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Newsletters
February 14, 2001
In this week's issue:
*********VALENTINE'S EDITION*************
Congratulations
Congratulations to Tleilaxu and Arcum, the new number one and number two Shadows, and congratulations to Gelltor, the new number two Guardians.
Finally, congratulations to all those who've participated in the many quests that were held recently within the realm. and to those who've won.
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Ramblings From Seluctruh's Lair
Gothic Romaticism
A cold rush of air blew through the lair of the Dark Lord. Many nights had passed since he had heard from friends he once held dear. The time was not right to feel sorry for himself. There was much that needed to be done and time was running out. It was if the weight of the world was upon his shoulders.
He walked slowly to the open window and glanced out at the night sky. His tired eyes focused upon a black hole that only he could see. The future was revealed to him often as he saw through both space and time. He rubbed his eyes and continued to concentrate his gaze upon the never ending field of darkness. Emotionless, he turned from the window and shook his head.
He took out a long scroll and set it upon the table. Grabbing a feather quill, he quickly dipped it into a vial of blood and began to pen a note to all who would listen.
"Greetings!
My name is not important but I have a quest for all who wish to participate. By the time you finish reading this you will know who I am anyway. Bring to me fresh hearts still full of warm, sweet blood. I need to feel alive once more. To those who do me this favor, I shall grant you glory.
The Dark One made a motion with his hands and the scroll disappeared. In the Windy Bluff Town Square the scroll appeared for all to read.
Muhaaaahaaaaa
The Dark Lord
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The Darkstone Grimoire
Graisyndel wandered a little way ahead of the group as they listened to Corin Talor's account of recent events.
"...The Karim, as my people were known of old, are a hardy people. Even in happier days the byways of Bar-Gith were not without their danger and we have ever had to endure the suspicion of others." His eyes sparkled as he added "We are a light-fingered and acquisitive people after all!
"...But these latest attacks, they are something different. They come with a frequency and are marked by a diabolical nature and savage ferocity the like of which is beyond even the worst atrocities of the Darkling drow."Cogline Boh nodded at this and asked in turn, "But they are beasts of the forest? You said that the attacks were by beasts of the forest, did you not?"
"I did, and for a long while we thought so. Some wild, crazed beast. Maybe something that had wandered out of the deeper recesses of Bar-Gith and acquired a taste for human flesh. We could see no other explanation, so long as their were no survivors...but, of course, we sent out hunting parties. Numerous and well armed lest the attacks prove to be of more sinister origin, led by the drow, orcish raiders or some such. What they found and what they spoke of is what convinced me to call all of the Wandering Folk to this place, though it grieves us to linger too long anywhere.
"They spoke of beasts, yes, hideous beasts that sometimes ran on four legs and at others on two and who communicated as men do, though in a guttural and incomprehensible tongue. But they also spoke of something else. Some described it as a noise; a booming sound that seemed to emanate from all around. As though the forest about had gained a voice but an evil and furious . Some spoke of the forest alive; of plants and trees that rent and tore flesh, that tripped and trapped and...devoured." The gypsy leader looked at the three druids who walked with him and the expressions on their faces. His own hardened as he added, "And they were brave men and women, the sort who can be trusted not to flee even when faced with insuperable odds. The sort who tell the truth about that which might cause them to break and run in panic and disarray."
Cywry nodded, her expression compassionate, "We do not doubt your word Corin Talor, though you speak of such things as are beyond our knowledge even as guardians of the forest." She said but her look changed to one of surprise at Cogline's confession. "I, too, do not doubt your word, Karim, for our lore," and he looked quickly from Cywry to Jornel before looking back to Corin, "our deepest lore, the secrets that we keep even from our own until they have reached a certain standing, speak of such forces. They were chained long ago and forever, or so we dared hope...It is my great fear and that of the Ladybirch that an ancient evil is free again in Bar-Gith. If such be true then it is dire news, indeed, for we, the druids, are not strong as we once were and our numbers are few.
"I and Sylphus are the only ones of our order who have complete knowledge of druidic lore and even such as Cywry and Jornel here are less numerous than would be hoped."
As if the mention of her name were a prompt, Cywry asked, "What then is this evil that you speak of?"
