May 2009

Fallen Friends Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 28, 2009 at 1:01 AM CDT Last night, a group of adventurer's was presented a 'job' opportunity by a petty criminal in Vesper. The man instructed them to head to the Yew Crypts to meet with a contact who would outline the particulars of their new employment. Being ever curious, I tagged along hoping for an expose of Britannia's criminal underbelly. We got more than we bargained for… The contact waiting in the depths of the crypts was none other than the ebon-cloaked Andrew, puppet of the Shadowlords and coconspirator in the murder of Clainin. Recognized by only a few, we listened to the task he wished performed in the service of his masters - for the benefit of Pauper. Apparently, Pauper had tasked two mages with researching something for him and they had both decided to withhold the information. Pauper wanted these mages 'dealt with,' and the research recovered. Feeling very uneasy, the group split up to retrieve two notebooks; one in Ilshenar, the other in the Fire Dungeon. I went with the group to the Fire Dungeon where we acquired the research notes from a group of mages. The other group obtained a journal from the ratmen in Ilshenar. Once the books were secured, we returned to Andrew. Most of the Ilshenar group departed shortly after we arrived and presented the requested book to the despicable man. We were rewarded with the release of a skeletal 'Soulgathering Dragon' which promptly tore into those remaining. Several brave Britannians lost their lives in the battle to defeat Andrew's pet. Their sacrifice distracted the beast long enough to allow the survivors to defend and escape. A brief memorial will be held for the fallen at 12pm CST on Saturday, May 30th. Mourners are to gather at the Counselor's Hall in northern West Britain. Lanterns have been placed commemorating Rhanaghar and Tattoo of the Guild of Friends, a mystical llama and Sweet Lil Mary of Chicken Fight Club, and Ra'Dian Fl'Gith of Cult of the Azure Dragon. The High Council observed a moment of silence during their meeting this evening. Ra'Dian Fl'Gith had served several terms on the Council as the High Chancellor and High Justicar. The Britannian Armed Forces has pledged to seek out Andrew, and his malevolent masters, and bring them to justice. Rest in peace friends, may your sacrifice lead to a stronger Britannia! Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria [Discuss This Article]

West Britain Farm Incident - Investigation Update Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 26, 2009 at 2:59 PM CDT Originally posted May 26th, 2009 by EM Iatu on the Great Lakes EM Site: Last night, Tomas gathered the Royal Guard. Before spreading his own news, he asked those gathered to pass along the evidence they had. Martyna Z’muir told Tomas about two sets of notes found near the West Britain farms. One was a note written by an orc, that seemed to say the orcs were trying to find a potion to cure diseased food. The second was signed very similarly to the journal of Imperus Noxum, instructing another to locate some seeds. From these notes, it seemed as though the orcs were framed by Imperus Noxum, and not at fault for the green flecks found in the Britain Farms. Tomas had more news, however. Some of his scouts tracked two groups of orcs, following them from the Orc Caves to Yew and Skara Brae farms. The orcs replaced some fresh turnips with diseased turnips, and then fled back to their caves. With all the known evidence, Tomas was uncertain how to proceed, and asked for feedback from those gathered. It was decided that the Volunteer Royal Guard would still attack the orc cave, but do so with care to avoid casualties on both sides - focusing on finding a source of the green flecks and removing any stored flecks from the orcs. In the Orc Caves, the Volunteer Royal Guards destroyed a number of diseased corpsers, and even more orcs. Three journals were found, and a single bottle full of a green dust. The journals suggested that the orcs believed humans had come and poisoned their corpsers, and retaliated in kind against humans. After leaving, Tomas again evaluated the evidence in hand. He obtained the location of the instructions that Martyna had found, and brought the book to a royal scribe. The scribe told Tomas that the instructions appeared to have a similar, but much more shaky handwriting than the original journal of Imperus Noxum. Even though this cast some doubt on the true identity of the author, Tomas urged people to find Imperus Noxum. He did add that people should keep an open mind when searching, however, to help find any other leads they might be able to locate. Before the night was through, an orc arrived at the Volunteer Royal Guard hall. The orc begged for peace, and Tomas promised that as long as no orcs attacked Britannia, no orders would come from Britannia to attack the orcs. After the orc left, Tomas spoke privately with Magnus for a short while. After they finished talking, Tomas and Magnus shared a little about a person known only as “Pauper”, suggesting that people search for this man as well as for Imperus, or whoever wrote the seed gathering instructions. (Side note: If you could let us know if there are things you find really fun, or really not fun with the events directly related to the West Britain Farm Incident, that would be appreciated. We haven’t heard a whole lot of feedback about this one so far, and always want to hear what you all think.) **Update: Investigation on hold until Sunday at the earliest. Many old clues are still available for those who have missed them, but no new clues.** [Discuss This Article]

