Volume Five Issue Four

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.../________________/ running on mud.aus.sig.net 9999
199.1.78.16 9999
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VOLUME FIVE, ISSUE FOUR September 8, 1997

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THE MORPHINE, ABIGAIL AND TYCHE HIT 100 MILLION XP MEMORIAL EDITION!!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The Editor's Note.
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-
Petal's wrap up of the fortnight that was.

From the Imps.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
In which our esteemed implementors discuss their weeks.

Departmental News and Updates.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A report which aims to keep YOU up to date on the work done in the
various departments.

News and Reports.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A few words on the proposed April Fools day
project 'Mortmud'.

Legendites.
-=-=-=-=-=-
This week, there are strange tales of witchcraft in Nottingham
Kinch explains the intricacies of using a client.
Mistress Quickley accuses Tancred of fathering her child.

From the Warzone: Information on the PK front
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Thoughts of a Knight by Sir Richard Kuato
Harada's box by Egami Shalizar.
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/__| EDITORS NOTE |__\
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Welcome to the Morphine, Abigail, and Tyche hit 100 million xp memorial
edition of the Legendary Times.

I'm sorry that this latest version of the LT is a couple of days late, but
I have been on vacation for the past few days.

By far the biggest news of the past two weeks has been the implementation
of the new fight system. Things have gone very smoothly so far, and on
behalf of all the imm staff I would like to thank all of you for helping
out and ensuring that this transition period has been extremely stress free.

Remember to keep those articles coming in (you can send them to
[email protected]) to be in the running for a prize token!

Until we meet again in issue five,
Happy mudding all.
-Petal

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/__| FROM THE IMPS |__\
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I Finished the alternate says with full socials compatibility and wrote
a new "status" command that displays just your affects to you. Also
the usual other stuff - web board, mudmail and board stuff, contacts
with mudlist people, etc.
-Ptah

Kaige fixed a bunch of typos in both the code and areas and fixed
several small bugs and oversights in the code. Getting a list from
shopkeepers ought to look a bit prettier now. You also shouldn't be
getting strange messages like "Your a camel cannot swim!" Wall spells
should also now be working properly thanks to Govan's sleuthing
skills. Kaige also spent much time trying to resolve the hanging
problem with multiple mobs in the same room trying to do the same act
at the same time. In the process, she also managed to accidentally
shutdown the main mud instead of the testmud and has taken an official
warning for it and will no longer be on both sessions at the same
time.
-Kaige

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/__| DEPARTMENTAL NEWS AND UPDATES |__\
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ADMINISTRATION
-=-=-=--=-=-=-

Kept their collective eyes and ears well tuned to the channels and the
boards in their ever-vigilant role as mud administrators.
In addition to this they started work on help files.
Chocorua filtered out the skill help files and found out that there were
6 skills (mostly in the surgery field of study) that needed helps.

PLAYER RELATIONS
-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-

This week we all did the usual online work including helping newbies,
restrings/strings, registers and clanning.

Last week the PR department held a meeting to organise a new charter for
the department. A lot of constructive ideas were mentioned by those who
attended, and you should all watch out for new and exciting developments
from the player relations department!

ParticleMan did Kyla and Valis' wedding and Leila wed Huma and Adriana.
Congratulations to the happy couples!

CODING
-=--=-

The coding department have had their hands full with the implementation
of the new fight system. Amongst other things this week they worked on it,
fixed a bug in snipe, added in a damcap, tweaked hitroll/damroll more,
worked on some possible future alternatives to some of the mathematics we
have going on.

BUILDING
-=-==-=-

The building department hasn't installed many changes in the past two
weeks, owing in part to not wanting to mess up tweaking of the new fight
code by putting in lots of changes at the same time. Changes that have
been installed include:

- an update of Egypt (details are on the local board)
- mobs and an item in the Opera House have changed (details on welcome
board)
- a fix that should keep mobs who eat corpses from crashing the game
- fixes to some teaching acts on several mobs mudwide
- fixes to some clan trans mobs that weren't working quite right
- greater summoned creatures give messages for poofing, unfollowing, etc

Work on new areas included:
LadyAce - added mobs and worked on item rent and descs for the Crusades
Kheldar - added a bunch of rooms and thought up quest ideas for Sinbad
Deanna - added weather to her Dreamlands area, which is in beta-testing!
Leila - added rooms, mobs, weather, and worked on quests for London

The building department also provided an edited copy of the building docs
to aid the April Fool's MortMud project, and Charity provided a copy of
Egypt's area file, minus quest acts and other 'giveaways', for use as a
sample area. See the related article in this LT for more info about the
status of the MortMud project.

