The Courant: May 2002

May 24, Friday

Zoo keeper of Moonglow needs thy help! - Videric

Greetings fellow Britannians, Many years ago Britannia Zoo was a sight to behold indeed! Creatures large and small from throughout the realm were on display, kept lovingly in the environment to which they were accustomed. As I am sure many of you are aware, since those glorious days the zoo has fallen into a state of utter dilapidation, and all the animals have long since departed. Where there was once the orchestra of a thousand animals, there is silence. I hope you all agree this is a tragedy in it’s own right, thus I have decided it’s time for action! ... Read the rest and the meeting time from: UO-Europe: Boroni’s challenge

May 17, Friday

It is Spring Fest Time! - Elv'eng

We got this from Spiritwood: Hear Ye, Hear ye, Hear ye! It is Spring Fest Time! Many have been the changes in our realm; wars, invasions, new lands, strange new customs all have made their ways to us; Many have been the tear shed for lost friend or hand extended in welcome to new face. But one thing remains always constant; The town of Spiritwood, with its renowned tavern, famed events, friendly if stubborn locals, ever persevering to stand as an open settlement for all who would come in peace to share in the rich community of our realm. Following a long and glorious tradition of celebrating this, our shared community, it is time once more for the fabled town of Spiritwood to once again throw its doors wide as we host a grand celebration for the entire realm! It is with great joy that the town and populous of Spiritwood announces their forth annual Spring Festival! This year’s Spring Fest shall be held on Sunday the 19th of May. The event will start at 19:00 CET (6 pm UK time) and run throughout the night in Spiritwood town, Felucca. All are welcome who come in peace. Here is an outline of the evening festivities: 1- A Scavenger Hunt – 19:00 CET, 6 pm UK time. This event will be set in and around Spiritwood town, where contestants collect a number of items hinted at in a book of clues. Tarnak, master of the Executioners Guild will oversee this event. At the start of the event, contestants will gather outside of the famed Spiritwood Tavern, where all participants will be handed a book with nine clues, pointing to 14 items all of which may be found in or around the region of Spiritwood town. The person to first deliver all the 14 items in a backpack to Tarnak during the festival wins. If none managed to collect all the items, then the person that delivers the most items by 21:00 CET wins. 2- Boxing Championships – 19:30 CET, 6:30 pm UK time This event will be held on the rooftop of the Tower of the Custodes Fati, in the heart of Spiritwood. Contestants will be asked to remove all armour, weapons, bandages and potions and will be expected to strip down to a minimum of clothing, (AR 0). They will be issued with a pair of regulation red boxing gloves and be set against one another in a series of elimination bouts. These will lead to a final match between the two most successful fighters. The last man or woman standing takes the title. Betting on matches is encouraged. This event will be overseen by Barak and Grathen of the Custodes Fati. 3- Mages’ Beasts battles 20:30 CET, 7:30 UK time. This event will take place on the grounds before the tower of the Custodes Fati. Mages wishing to compete will take part in a series of one on one matches. Each match will have a time limit of three minutes only. Within this time, mages may cast any summoning spell, (EXCEPT Energy Vortex and Blade Spirits). Bears, elementals, minor deamons may be thrown into the arena against one another. No pre-existing “pets” may be used. Only what may be summoned then and there is allowed. Mages may NOT directly attack either their opponents or their opponent’s summoned beasts, or be attacked by them. Summoned creatures can only be instructed to attack other creatures. Mages may cast additional spells ONLY to heal or cure their OWN summoned creatures. There is no limit on how many creatures are summoned by participating mages, but every creature MUST be given the same name of at least five letters long. Mages will announce this name prior to the start of the bout. At the end of the three minutes, the winner will be determined by how many beasts are left standing and what names they have. This event will be hosted by myself, Shri. 4- Poetry Competition. 21:30 CET, 8:30 pm UK time This event will be held on the rooftop theatre of the Spiritwood Town Hall The goal of the event is to test your creative skills by challenging all to compose a short poem based on a pre-determined theme, namely the Virtues. No poems that are NOT associated with this theme will be admitted for competition. All participants must have their poem ready to submit in written form in a book for the Judges to review, after the contestant has recited it publicly for all. Once all poems have been recited in turn, and then handed over to the Judging panel to consider, a winning entry will be chosen. Ms. Terri will be hosting this event, and will be joined by a specially selected panel of impeccably well-cultured judges. 5- The Great Drunken Relay Race 22:30 CET, 9:30 pm UK time This event will be held in the heart of Spiritwood and will involve teams who are required to consume vast amounts of alcohol, race around a set path completing a series of humiliating tasks, all the while successfully handing off a flag or baton of some sort between the members of the team. More details will be forthcoming on the day, but rumor has it that this event will be staged by a band of upstanding citizens from the Custodes Fati guild…..betting, cheering and jeering are expected from all spectators. 6- Tavern party and darts competitions. Throughout the evening, there will be drinks and good cheer on hand at the famed Spiritwood Tavern for the benefit of all who come to share in these festivities. In addition, Mortimer, one of the beloved bar staff at the tavern, will be hosting a series of Darts Tournaments. These may take the form of team events or singles matches. Rumor has it that winners will be lavished with free drinks all night! You can find the Spiritwood Town if you follow these directions: If you start at the Skara Brae docks on the main land, go east. Take the second road to your right (south). Keep going south until the road turns eastwards and passes through the local farms that run along the coastline. Keep following it and you will end up in Spiritwood. From the end of the road, go a little to the northeast and you'll see two large brick houses. The eastern one is the Spiritwood Tavern. The sextant coordinates are: 65S 27W and we are on Felucca. Shri Custodes Fati Spiritwood