"Yes," said Jornel, "and why is it that knowledge of such has been kept from us? We may not be as powerful as you, yourself Cogline but surely there is no need to hide knowledge from us." Cogline Boh's forehead was beginning to crease into a frown but suddenly he changed the retort he was about to utter and instead announced:
"Look, Graisyndel is ready for us now. You shall have to wait until we reach the Ladybirch for your answers." and, more sternly, "Pray that our journey there is a safe one. We have taught you enough to know the perils of portals, have we not?"
Jornel bit his tongue to hold back his reply as they entered a clearing in the forest open to a night sky in which the stars shone like frosty jewels. Graisyndel stood in the middle of the clearing watching them as they approached.
"I will sing for you the Song of Passage," he said. "This skill was taught to me by Nema Mena, the greatest bard that ever was and whose artistry has gained him a place amongst the immortals." At this he looked up at the sky and gestured, "You can see there, beside the constellation of Tatianna's shield, the new constellation that represents his famed lyre."
The group followed his gesture until they all stood necks craned upwards, listening intently.
"This is a song from the Grand Minstrel's repertoire and one that, on the mortal plane, none sings as well as I but I tell you all, there are horrors within the portals. Some pass without incident, it is true, but many more face what they fear most, a good many are wounded physically or spiritually by their encounters and then there are those who never leave...are you ready?"
As one they nodded their assent and stepped back as the bard spread his arms and began to sing.
Darkenvai spread his arms as he made the leap from the rugged bluff. With his cloak billowing out behind him and his descent barely controlled by the incantations that tumbled from his lips, he resembled some great bat or bird of prey swooping. Fully ten fathoms did he plunge, the cliff face behind him and the great cedars on either side flashing past in a blur, only to land with barely a jolt on a grassy hummock in a crouching position and ready, immediately, to depart.
Back up on the bluff Frater Arnuin of the White Knights reined in his horse furiously, his eyes bulging with fear as the beast skittered and slewed to a stop dangerously close to the edge of the precipice. For a couple of heart beats all he could hear were his own ragged breaths and the tumbling of little rocks loosened by his skidding halt. Then the sounds of his companions behind him aroused him.
"Do you see the fiend? Is he dashed to pieces on the ground below?" From his vantage point it was no problem to see where the vampire had landed. For a moment Arnuin dared hope that the crouched position that the vampire was in indicated some form of injury. However, even as he watched, the monster's giant head turned and the Frater found himself looking directly into blood red eyes which blazed with volcanic intensity and a mocking malevolence.
"Well?" Knight-Lieutenant Loric asked, jumping down from his own horse and peering over the edge. "Surely none could survive such a fall. All we have to do is climb down and pick up the broken..." The Knight-Lieutenant stopped as he too saw the vampire, standing upright now and staring up at the two White Knights. "By Tarin's sword, how?"
The two were joined by a third but this was no knight. Though he wore a mail shirt and vambrace and greaves, the metal was dulled and over all he wore a cloak of darkest green. He bore a long bow and though it was obvious that he traveled on foot the two horsemen had scarcely outpaced him. "The fiend has allies amongst the elements and can coerce even those opposed to him. However, his powers are limited by the blood that he must drink. We have led him a merry chase and I have little doubt but that the thirst is upon him mightily now. He will not have resort to such tricks much longer. The pursuit is near an end, I feel, Tatianna willing."
"How is it, ranger," asked the Knight-Lieutenant, annoyed at what he took to be the ranger's lecturing tone, "that you revere the lady Tatianna above almighty Tarin?" . "You would be well advised to..."
"I am Zendel, first amongst the rangers of the north." the newcomer interjected, his eyes narrowing. " I am here at the request of the Knight-Protectress, YOUR lady Kayla and who I worship is my concern. YOU, would be well advised to hurry back along the path. There is no way down for you and your horses here." Before the reddening Knight- Lieutenant could say anything, Zendel turned and started to jog back to the party of rangers and horsemen that had congregated. He began to issue orders and many of the rangers immediately reached into their packs to produce long, supple ropes. Loric returned the look that his junior knight gave him. "Let us make haste, that we may descend this height quicker than those fly-footed fools."
At first, Graisyndel's song had been merry, even a little bawdy in places, she couldn't quite be sure, but the song had brought an enormous grin to Jornel's face and he squeezed her hand tightly in his enjoyment. But then, abruptly, the song had changed and to her ears it had become heartbreakingly sorrowful and her instinct was to go to the singer and offer her comfort.
However, Jornel first tightened his grip on her hand and then grabbed her other arm to restrain her and the commotion earned them a reprimanding look from Cogline Boh.