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/__| NEWS AND REPORTS |__\
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MORTMUD
-=-=-=-

The immortals of Legend have decided to go through with a plan to let the
mortals of Legend build small areas that will be used on April 1st for
'mortmud'. The specifics are as follows:

Participation is entirely optional, both for morts and immorts.

People choosing to participate will be given 50 rooms, objects, and mobs.
They must use _at least_ 25 rooms.

Because this is for April 1st, it is not necessary to follow Legend's
theme. Any area that meets the proper specs and is consistent with
Legend's policies will be utilised for April 1st.

These areas _may_ be used again, for pkill tourneys, special events, and
the best of them may even be distributed as example areas when Legend's
code goes public. They also may never be used again, at the discretion of
the immortals.

Modified versions of the builder's docs will be released to aid in the
building of areas. Certain immortals have volunteered to be available to
assist mortals with this project and to run the testmud testing purposes.

An Expie may be given to the best mortal-built areas.

This project has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the idea of letting
mortals build for legend proper. Such a plan, if it exists at all, is
COMPLETELY independent of the mortmud plan.

Anyone who wants more information is encouraged to check out the log of
the mortmud forum at http://mud.aus.sig.net/Lectures/mortmud.html.

The majority of communication for this project will take place via a
discussion list. If you have questions, would like to be added to the
plan, or whatever, feel free to e-mail [email protected]

If you are CERTAIN you would like to participate in the plan, mudmail
your idea (as soon as you have one) to Zandy so he can watch for
duplicates, etc.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A lot of mortals have helped with the fight system, figuring out bugs
and balancing issues. I can't remember all of them, but some of those
who stand out in my memory are: Dune, Tyche, Valis, Fatale, Quimby,
Tank, Major_Payne, and Stella. Sorry for those I forgot -- almost every
mortal has contributed valuable comments and I feel confident that
this great level of cooperation will continue.

-LadyAce

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/__| LEGENDITES: Information Regarding the People of Our World |__\
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It has been tough lately being a bard. Times have been tough
ever since I left the prestigious clan Order of the Scroll.
I have been pondering leaving the pagan beliefs, and today
I enlisted for The Knights of Legend. I will start out as
a novice, and work my way up. As this has happened, I am no
longer a 'raven haired minstrel', I am the 'grey cloaked knight'.
I hope my service will be enough to rid the world of evil.
-salute-

Dameon Styre, Knight

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I'm changing my desc from 'a pale mage of chaos' to 'a tired old
Irishman'. Mainly because this character is getting pretty old,
and he's not much of a mage anymore (senility or something).

An addicted mudder,
TerrorSpawn

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I changed my description to 'a soft eyed lady stands here planting a
tree' from 'a lady wrapped in bear furs stands here looking seductive'.

reasons: I have changed by path in life because of a vision from the
great lord Aslan who told me to use my skills for good.
I have therefore joined the clan Angesley. Please ask me for
assistance if you EVER need it.

-tree hug-
Svetlana

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I, Solon Rinehart, as of this day no longer belong to the Knights of
Legend. It saddens me greatly that I have to leave the clan, however the
clan's means of acheiving the same goal does not match mine. From this
moment on, I do as I please and go as I please. I have also given up the
title of sir. My new description is as follows:
short description: 'a youthful Rinehart'
long description: 'An ivory-haired youth stands here,
towering over you'.
-Solon Rinehart

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

With my new profession, comes a new description:

A Scottish merchant glances at you, evaluating your worth.
I will buy sell and trade eq and other services

-Hastur McDougan [Merchant of Legend]

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Witches abroad in Nottingham Town!
by Peter, son of William the Weaver.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It was but a few days hence that my mother asked me, with the setting of
the sun, to go look in the forest and in the ditches for my father, William
- for though my father was a good man, he was somewhat inclined to drink,
and at the time we had no way to predict what evil fate had befallen him. I
walked long on the streets of Nottingham town that night - for when my
father was nowhere found we were many - his friends and family and
neighbors, who took up torches and went searching. Our town is peaceful,
but only so because the Norman conquerors' boots are firmly planted upon
our necks.