May 10, Friday

1st Magincian Masquerade Overview - Elv'eng

At Sunday 5th of May,at 7:00 pm GMT , was held the first ever to happen Masquerade in Magincia. Many had been waiting for such an event to happen as visitors had arrived even before the actual starting time! Hal, Gnome Hireling and general event organiser of the Magincia Merchant League had set all the tables around the Council Hall, along with the Pixies who where kind to put some tables and stools for the guests to sit. Ribbons of all colors where placed at the walls and the hired mercenaries of the South Beach Mercenary Company guarded the entrance so that no one of ill attitude enter inside. Themselves(the mercenaries) they where disguised as well and it was difficult to make sure who was the actual guard and who was the one in disguise! Decker, Wandering Merchant of the Magincia Merchant League did keep the people entertained and himself wore a very clever disguise, a suit which had colors that almost made him invisible! He did try juggling some apples but failed... After half an hour, came the host of the party , Gerrick Adarastos, the Merchant Prince of Magincia. After he arrived many entertaining events happened including a Pixie Dance, Songs where sang and Jokes being told! All and all it was a happy experience and it will be repeated in the near future. This event was hosted by the Magincia Merchant League (http://www.mgn.multiservers.com). If you wish to keep up with what goes in Magincia for the moment do not hesitate to visit our web-site at http://scroll.to/magincia!