Refusing, however, to meet the Head Druid's gaze, the young elf's eyes alighted on the face of Corin Talor and she noticed that his cheeks were wet with tears. She wondered what it was that the song said to him. For herself, she could not understand the words. It was not that they were in a language foreign to her, merely that their sense seemed to elude her as though she were not entirely concentrated on them. And yet they suggested...they suggested the greatest of tragedies. Yes, he sang of some great sadness that had occurred when... And just when she thought that she had understood and that she too would surely cry, the minstrel changed his pitch, his rhythm and his tempo.
Now it were as if he were engaged in battle and he swung his voice high as though it were a might sword and then low, a doughty shield interposed. Again and again the blows rang and then the volume of his voice increased and the thousand throats of an army's trumpets snarled and mailed battalions clashed on a bloody field. War cries were hurled and then... and then before them a gaping, smokey hole opened up. "This portal, " said the bard in solemn tones, "by Nema's good grace should take you to the vicinity of the Ladybirch. I pray that you find no more than the exit. Who will enter first?"
Darkenvai grinned humourlessly as he headed off. The time that the knights and rangers would take to descend from the crag would allow him to extend his lead and thus permit him to implement the plan that might, just might see him evade capture and kill a few White Knights into the bargain.
Whilst the forest grew thinner here, the way was steep and great rocks and mounds sprouted at random intervals. Between them there twisted and turned a bewildering number of gravelly paths resembling a maze. The rangers, he knew, would advance with caution, rightly fearing an ambush. The White Knights, he would be prepared to wager high odds, would simply dash headlong down the paths getting hopelessly lost and separated just long enough for Darkenvai to take that which he needed.
Knight-Lieutenant Loric had led the helter-skelter charge down to the forest floor. Several of the younger knights - he had noted which and would punish them accordingly - had fallen from their horses but, as he had hoped, they had beaten the overly cautious rangers. Even now they were only starting to congregate at the foot of the cliff. "White Knights," he roared, "for Tarin, the Darkstone and honour! Follow me!" Slamming closed his visor he dug his spurs deep into his mount's flanks and thundered up the first path that offered itself to him. Several of the younger Fraters followed him whilst others, hoping, no doubt to overtake the Knight-Lieutenant had taken others.
Darkenvai crouched beneath a low overhang, looking like some great cat ready to pounce, and closed his eyes. He let his farsight travel out beyond the immediate surroundings until he detected the approaching White Knights and the rangers still way behind them. Were it not for their overwhelming numbers, he would have laughed at the folly of their approach. As it was he focused his farsight, choosing his prey with all of the murderous arbitrariness with which a lion picks out a wildebeest.
Frater Arnuin gritted his teeth and through the narrow slit of his helm glared murderously at the back of his Knight-Lieutenant. Seconds before the Frater had been on the verge of overtaking his commander with the deftest of demonstrations of horsemanship but the Knight-Lieutenant had flailed at him with a gauntleted fist, warning him not to. Now Arnuin cursed that he had not simply ignored his senior and then pleaded away his action later.
Accordingly, when the two came to a bifurcation in the road and the Knight-Lieutenant took the left branch, Arnuin took the right hoping, by Tarin, to gain ground. He urged his steed to greater efforts but then swore once more as, turning a blind corner, he careened into a sudden dead-end. For all that he cursed, he thereby avoided the bloody fate that was to be his commander's that day.
Loric, mad with the thrill of the chase and half-blinded by his visored helm, knew nothing of the attack until it was too late. He may have been aware of a great black blur as it streaked from a dark recess but by then he was already falling from his mount. He struck the hard-packed earth as he had countless times at tilt practice and during his younger days at the many tourneys in which he loved to participate. To his credit he had the wherewithal to tense himself and so even when he slammed into the ground the shock did not wind him. Indeed, afforded half a moment he would be back on his feet and ready to respond. Darkenvai, however, did not afford him that moment. Without ceremony and with scarcely a grunt, he placed a mighty boot on the knight's groin and swung the great curved battleaxe he bore over his head and brought it down with terrifying force into the centre of the knight's chest. Loric convulsed once and died.
Wasting no time, Darkenvai wrenched his axe free of the Knight-Lieutenant's breastplate and then, making use of the rent there, peeled back the armour as though he were unwrapping a sweetmeat and fell to his feast with gusto. The unfortunate Loric's heart no longer served to pump blood around the body so Darkenvai was forced to suck ferociously at the wound in order to slake his thirst. And yet, barely a minute later, the vampire stood, his chin bright with blood his whole body suffused with a lethal, pulsing vitality. Gathering his fallen axe, he ran on.