Eventually, and of the nature of this I may not say much, we received word
from friends, good Saxons who have been forced to leave their hearths and
families to hide from the opressors in the wilds of Sherwood forests, that
my father's body had been found. Agrieved, I went to retrieve it,expecting
him to have died from some sport or scheme played by one Norman noble or other
- what I did find shocked me more.

My father William was no small man. His back and arms strenghtened by the
loom, he was well capable of defending himself against anything that
would roam the forest. Yet when his mortal remains were presented to me,
they were torn and broken as if some great animal had played ragdoll with
it, and then, when it tired of that game, dined upon the tender parts and
left the rest for the scavenger birds to feast upon.

'This is the doing of some great wolf', said Robin of Locksley, a forester
who should know. 'But,' proceeded he, 'no wolf of such size roams Sherwood
forest. Nay, Peter, my boy, I tell you, this is sorcery.'

Agrieved, I brought my father's torn body - or that which remained of it -
home to the woman who is my mother and now his widow. It was a terrible thing
to befell us, he was our loved master, father, and husband.
And worse so, he was our provider. My father dead, another weaver would be
summoned to Nottingham to take over his place, for Sir Guy does not believe
in housing the poor who cannot contribute to his wealth. We were destitute,
and we set about packing immediately - for now awaited us only the streets
and the gutters, and we thought we would get ourselves to Lincolnshire that
perhaps I might become apprenticed to a weaver there.

It was then, as we hastily packed our meager belongings into sacks
and baskets, we came upon the letter. Written in the fine hand of an
educated man, it was not intelligible to those of us who have received no
education, nor was the seal familiar. It seemed unlikely, though, that my
illiterate father should correspond with better men abroad in France - or
with Normans - and we knew not what to do. Scared, my mother told me to
take it to the friar that he might decipher its contents for us, and off to
Sherwood once more I ran.

Friar Tuck frowned as he read the fine hand. 'This is French,' he
told me, but I had already guessed; only Saxon nobles would stoop to
writing in English, and the last Saxon noble around here now lives as an
outlaw in the forest. 'Where did your father come upon this?'

'I know not,' I said, loyal to the truth. 'We found it in his shirt, friar.'
Friar Tuck thought for a moment, then looked at me as if appraising
my character. 'Peter, you are big boy now, and if you're old enough to be
made to care for your mother and sisters, you're old enough to know what
killed your old man.'
'Tell me,' I begged him.

'This is a letter from the son of your lord, Sir Guy, to an accomplice who
is not named. Look here, it carries his seal.' He showed me again that red
cross seal which I had not recognized.
'The note is a recipe, actually - of how to make oneself invisible to mortal
man's eye, to walk among us in the shape and form of a huge, fierce wolf.
Your father must have snatched it off his killer.'
I gulped. 'Friar, a werewolf?'

Friar Tuck's visage darkened. 'Yes. Witchcraft is afoot in Nottingham town,
my boy, and you should go to Lincolnshire as quickly as you can - when that
letter's owner discovers its absence, he will most certainly come looking.
Meanwhile, I shall take care that it ends up in the possession of Sir Guy -
though whether that fat Norman lord will act upon it I do not know.'
He thought briefly. 'And I shall take care, too, that others hear of it...
I know a Scottish merchant who is quite the talker, and a good Christian.,
and others come to mind as well. I shall see to it, Peter, that some day the
truth of your father's demise will come out.'
I thanked him, but I must say I did not feel very relieved.

'Go back,' Friar Tuck told me. 'Take your family and be out of Nottingham
before the sun sets again.'

And so I did. I ran back to the weaver's cottage as fast as my feet
could carry me, and once there, I took my eldest sister by the hand and the
younger upon my shoulders, and I urged my mother to make haste.

Where we go now I do not know. I pray I shall take up my father's
trade and feed my family. But I give thanks to the powers that be that I am
no longer in Nottingham town where warlocks roam the streets at night,
preying upon unfortunate peasants for their sport, and who seal their
letters with signets of the Holy Church of Rome.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Don't Kill Me - I Don't Type That Quickly
-An Introduction to Tips and
Tricks for zMud Users.