May 4, Saturday

Symptoms - Elv'eng

“Clainin! Behind you!” Dawn leapt through the air over Clainin’s head as he ducked. She brought her grandfather’s sword down into the head of a bogling, splitting it neatly in half. The beast gurgled out a final squeal as it shivered to the ground and almost instantly started to decompose. Dawn looked around the clearing quickly to see if any more of the plant monsters threatened to attack, but they seemed to be safe for the moment. The Juka were still concentrated in the inner city, safely away. “Fascinating!” Clainin leaned down close to the dead creature and began scraping bits of it into glass bottles. “I’m very glad that you find this so interesting,” Dawn chided him. “But there was no reason for you to come with me to Yew if you wanted bits of bogling. I could have brought them back for you.” She tugged on her armor awkwardly. “And I could have taken this armor off sooner.” Clainin stayed fixated on the bogling corpse while he worked. “That is the armor of a Royal Knight, Dawn, you should be honored to wear it.” “I am honored… I just wish that being honored were a bit more comfortable. I could fight better in my own clothes. Not to mention maintain some of my modesty.” “I think I know how you feel… figuratively speaking.” Clainin looked up at her and grinned. “Nystul’s lab still feels a bit too big for me. But, like everyone, I have a duty and I am adjusting to his absence.” Dawn sheathed her sword and sat on a fallen log near Clainin. “Speaking of absence, why did Dupre not accompany you? You said this mission was important; I assumed he would be here.” “Faction business.” He held up the bottle and peered intently at the contents as he spoke. “That blasted war is wearing him out. And you’re right, this mission is important, which is why you’re here. Dupre trusts you implicitly.” He looked at Dawn and smiled. “Who wouldn’t trust a Royal Knight?” She smirked at Clainin, “So you can trust me with the details of the mission?” “Ah, yes, I’m sorry. I’ve been so caught up in this…” he looked down at the corpse of the bogling which was starting to look like any other pile of decayed vegetation, “…mess. A representative of the Meer asked me to meet them here; they said it was drastically important. I can only assume it has something to do with our new plant friends.” Behind the pair a sparkle of light appeared, with a magical hum that grew louder as the illumination became brighter. Dawn quickly rose to her feet. She spun around with her sword at the ready. As the light faded, Adranath appeared with Dasha beside him. Dawn relaxed and sheathed her sword again. “You are very quick with your weapon, young one.” Dasha started to smile at Dawn, but began to cough violently. Adranath put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Clainin stepped forward nervously and bowed in front of the ancient Meer. “You must be Adranath. It is an honor to finally meet you.” Adranath’s brow wrinkled. He looked Clainin up and down and took a quick glance around the area. “I was to meet with the senior mage… he is detained?” Clainin looked at Dawn nervously and quickly back to Adranath. “I… I am the senior mage.” “One so young!” Adranath’s eyes widened with surprise. He could see Clainin was embarrassed. “You must be extraordinarily talented. Forgive me; the honor is mine.” He bowed deeply, much to Clainin’s relief. As he stood straight again he coughed, although he tried to conceal it between clenched teeth. Clanin spoke cautiously, “Forgive me for asking, Adranath… you and Dasha do not seem well. If you have need of cure potions I can provide you with some.” “No potion will aid us, I fear. We cannot stay for long; being so close to Yew makes our illness worse. But it was necessary to come here, so that I could see the damage we have caused.” “Damage?” Dawn asked. “There have been strange plant creatures appearing across the land, but I see no damage to Yew.” “The damage I speak of is the source of the beasts, and I fear it may be the source of more. In our attempt to stop the Juka attacks we may have done a great deal more harm than good.” The Eternal paused to cough again. “I can feel it growing beneath us just being here…” “Something is growing in Yew?” Clainin asked. “The decay.” Adranath answered. “An ancient spell of the Meer. In the past we used the decay only in times of great need when such a dark use of nature was the only option we could see for survival. The spell would seize our enemies and rot them into the soil within moments. Entire legions of Juka could be reduced to nothing. The decay was a horrible act of destruction that forces nature to do its darkest work.” “And you’ve used this spell here in Yew?” Dawn asked. “The Juka seem unaffected.” “We attempted it and something went wrong. We were not sure what exactly until the bog things began to appear. Nature is…different than it once was. Throughout the ages evil has corrupted it; forced it to change and adapt itself in ways unnatural. It skewed our decay spell into something much more powerful and, I believe, evil. Not only has it created the plant beasts but also it has corrupted the Meer with illness. We were preparing ourselves to attack the Juka when we fell ill.” Adranath was again struck with a fit of violent hacking coughs that made the humans uncomfortable just hearing them. “If this spell is still growing as you say then these monsters could be just the start of our worries. The way you describe it…the spell has affected the land itself?” Clainin couldn’t comprehend what such magic could do. “The prospects are frightening.” Dasha stepped forward, suppressing another attack of coughs before she spoke. “We have come to accept your offer of allegiance against the Juka.” Looking at Dawn, and clearly swallowing a great deal of her pride, Dasha held her hand out, palm forward with her fingers pointing up. After a moment Dawn lifted her own arm and held her palm in front of the Meer’s, unsure of what to do next. Dasha pressed their hands together and interlocked her fingers with Dawn’s and gripped firmly before releasing. The two smiled at each other for the first time. “You have my apologies for our arrogance,” Adaranth replied. We come from a time when humans were very different than they are now, the idea of needing your assistance before was…new…to us.” Adranath slowly turned and looked around the wilderness of Yew. “Now, we wish to help rectify the mistake we have made with our magic.” “What else will the spell do? Will we see more of these plant beasts?” Clainin asked. “I do not know.” The ancient Meer crouched down and put his hand to the ground. “The magic has infested the land here and nature is changed. Anything could happen. I can feel the decay below us and it will continue to grow in some way until it is stopped.” “We should get back to my laboratory.” Clainin said reaching for his spellbook. “I’ll be happy to assist you with preparing the cure.” “Cure?” Adranath asked between coughs. Before Clainin could speak again, a squishing sound came from the trees. The party turned to witness a huge mass crawling its way towards them. Twisted gaping mouths and misplaced eyes covered the outside of the creature appeared, only to sink back into the depths of the fleshy mass and reappear in a new place. Half of a deer corpse stuck awkwardly out of the side of the mound; the corpse was quickly pulled inside it with a sickening wet crunch. The misshapen mouths on the creature spit a few bloodied bones out as it progressed. Dawn readied her sword but at the sight of the foul fiend she was fully prepared to retreat if need be. “What is this horrid creature?” “Another product of the decay! It is now affecting flesh. I expect that used to be a normal forest creature of some kind that became infected and metamorphosed.” The Watcher turned to Clainin as he repressed his coughing. “I believe now we should make our exit.” Clainin had already started casting the moongate back to Britain before Adranath had finished speaking. A short moment later the four had passed through the portal and it vanished quietly as the slimy creature continued to move towards the city.

