in the hall?'
Jolamhir: 'Yes'
Lori: 'nod'
Jolamhir: 'For the record..he didn't multi me.'
Lancorn: 'Nod'
Lori: 'Stephen and Somar are ready'
Jolamhir: 'Jag on the other hand..'
Jag: 'For the record he multied me and somar'
Lori: 'Nod'
Jolamhir: 'Nod'
Jag: 'In our hall!'
Jolamhir: 'Nod'
Jag: 'That is going to earn him a trip to hell.'
I arrived at the entrance to find Somar and Stephen waiting:
Gnat: 'Stephen and Somar are out here'
'I have tracks on quet,' Sir Somar said peering around intently.
'Decoy?' a pale reflection of a man questioned.
Gnat: 'Hunt on Quetz'
Lori: 'Ok lets do it'
A pale reflection of a man reported, 'Track on jonah.'
Sir Somar, 'Tracks on mordrid.'
A pale reflection of a man nods solemnly.
'And Jonah,' Sir Somar confirmed.
Gnat: 'They're here guys'
Sir Somar said, 'Juliet is either faded, not here, or not in range.'
'Who's hunting who here?' a pale reflection of a man wondered.
'Keyzer,' a pale reflection of a man said.
Sir Somar nods solemnly.
'Follow, quickly,' Lori said intensely.
Sir Somar informed, 'Tracks on juliet.'
'Plans?' a pale reflection of a man says.
Sir Somar said seriously, petting his vorpal squirrel, 'Let's go.'
I drew my Colt, and spun the cylinder.
Lancorn asked, 'Fade me please.'
'Fade me?' a pale reflection of a man says.
A large hulking man said, 'Not me..I don't care.'
Stephen: 'Good - I'll be a surprise ;)'
'Need a fade?' Somebody said to me.
I nodded solemnly.
Lancorn's black aura sputtered, unable to protect him from the arcane powers
of somebody!
I slowly faded from sight.
We supplied Stephen and Somar with communicators:
Gnat: 'What's the plan?'
Jag: 'Fresh'
Lancorn: 'Ok, let's go'
Stephen: 'Let's get this execution underway'
Lori: 'Got hunt on Quet. He's first'
Stephen: 'closer.....'
Lori: 'Lan, weaken him'
Lancorn: 'Ok'
Stephen: 'They're getting closer...'
I followed Lori to a street where Juliet, Quetz, Jonah,
Mordrid, and a link-dead Keyzer were waiting. We had found our prey!
(to be continued...)
\|/ \|/ \|/
Merrick's Story
Not many know me. Even less know my sad tale. I tell this tale now
not because I want to, indeed, I tried to surpress the memory for
years. But I tell this tale because my brother and I need help. We
cannot do this alone.
Myself, I was born the elder of 2 brothers, and I had a happy life
until about 12. My brother is about 2 years younger than me. Our
father was a warrior, and he trained us in the way of the warrior. I,
the faster of the two, was trained in the art of backstab, and other
tricks of the trade assassins and thiefs use.
Don't misunderstand me, I am genuine, and my father meant to train my
powers to the light. My brother, Kazz, was trained as a true warrior.
He learned the arts of kick, headbutt, and strength attacks which would
help him. Together, we would make an excellent team. However, one
night, we were stolen from our home. Our parents, in grief, searched
for us.
For five years we were under the service of the darkness...
One day, after returning from a successful purging trip, we returned
to our house to find our parents fighting with the dark lord. We
watched in horror as he defeated them with ease. We suddenly realized
our treachary and attacked the lord. But alas, we were, and still are,
too weak to defeat his forces. We combined, creating the warrior
MaKerrick, and for the first time we realized the true power we had.
However, we still were defeated by him, and left for dead. Each with a
long scar on our face.
Before our near-death, I was able to steal a book.....
It is a book of the dark. It is a book of power. It is The Devil's
Handbook. With the knowledge of this, we must defeat the lord! The
knowledge and our power is not enough! Help us, fellow warriors! Help
us defeat the evils once and for all, leading us to the light.
The dark path my brother and I have been on for 5 long years. For 2
years I have been fighting the evils of the world. I cannot die until
the quest is over. If I were to fall, I ask that you help Kazz along
his way. We have been split up due to fighting our own ways. We work
better as a team, but we just have not been able to meet for any time.
Defeat the darkness! Only then can we forever hold the light! I need
the help of others. I cannot defeat the darkness by myself. Even Kazz
and I will not be able to win. Even combining, even with the power of
MaKerrick, our chances for victory are grim.
Come out of the darkness....
-Merrick
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