The other day I was hanging around Tara, and for once I was bored *ponders
depressing XP to level*, so I started mucking around under the bonnet of
zMud. Soon I found myself immersed in the help files, and next thing you
know I was checking out "Trick's and Tip's" sites on the web. The problem
was that many of these sites had ideas that were only relevant to the mud
they were written for.

Tintin++ is 80-90% compatible with zMud, so the information should still be
useful to Tintin users. For those of you who are stuck with a raw telnet
client, I suggest you get your typing speed up into the 100 wpm range :P .
The Legend web site has links to both zMud and Tintin, as well as other mud
clients and the information contained in this series of articles should aid
you if you choose one of these other clients.

This first article will act as an introduction, so you know where I'm
coming from and the next instalment will start to deal with specific client
examples. Usually, I'll try to not only demonstrate practical ways to make
your playing more efficient/effective (some of these might save your life,
if not your blood pressure levels) but will also show how you can enhance
your role-playing capabilities with minimal effort.

I'll continue writing these articles until I run out of useful ideas (or
until the LT stops printing them, whichever comes first). If there is
anything you'd like to see appear in these articles, ideas of your own,
neat little triggers you've built that you'd like to pass on to others, any
feedback or comments about the articles themselves, or if you simply get
stuck, please feel free to mudmail me. I'll start to post these articles
up to my character page, and will provide some links to other useful zMud
and Tintin++ sites. Keep an eye on the welcome board in the next couple of
weeks: I'll let you know when I've updated my web site.

I'll try and keep the articles fairly short, but still give you something
to go away and work on. (This will probably be the longest.) This way, you
won't have to absorb huge chunks of new information in one fell swoop, and
I won't be accused of LT-spam. I'll deal with definitions and jargon as
they become relevant, so that you've got hands-on examples for
illustration. For hard-core zMud users, the articles will occasionally
seem a bit simplistic, but even so I'll try to provide new ways of looking
at things so that more experienced users might find new outlets for their
skills. If you ever read one of these articles and think 'That's not the
best way of doing it,' please let me know.

Usually the examples will revolve around a specific skill. For example,
the next article will show you how to create an 'auto-hunt' facility.
Obviously, this is only useful to characters with the 'hunt' skill, so in
various articles I'll look at different skills - some 'newbie', some
'oldbie' - as well as looking at some aspects of the mud that are not
dependant on skills.

Automated Features and Role-Playing. Some Points to Consider.

Let's face it: role-playing can be hard. Or, if you look at it from
another direction, by the time you've worked out a cool RP response, you
type 'tlak' instead of 'talk', 'whop' instead of 'whap', the mud tells you
'Huh?', the mob or player has left the room, the lag sets in, and suddenly
it's too much bother. That, or your cool response doesn't hit you 'til
you're washing the dishes two days later and you think 'I wish I'd said...'

Now I know the debate is raging between those who role-play and those who
don't, and I have no wish to walk between the trenches waving a grotty
white flag (my dictionary tells me that 'waving white flag' and 'sitting
duck' go together in much the same way as 'Spice Girls' and 'Aaaargh!
Change the station')

Nevertheless, when was the last time you saw a zit-scarred, 17 year-old
nerd on the mud? Or bumped into a middle-aged housewife? Or a
high-powered computer programmer, or a stock-broker? We all distinguish
ourselves from our characters to one degree or another: at the very least,
our character is usually an extension and/or exaggeration of certain
aspects of our personality.

And if you think you're the ultimate role-player? Try this for an
exercise: recently there was a posting on the welcome board about a
personality quiz. (Sorry, I can't remember who posted it, but well done
that player. The URL is http://sunsite.unc.edu/jembin/mb.pl ). Try
the quiz yourself...the results are quite interesting. THEN do the quiz
again, not as yourself, but as your favourite character. If the results
come up the same, could you be RP-ing harder?

As I've suggested, it's hard to come up with the ultimate RP on the spot.
How can you make life easier?

Let's look at a couple of examples. The trick to coming up with instant
responses to things that happen on the mud is to build a framework for
yourself within which your character can operate.