Royal Spy Training and Mission Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 22, 2009 at 9:33 PM CDT Originally posted May 22nd, 2009 by EM Malachi on the Great Lakes EM Site: Royal Spy Mission - May 26th at 8pm CST at the West Britain Counselor’s Hall. Royal Spy Training - All Week. Information also in a book at the Hall! Codebreaker Training Information: Visit James and say the word “cryptography” to him. He can be found at Castle British’s library. He will teach you about cryptography. After he has finished covering the basics, he will test you. Go over the answers with him as he is testing you. Also please keep your final answers in this book with your name. Thank you. Sample Book: Name: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. [Discuss This Article]

West Britain Farm Incident - Investigation Update Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 22, 2009 at 9:27 PM CDT Originally posted May 22nd, 2009 by EM Iatu on the Great Lakes EM Site: Orcs have set up camp near the West Britain farms! Does this mean the orcs are behind the green flecks that seem to have poisoned the farmers’ animals, Megan, and now even a town crier? That was the thought, but Tomas had doubts after seeing a journal and set of instructions that Martyna found at the orc camp. Tomas and Magnus both thought the text seemed a bit unusual for orcs to have written it. Tomas asked those gathered to keep looking, and try to find any clues to help find the real culprit behind the problems, learn why the orcs are there, and make sure no other farms are having problems. Good luck on the search! (Quick note: the oracles [npcs that respond to keywords] won’t be of much help right now, and there will be an event Monday night… but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to find before then!) [Discuss This Article]

High Council Meeting Postponed Submitted by DaKaren on May 22, 2009 at 4:37 PM CDT The High Council of Britannia meeting scheduled for Monday, May 25th has been postponed until Wednesday, May 27th at 8pm CST due to Memorial Day. Have a safe and happy holiday! -High Chancellor Dakaren

Update: Orcs Continue to Encroach on Britain Farms Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 21, 2009 at 2:51 AM CDT Continuing to follow up on the mysterious livestock deaths on the west Britain farms, I happened to stumble upon a partially constructed orc camp. Many orc grunts wandered the area around the camp, just north of the northern-most farm. While they did not currently appear to be supported by any of the more powerful orcish ranks, the grunts did not take kindly to being discovered. Unfortunately for them, they were sub-standard warriors and fell quickly to well cast energy bolts. How did the orcs slip enough grunts into the valley to begin construction on a camp without being spotted? Could this be the prelude to a new attack on Britain? Watch this camp closely, friends! Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria [Discuss This Article]

Orcish Endeavors Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 17, 2009 at 11:08 PM CDT Two weeks ago, a source revealed to agents of the Ruling Council that orcs in Yew had received plans and material for the construction of a new form of automaton, a blackrock golem. The orcs were said to be constructing these war machines seep in their mine beneath the Serpent's Spine Mountains. Acting on this alarming intelligence, an assault force was assembled and swiftly laid siege to the mine. After fighting their way through abnormally large clusters of orcs, they found the golem assembly area and discovered that several prototype blackrock golems had been created. The blueprints for the golem's creation were recovered during the battle, and later linked to a mysterious criminal known as 'Pauper.' This same criminal has been linked to the death of Clainin, the murder of a meer dignitary, and smuggling. A week later, the Volunteer Royal Guard assembled after Dylan Krisnos, a craftsman working on the new mountain base, was taken captive. The signs of orcish involvement were obvious, and once again the orcish mine was laid siege. Throngs of orcs and lone golem were defeated, and the bruised and battered craftsman was rescued. The VRG fought their way back out of the mine and through the orc valley. Dylan was left in the tender care of the skilled hands in Deep Forest Healing of Yew. Construction on the VRG base has recommenced. Recently, orcs have been implicated in the strange deaths of livestock in the fields west of Britain. Cows, pigs, and a sheep all perished mysteriously a few days ago - not a mark on their bodies. Mysterious green flecks were found on the crops growing in the nearby fields, only wheat appeared untouched. The V.R.G. investigated and a suspect was taken into custody for questioning by Captain Savos. He blamed the deaths at the farms on orcs, and was later released due to a lack of any evidence. I returned to the farms today to see if I could gather any further clues, and found that several of the farmers scoffed at the idea of orcish activity. However, as I checked to see if any of the blighted crops remained in the fields an orcish scout's arrow whizzed past my ear. The scout's death was swift. I considered this attack to be a coincidence, the act of a solitary stray orc. The next field I surveyed contained another orcish scout, which perished as swiftly as the first... The orcs have, or had as some believe, a mysterious benefactor. They've built blackrock golems. And now they are caught lurking in fields near the capitol, potentially tampering with our food supply. History has taught us the orcs can be just as cunning as any other foe, we must remain vigilant. Watch the orcs, watch for signs of 'Pauper.' Join the Volunteer Royal Guards, join the Britannian Armed Forces Alliance and help keep Britannia safe! Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria [Discuss This Article]