Seeds - Elv'eng

Aiella Leigh pulled her horse to a stop at what seemed like the thousandth tree of the day. As she dismounted and set her horse to graze, she glanced appreciatively at the heavy stand of trees in the thicket. It was good to be a bowyer in this part of Britannia, where oak, walnut, and o’hii rubbed shoulders with massive Yew trees. The wood was plentiful around her small brick house; the occasional ettin or giant spider that wandered through made the tedious chopping interesting. She was getting to be a fair hand using the axe as a weapon as well as a tool, although she preferred to use the sturdy bows that she crafted herself to protect herself, if need be. Recently, it seemed, a lot of people felt the same way. Aiella could barely keep her bows in stock; the hundreds of arrows that she had stocked only the day before were gone. Many of Britannia’s citizens apparently preferred to take on the jukas from a safe distance using archery or magic. She could hardly complain about the business, of course. It paid her vendors and provided gold for anything she might want or need. “Enough of this,” she said aloud. “We have work to do.” Before long, Aiella had fallen into the comfortable rhythm of chopping the wood and securing it in her llama’s pack. To her surprise, she worked undisturbed as Rama’s pack filled quickly with the wood she would need for dozens of bows, arrows, and bolts. It wasn’t until she had ridden north a ways, nearly to the city of Yew, that she began to realize that something was amiss. Duke, her normally steady riding horse, began to prance from one side to the next rather than trot forward on the path toward the settlement. Even fat Rama, who rarely showed interest in anything other than the fruits and grains she fed him, refused her command to follow. She peered cautiously through the trees in the direction that her animals gazed, ready to jab Duke with her heels if flight seemed like a good idea. Something was definitely moving up ahead. Instead of the Juka that she had anticipated seeing, an indistinct shape shambled toward her. She grasped her axe, wishing that she had bows instead of wood in Rama’s pack. It was something that she had never seen before—and in these unsettled times that could not be good. If it had not seen her, and had only been following the path as a matter of course, perhaps she stood a good chance to escape whatever it was. She quietly commanded Rama to follow again and urged Duke off the path, intending to walk him discreetly toward the northeast, and home. Though she hoped that she wouldn’t have to fight it, she continued to hold her axe at the ready. The creature barely seemed to notice as she rode within mere yards of it. It was difficult for her to tell where the beast stopped and the forest floor began, as if it were growing from the ground itself. It was as tall as an average-sized man, yet not like a man at all—and the breeze carried the stench of rotting vegetation over the three of them from its direction. Rama bleated and galloped off in a panic, drawing the creature’s attention. Aiella clapped her heels into Duke’s sides. He needed no urging to follow the fleeing llama. Even as they left the creature behind, however, the foul odor seemed to ensnare them from all sides. Far from retreating, Rama seemed to be leading her into the thick of the creatures. Aiella glanced over her shoulder to see if they’d left the one behind at least, only to find that now two were pursuing her, the new one smaller and more humanoid than the first. It couldn’t be! She hadn’t seen the second one anywhere nearby; it was as if it had sprung from the rotting vegetation. Ahead she could see another two—no, four—of the creatures. Aiella used all of her strength to turn Duke from them, toward the safety of the moongate, until she realized that a single warrior was being engulfed by their attacks. She once again turned the confused riding horse, sending him into the middle of the battle. Her axe swinging, she set upon the creature nearest the warrior. As the creature let out its death rattle, Aiella took the time to leap from Duke’s back. “Duke, attack!” she yelled over the clamor of the melee. Aiella fell in once again beside the warrior, without pausing to see if the horse obeyed. One glance from the corner of her eye told her all she needed to know about him. His armor had great gashes where rings had been destroyed; blood flowed from many wounds. She had not trained in field medicine, but she could tell she could do little for him, even if they should both survive. But together they had a better chance at survival, even in his weakened state. Finally, five creatures lay stretched dead before them and the air was still. The battle had not been won without a cost. Rama was dead and Duke limped badly on one of his hind legs. The warrior—whose name she still did not know, swayed unsteadily as he tried to bandage himself. It did not seem like a good idea to remain much longer. There was no telling when the sixth creature had escaped, or where it had gone. If it returned, even if it returned alone, they would not survive another attack. “Get on my horse,” she said to the warrior. She dragged him to his feet, sending his bandages flying in every direction. The wounded man put up a weak protest as she pulled him toward Duke. As she fought to get him on the horse’s back he crumpled to the ground. “It was like fighting quicksilver… they never stopped growing,” he said in a soft voice, shot through with amazement. His eyes closed for a final time. Aiella dropped to her knees to examine the warrior. He was dead. She would not struggle to get him away, not with a wounded horse and no assistance. She’d mark the place where he’d died and return—she needed the wood from Rama, in any case. As she rose from the ground, something caught her eye. The warrior had fallen near one of the creatures. Between them, on the ground, were a few oddly shaped seed-like objects in strange bright colors. Curiously but with haste, Aiella scooped up a handful and put them in her pouch. She mounted Duke and trotted him in the direction of the moongate. As the horse’s hoof left the ground its print began to fill with murky water. A few moments later the ground began to shift as vines and grasses slowly congealed into a mass that throbbed faster and faster as it grew.