The most obvious thing is your character's name. What does the name
suggest to you? Obviously, if you're known as Headbiter, you're probably
not likely to go around hugging trees. So you're a killer maybe. What
kind of killer are you? Arrogant? Apologetic? Business-like? Pyscho?
What kind of responses are you going to have before you kill someone?
Afterwards? What happens when you find a mob you can't kill - how do you
respond? Disappointed? Insulting? 'I'll be back?'

The next thing you might look at is where you come from. Let's say you're
from Tara: how would you respond to seeing surgery performed? Someone
reloading their revolver? By the same token, if you were born and bred in
Industrial London, how do you respond to magic? With horror? Curiosity?
Contempt?

So you start to build a mental image of your character, to give you an idea
of how to respond to events on the mud. Don't panic if you find it
difficult at first - bear in mind that it's quite ok for your character to
develop and evolve as he/she/it grows in confidence and stature. You don't
have to pull it off perfectly in the first five minutes. Your past history
is as important in role-playing as anything else. I'll give you an
example: a friend of mine is a high-powered level 50 character. When she
creams a really nasty mob without getting out-of-breath, any newbies that
happen to be around at the time tend to respond with the necessarily
gratifying levels of awe and intimidation. It makes them feel better to
know that I can remember a time when we were both scared of sheep.
Similarly, we tend to have arguments about who should attack first ('After
you', 'No after you.', 'I insist, after you.', '*beam* Why thank you',
'*bow* You're welcome.') Both of these examples tend to help define our
reaction to others, and the mud in general.

Let's try and boil the RP concept down to its most basic element.
Suppose someone levels: you see the message:

[Info:] Kinch has advanced a level
(This doesn't happen very often, but you get the picture)

Ever wondered how some characters seem to respond so quickly, while you're
still trying to find letters on the keyboard? They're using triggers. (A
trigger is when the mud sends you a message, and you've got zMud or Tintin
or something similar set-up to respond automatically. We'll get down and
dirty with triggers in future articles.)

Now I don't use triggers in this instance, basically because I believe that
if someone has taken the time and effort to level, I can take the time to
type a congratulatory info manually. Although my response is invariably
"Yahooooooo!", at least I know that it wasn't an automated congratulation.

So while I'm the type of character who settles for the "Way to go!" type
response, there are others who go that extra mile, triggered or not. From
recent Legend history, look at Tancred, Terrizano (I'm paraphrasing here,
but Tancred tends to thank God for your achievements, Terrizano thanks
Allah), Orangutan (responded with a gnomic 'Oook!'), Cap'n Haddock ('Batten
down the hatches boys, we're moving on!'), and any number of the McDougan
clan (largely unintelligible whiskey dialect). Their response to
deaths/levels (as to most other things) is quintessentially in character.

Recently Xerox (I hope it was Xerox) came up with a trigger for deaths
along the lines of "Comforts . Growls at ". Then Orca came up with the reciprocal response "Laughs
at . Congratulates ."
Both of these are instances of RP: Xerox as nice RP, Orca as negative (and
equally valid) "nasty" RP.

Let's focus on Tancred for a minute. When you talk to him, or ask him for
advice, or he sees you doing something, his response will be invariably
roleplayed. "Yeah, that's easy enough for him. He's good at it", I hear
you say, but stop and think about it for a minute. The reason it seems
easy for Tancred is that he gives himself that framework to work within
that we were talking about earlier (his name, his character description,
his history), he's automated some of his responses, but more importantly
(and here's the real trick that applies to the best players, whether
they're aware of it or not) is that they're doing something with their
character that distinguishes them from every other character.

Look at Orangutan. You only have to hear someone saying "Oook", and you
know it's him. Same with Tancred. Same with Terrizano. They're religious
types, and they'll let you know it. Look at Jen-Creature - she's a
tree-hugger if ever I saw one. Rhea tends to whisper things to you, to
speak quietly and calmly. Thosoht (when he was a newbie) used to yell at
the top of his voice "We are the Champions, my friend" every time he killed
something, to the annoyance of everyone else in earshot. The easiest way
to role-play is to find something that your character does that is
different from everyone else: and the more people react/respond, whether
favourably or unfavourably, the more opportunities you'll find to develop
and expand on your idiosyncracies, and the easier you'll find it to
interact with people as you cruise around the mud.