Cywry watched as the shifting, smoky surface of the portal closed around Cogline Boh's slowly disappearing form. The Druid had borne a grim expression as he entered the portal. It was not his first time.
Looking behind her, Cywry cast a glance at Jornel who nodded and gave her an encouraging smile. "Fear not, my love," he reassured her. "I shall be right behind you." And, taking a deep breath as though she were about to swim under water, Cywry too entered the portal.
Portal lore was not unknown to the young elf, she had read many accounts. But her first impression was one of disappointment. There were none of the demons with gnashing teeth and rending claws, nor any of the long lost relatives with pleading eyes that were so common to the tales of portal. There was...nothing. And it was then that the first inkling of came to her. She new this dark, featureless void from before. Only recently had she been here and... "Cywwwwrrrryyyyyyyyy!" The cold trickle of fear turned to a gushing torrent. But this could be no dream, surely.
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The Gambit Report
Greetings and salutations good people of the Darkstone. Time for another, long awaited, Gambit report. Your dose of Darkstone gossip and rumors...but there is always truth between the lines. Look hard, you'll find it :P
Killing in the name of .....
So there have been a few pkills and illegal lootings and such. Well, that happens. That's the danger of mudding, and the danger of running your mouth. It seems to me that the people who whine the most about being pkilled or looted seem to be the same people that have attacked and killed, attacked and disarmed, logged and looted etc. others. I think there is such a thing as karma..what goes around comes around friends..a truer statement I do not know. Its always the same email addresses that send these statements..If you take a look at the posts since the mud has restarted 65% of them are by Icabus (and chars), Traim (and chars), Dain (and chars), and Aserak. There is a pattern here.
Quests on the up and up
Ha! Who would have ever thought it possible..but yes..there have been quests and lots of em. I think the cat is out of the bag in terms of the fact that I am Zaradali so I want to promote the level 45-50 quest. I have two teams as of right now, 2 more and its show time! On top of the some 7 quests I have ran since heroing, there have been others as well. Marenil has put together a few here and there as with Siuanne. If you have a quest you want to run: Tell me about it and we can make it happen.
Valentines
Its coming guys. No really it is. You have to give that girl that sits next to you in the computer lab a card or something. Pssst .you might want to shower that day as well. I know some of the females on the mud will be waiting for you to shower them with gifts. Seria will surely be happy to get something and she'll be responding in her quasi-english "Tank u..it hard te type wit nails on" :P . Honestly..this a great opportunity for rp...see what you can come up with :)
Props:
- I have seen two real newbies this week alone..I love it!
- The riddle night of last week. I was really impressed by Galdren, Jornel and Vulcan..you guys are pretty quick :)
Slops:
- People who dominate/charm mobs and then drop in in TS or use them to annoy others. This means you Derease .and any others who do this. Seriously, that was not the intention of that skill. ...grow up
Gamby :P
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Cywry's Commentary
The last couple of weeks have seen many good tales emerge with respect to the demise of the City of Shadows, and the Dark Lord's confession as to "what really happened". Oops! As he mentioned in his note to the mailing list, we are hard at work making some changes, so that when City of Shadows returns, it will be more than what it was before. Those who miss the area as a good place for leveling will be happy to know that it won't be long now.
February 14th approaches.. Valentine's day in Darkstone, and in other universes as well. Perhaps this occasion will bring a spirit of love to the realm, not just the romantic kind (though that's fun) but the kind that will lead people to be warm and kind to one another, instead of killing and looting. Its sad to see the mailing list full of sorry tales of lost equipment and advice about not giving out your password.
Will there be any special Valentine quests tomorrow night? Who knows.. but it might be a good time to give your sweetheart a red rose, or check out the diamond rings that the jeweller in Aina is selling.
Question: What is the most romantic spot in Darkstone? Send your replies to me, and they will appear in the next newsletter.
For this edition there are no interviews. Next edition we will begin discussing the different races that inhabit Darkstone. Anyone wishing to tell me what it feels like to be an elf or a pixie, an eldari or a troll, please forward your comments on to me.
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Until next time, Happy Valentine's Day, and may your world be filled with all the hearts and flowers you could desire.
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