Suspicious Events in the Britain Farms Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 16, 2009 at 3:53 PM CDT Originally posted May 16th, 2009 by EM Iatu on the Great Lakes EM Site: After a large number of sudden, unexplained animal deaths by the Britain Farms, an investigation was called for. Tomas requested the assistance of some Volunteer Royal Guards. Carina, one of the farmers, has been taken in for questioning about the deaths. The farmers have been notified about unusual green flecks that were noticed on their crops. Volunteers have been requested to continue investigating, as there is a lack of hard evidence against Carina. [Discuss This Article]

A tavern in Britain… Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 14, 2009 at 12:00 AM CDT Originally posted May 14th, 2009 by EM Malachi on the Great Lakes EM Site: Magnus read over the report and rubbed his eyes. He was missing something. Five weeks, and there was still no solution to this mystery. He tried to go through the pieces again: Joseph Wainwright was a Royal Spy who had been trustworthy for years. He was put in charge of keeping an eye on Trinsic Felucca. Some person known only as “Pauper” had turned him or bribed him. Because of this, some group of killers had been able to attack and kill Clainin there while no one was watching… Joseph knew too much and was on the run. The Royal Spies were after him. He was trapped in Wind. Pauper had sent forces to distract the Royal Spies, helping Joseph to escape, only to kill him shortly afterwards… A meer dignitary murdered. The killer given the means by the same Pauper. This killer cannot be questioned as she forced the spies into a deadly encounter that resulted in her death. The only clue about Pauper is a child’s poem… Magnus’s spy in Vesper, Albert, requests help, convinced someone is trying to kill him. An investigation shows Pauper’s influence in Vesper and Buc’s Den… The orcs were building war machines, protected by blackrock. Their supplier of both materials and methods is the same criminal, a criminal who can secure safe transport of such materials across Britannia’s own roads… A mysterious mine far to the south of Britain, Vesper, or the Orc Caves, filled with strange blackrock ore. Again, the cave has threads leading back to Pauper, and Pauper’s agents knew his spies were coming… Magnus started plotting the spots on a map. The crimes were large and far apart. It would take enormous power and resources to do these things. Who had these sort of resources? Magnus’s thoughts were interrupted by a messenger with a letter. It was from Tomas Savos. Magnus opened the letter. “That’s not good.” [Discuss This Article]

Orc Kidnaps Builder; Volunteer Guards Rescue Submitted by Martyna_Zmuir on May 10, 2009 at 12:00 AM CDT Originally posted May 10th, 2009 by EM Iatu on the Great Lakes EM Site: A group of orcs took a builder of the Volunteer Royal Guard Hall, Dylan Krisnos, captive. Tomas gathered up a force of Volunteer Guards, and went off searching for him. The hunt started at the Orc Fort near the construction site, but quickly moved to the Orc Cave as the force noticed a gate at the Fort. The guards battled their way deep into the cave, where they found Krisnos being held by a few high ranking orcs, and a rusty orcish war golem. After a quick battle, the orcs were defeated, and Krisnos was escorted out. The rescuers faced a number of attacks from orcs even as they fled the valley, but succeeded in bringing Krisnos to the Deep Forest Healers in Yew. Krisnos’ wounds have now been healed, and he is resting at his home. The orcs seem to have withdrawn… at least for now. [Discuss This Article]

Massive Update to the Great Lakes Section Submitted by DaKaren on May 7, 2009 at 8:04 PM CDT The Great Lakes pages have had a massive update, and will continue to be update through the weekend. The Events Calendar and Ventrilo have been permanantly moved to that section. Pages for the government of Great lakes have been added. You may now give links to people that point directly at the GL pages: http://gl.uorpc.net Enjoy! [Discuss This Article]