OK, so you're busy power-levelling your way to 50, and the only extra
typing you want to do is "tell Can you help me kill . Future
articles will show you how to automate some of this RP stuff, but in the
meantime, here's something to consider:

If you need someone to help you level or find you neat equipment, who's
more likely to help you? Someone who thinks "Oh, I know so-and-so because
he/she's the character who does this or that ("Ook!") He/she seems pretty
cool?" Or someone who thinks "Who is this person who's hassling me? Never
heard of them."? Carving out your own little, ever-so-slightly RP niche
for yourself can have benefits.

For instance, let's say one of those wolfhounds in Tara trips you. Even if
you're a high level character, and busily engrossed in taking apart a
high-level mob, this is enough to stop you from doing all those extra
little things you can't do sitting down (fleeing, casting spells, executing
special attacks, etc.) Even if you're not in the middle of battle, it's
annoying enough to try to move north and find you're still sitting firmly
on your backside.

Well, we can set up a trigger that simply issues the command "stand" every
time the mud tells you "The wolfhound trips you with it's tail." Then
again, think about your character, and think about how you'd react (even in
real life). Are you the touchy-feely sort? Would you pet the hound and
forgive him? Would you growl at him and say to him "When I'm big enough
and ugly enough to kill you, I'll be back in town, and you'd better look
out?" Are you tough enough to say on the spot "You're dog-meat" and
flame-strike him into oblivion? It's just as easy to set up a trigger that
does both these things and you'll earn the instant admiration of anyone who
happens to be passing - you didn't simply stand up you stood up and
responded in character at the same time.

How To Know When You've Got Carried Away

Three quick points to consider
Firstly, you could probably automate almost everything to do with Legend,
so that you could press the "GO" button, go and watch television, come back
in and hour and find you'd advanced three levels. On other muds they call
these players "robots". If you're a robot, why are you playing at all?
Secondly, one player's RP is another player's spam. Think about how far
you can go without really getting in the road of another's on-mud time.
Look at the way mobs respond as a guide. In later articles we'll talk
about being able to turn some of these automated features on and off easily
with the use of customised buttons.
Thirdly, should you automate anything that involves a direct interaction
with another player (PKill tactics aside)? When does automation become
rudeness?

Coming in Future Articles:

My Mouse has Two Buttons
I'm Not Predictable responding randomly to events
Dealing with Dopple-gangers
What Spell Was That? chant &%$# in a hurry
Hmmm Since When Did They Have Automatic Crossbows? rapid-fire tips and
tricks.
I Could Have Sworn I Had Another Bandage keeping track of your inventory.
Being Politely AFK
*Shiver* When's Summer? responding to the weather.

Until next time, if you see me on the mud, stop and say hello. *bow*
Kinch

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The Saga of Mistress Quickley

Despite the rumors spreading around Legend that Mistress Quickley was
pregnant, there had been no confirmation of the fact, save for all the
illusions around Tudor. Mistress Quickley became quite flustered at
seeing these illusions, and did all she could to dispel the rumors.
One quiet afternoon Mistress Quickley asked Sharri to join her in the
Inn. When Sharri arrived Mistress Quickley was seen quietly whispering to
her. There was no warning at all when Sharri loudly chatted 'Mistress
Quickley is PREGNANT!'

That raised some eyebrows! Mistress Quickley was quick to admonish
Sharri for blurting out her little secret. Of course the next thing
everyone asked was 'Who's the father?' While Quickley was keeping her
mouth shut, many were speculating on who the father was, and pressing
Quickley to divulge the truth. Many people were quick to point their finger
at the good Frater Tancred, as Quickley had been seen professing
her love and lust towards him on many occasions. Frater Tancred rebuffed
those accusations the best he could, with help from others who believed
in him.

Quickley was keeping her mouth shut until the Lord Mayor of Tudor
insisted that there would be no unwed mothers running an inn in his town,
that Quickley must reveal who the father was so that a wedding would be
held as soon as the father was found. Quickley finally relented and
chatted 'It was Tancred' Astonishment and cries of 'Liar!' were heard
throughout the world. Frater Tancred professed his innocence and Mondain was
quick to stand by the Frater. Darian was heard to ask 'Proof! Mistress where
is the proof?' to which Gwalchmai responded 'In her womb!'

Quickley admitted that she was to blame for leading Frater Tancred
astray, yet many were still in disbelief at the outrageousness of her
original accusation. Tancred proclaimed his innocence with Mondain
backing him up as best he could, and Angesley backing Mistress Quickley.
It soon became a battle of words between the Christians and the Pagans.

Word spread quickly throughout the world, and soon Abbot Sugar declared
that Tancred must leave the Templars and marry this poor, abused woman.
At this point it seemed Tancred was close to the end of his rope. Tancred
was heard to say 'Lord in Heaven, have mercy upon my soul...' with
Mondain in the background fuming in silent rage at the accusations. The
Lord Mayor of Tudor called out 'All good men find Frater Tancred! Bring
him to the Abbey so that he may wed Mistress Quickley at once!' Sharri
and Vengeance set off to find Tancred as Mondain cried out 'NO, Tancred
is with me and I shall fight off anyone who comes to take him.'

Tancred quickly talked Mondain out of fighting just as the search party
found them. They were brought to the Abbey and into the presence of Abbot
Sugar and Mistress Quickley. Tancred was still pleading his innocence,
but popular belief was that he was guilty. As Abbot Sugar tried to hush
the growing crowd to begin the ceremony Kaedon walked into the room, and
riled things up again by asking Tancred in a loud voice 'Whys yu gettin
married?' Which brought out a chorus of 'He knocked up Quickley' and 'He
got Quickley pregnant'.

The Abbot shortly had the room calmed down, narrowly averting a fight
between the Angesley members and the Christians. As Abbot Sugar tried to
start the proceedings again, with Tancred in the background mumbling his
innocence, Mistress Quickley interrupted the ceremony once more with a
confession. 'Oh these long years that I have lusted over Tancred. He has
kept his distance from me. I cannot bring an innocent man down.' Mistress
Quickley fought back a tear and said 'It was not the good and wholesome
Tancred at all.'

As people were heard to exclaim astonishment at this revelation, Abbot
Sugar was even heard to exclaim 'Innocent?!' Frater Tancred was heard
speaking to Quickley on bended knee 'Have mercy on me, Mistress, you and
I alone know the truth.' While others were seen to faint from the
excitement, Abbot Sugar turned and exclaimed to Mistress Quickley in a
rage 'Your lies have brought you disgrace, and have made a mockery of the
church!' To which Quickley sobbed 'I meant no harm!'

Frater Tancred was quick to forgive Mistress Quickley, while others were
not so forgiving, and swore to clear the Frater's name, and get revenge
on any who were involved.

The Lord Mayor exclaimed, 'Mistress Quickley! Enough lies! Name the
father at once!'
'I am ashamed to say' Mistress Quickley said, but continued nonetheless
'It was a sailor who has visited me many times. Cap'nHaddock is the
father.' Gasps of astonishment were heard throughout the crowd. Some
consoled Mistress Quickley while Frater Tancred sunk to his knees in
prayer.

The Lord Mayor quickly sent out the call, 'Find Cap'nHaddock at once!'
A search party left to find the sailor as Tancred muttered, 'I should
rejoice at my proven innocence, why am I not happy?'. Quickley asked the
Abbot, 'Must I marry the Cap'n?'. The Abbot quickly replied, 'You must!'

Cap'nHaddock was found, but was at a loss as to what was going on. He
claimed to have been on a drinking spree and not to have seen the goings
on. Mistress Quickley was quick to explain to the Cap'n, 'I am heavy
with child, and it is yours. You are the only man I have been with.'
'I have been intimate with many with many women in my life, and never
have I seen such an uproar' replied Cap'nHaddock. 'I will admit to being
with this woman.' Abbot Sugar then turned to Tancred and asked him 'Will
you have him marry this woman, or will you have his head?'

Tancred got down on bended knee, praying to the heavens for his decision.
He stood and said 'I say, let them be wed and make of it what they can.'
Abbot Sugar said to Tancred 'An excellent choice, and one I feel you will
be able to bear in your later years.' To which Tancred replied 'I hope
so, I hope so Father.'

Cap'nHaddock was heard to yell 'As for the child being mine, that I do
not know. There is no proof the child is mine!' The Abbot quickly replied
'You are to marry Mistress Quickley now, or feel the wrath of the Lord.'
Persons in the crowd were heard to encourage the Cap'n to run while he
still had a chance, but the Cap'n, still feeling the booze in his system
stayed fast, and accepted his fate.

The Abbot quickly told the couple to kneel, and said a quick prayer to
the couple, then asked them if they would take the others hand in
marriage. Both agreed and the ceremony was soon over. Many more moans,
and sobs of pity were heard from the happy(?) couple than cheers from the
crowd. The couple quickly departed the abbey, leaving the wedding party
behind.

Soon after the departure of the newly weds, the Abbot was heard to say
'Tancred, having been found innocent, I bring you back into the church,
and wish that you accept my apology.' Frater Tancred accepted, and soon
life was back to normal on LegendMUD. Or as normal as it can get.

Be sure that when you see Mistress Quickley or Cap'nHaddock you wish them
the best on their marriage, even though rumor has it that the good Cap'n
never spends much time around the inn these days. And soon, there shall
be a young one running around the inn. Keep your eyes open, you never
know what may happen!

___ ___
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/__| FROM THE WAR ZONE: Information From the PK Front |__\
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Thoughts of a Knight by Sir Richard Kuato
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Though my life as a Knight of Legend hasn't been the longest, I have
spent a fair amount of time on the battle field. I have many
memories of glorious battles with Clan MERC, the Coven and some APs,
as well as many other people from all around the mud.

Recently, it seems, there has been an overall feeling that the
Knights of Legend have been, well to put in frankly, very unknightly.
Our forefathers created this clan based on loyalty and honor, things
that we still hold valuable. Times have changed however. No longer
are the Knights the most powerful and plentiful clan here at Legend.
Gone are the days of typing 'who' and seeing a third of the players
logged in with [Knight of Legend] in their title. It seems that
lately we are lucky to have more than two Knights on. Due to this
fact, many of us have taken to a style of PK that is a bit more
aggressive.

I have seen us flamed by clanned and non-clanned alike for our
actions. Some of these actions may have warranted this reaction,
some may not. I dont know. What I do know is that as a whole, this
mud does not look favorably on our clan. I hope that this changes,
because I think have the Knights as a clan here is a good thing.

Well thats just a few of my thoughts. I am not sure if I will
remain a member of the Knights, or join Kall as a non-clanned or
maybe even just be a humble rogue. Time shall tell...

-Sir Richard Kuato

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Harada's Box.
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'Let me tell you of an old myth I heard of many years ago when I was
trying to understand the way of fighting. At that time, my teachers
(Sensei), and particularly Sensei Path-Ryke, insisted that I should
read ancient texts written at the dawn of Martial Arts. A few of them
related the story of a Great Master called Harada who developped a
very powerful way of fighting. Some wrote that he had reached
an upper state of mind, which could allow him to defeat anyone. Beyond
physical abilities, his power came from deep within his soul and mind,
something that one could compare to magic. I recall a particularly
striking tale concerning Harada. One day a group of proud brigands and
outlaws came to visit him, as they had heard of his power. They were all
very well trained and their abilities at swordsmanship were reknowned.
One said to Harada, "You say you can defeat anyone bare handed? How about
tasting my sword's blade?"
Harada stood up and asked the brigand to strike him, Which he did.
Unfortunately, Harada's body control was so perfect that he could parry
the sword strike only using his bare arm. What ensued has no real relevance
here.

It is said that Harada wrote something about his life. Something said
to hold the secret of his power. But the story says that Harada grew up
with his inmense power not really controling it, and not often realizing
that what he was doing was against his first goal. Just like us,
Shotokai, he was seeking the way of Human Being through self control and
mind peace. Harada's death is not very clear, but the myth says in a
last moment of lucidity, he travelled deep within Hell to burry himself
and his secret.

I now fear that the Myth has become reality. Some of my lieutenants reported
that an expedition back from Hell was carrying out a strange Box covered
with 'unidentified symbols'. Hehe... I guess those symbols are not so
unfamiliar to someone who's spent most of his life wandering through
'eastern lands'. It seems that Coven and Iscariots learned about it
too... hummm... This strange Box would better be kept within our walls
before someone unwise tries to understand its content.'

Words from Egami Shalizar, the Kagemusha.

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Legendary Times is published by the gods of LegendMUD. Please send all
replies/additions 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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Volume Five Issue Four

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