Callie brushed a lock of blonde hair from her face as she finished posting the last of the fliers.

Event: Callie’s Notes (Part 2)

Date: Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Time: 7:00 pm PST / 10:00 pm EST

Location: EM Hall

Between her own uncertainty of what, exactly, happened to her in Exodus’ Dungeon after she lost consciousness and the reoccurring nightmares she has been plagued with, Callie begins to wonder if her initial trip there might be what triggered the catastrophic chain of events leading to the recent attacks on Ver Lor Reg by Exodus monsters.

“Tell me again.” Callie said simply, foregoing all pleasantries.

Balthan calmly retold the story of that night in Exodus’ Dungeon, as he always did, for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“And?” she asked.

“I do not know.” Balthan replied patiently.

“You must know SOMETHING.” Callie insisted.

“I do not.” Balthan assured her, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Instead of turning away from him, this time Callie whispered, “Take me back.”

Balthan said nothing.

“Take me back!” Callie repeated.

“I will not.” he responded.

“You KNOW what this means to me.” she pleaded.

“I do.” He said.

“Then I’ll find someone else!” she threatened, her stomach knotting up.

“I know.” Balthan looked away.

The high council of Ver Lor Reg was in session – again. As usual the main focus was the increasing numbers of Exodus overseers and treasure hunters. It was odd putting exodus overseers and humans into the same category, then again, perhaps not so odd.

In times of plenty, the treasure hunters going through Ver Lor Reg to get to the Exodus dungeon entrance would have been a boon. But these were not times of plenty. Supplies were extremely limited so the treasure hunters bought as much as they could in Ver Lor Reg. Even more treasure hunters were now coming to Ver Lor Reg to sift the sands outside their beloved city. There wasn’t enough for all.

“We must bar the humans from the Exodus dungeon and our city to prevent further damage!”

“That would start a war! The humans have greater numbers!”

“I’m surprised we are not already at war with the humans after Killibrut’s attacks on them using those Chaos Minions.”

This comment silenced the room.

“Has Killibrut been seen since?”

Again, silence.

“Very well, send the humans a message informing them that Killibrut has been made an outcast of Ver Lor Reg for his crimes against them. They may do with him as they wish.”

This decision didn’t fly well with many of the gargoyle council members present, but all of them knew they needed the humans’ help. The Ver Lor Reg gargoyles were at war, with the Exodus machines. The majority of the Ver Lor Reg citizens had already left, but those who remained behind would need to be evacuated. Yes, evacuated. The Exodus machines were winning this war. There were also supplies, documents, art, historical artifacts and other items that needed to be moved and transported.

“Also, send a message to Queen Zhah saying that we accept her offer and would like to meet as soon as possible to make final arrangements. In the meantime, prepare the city for evacuation.”

My Carrier pigeon arrived late Tuesday evening. As I expected it was from Daniel.
I got out me decoding book as I had yet to master all the complex codes Daniel used.

QKIG KMA AZMCUFVN. IGGA VA KMC MUMVE QEVLFGUAPLG UDKA. FK LKA HG EVAG.
Come out Thursday. Meet at our usual clandestine spot. Do not be late.
I felt good about that. I packed up my classroom essentials and was ready for whatever Daniel threw at me.

When I arrived I found a nice place to sit with ample room at a table. Daniel soon entered the room.
He looked around cautiously and once he was satisfied locked the door. He then started to speak.

“I have been asked by Amonos to help find the one who is inciting the raids in the cities.” He looked right through me and I felt a shiver go up my spine.
Ansatsu Shouted out, “I heard someone talking about a Jenny when I was out gathering information.”
“Jenny You say? “
Moxxi was quick to nod.
Chocolate Moose added “Didn’t we lock up a couple Fake Alchemy prodigies? They seemed to know something.
Daniel agreed and we set off to torture and interrogate – erm – I mean question them politely.

The Alchemists we captured some time ago were in the Nujel’m Debtor prison. As soon as they saw us they started their protests and rants.

Let us out you have no right to detain us.
yes let me out
You have the wrong people
WE did not start the riots.

Queen Mum did not agree and informed them that we had not found any evidence to prove their innocence.
“It was the other woman!” Stated the skinny one.

Perhaps if you Tell us what you Know. Give us a name, suggested Charly Don’t Surf

“It was that other woman. Something with a J or Jen”

Then they started to argue with each other

“I want out the food is bad”
“All you think of is your gut”
“No I want freedom”

“Freedom comes at a price” added Miri, hoping they would come back to what was being asked by us.
“Talk or we will make you talk” Rylo was happy to add.
I do not remember

Rajesar Wej grimaced and added “Remember or stay in here and rot. Seriously Daniel can’t we make them tell us?”
At that, the one squeaked. Seems the way Rajesar scowled at her was enough to get the name Jenny out of her.
“We need more than that.” demanded Goumon as he honed his dagger.

“She was very pushy. Said she was going places” The fat prisoner was ready to talk but the skinny one was not going to let her have the last word.
Well I am not staying here if she is getting out.

Daniel stared at them. That piercing look that rattled your bones. “No one gets out until you tell us where.”

“Ilshenar some city there.” They were talking at the same time now.
“Go on, where exactly?” Hatshesput added. She was not planning to walk all over Ilshenar with all the trouble to be had there.
“maybe a meer city?” again the skinny one squeaked.
“Are you sure a meer city?” Venekor asked. “Because If not I am coming back for more questioning.” He gave a knowing look.
They both nodded quickly and we head out as they cried …. “Hey you promised to let us out!”

“Not until we know you have lead us straight.” said Daniel.

We traveled to Ilshenar by way of the public moongate system. After arriving in Compassion we headed North then west until we found the Meer town. It was peaceful and healers were walking about enjoying the warm sun.

“Hello” Lady Trixie said as she approached a kind looking woman in healer robes.

She nodded and smiled at us
“good healer we ask your help” started Maethoriel.
“How can I help you?” She seemed puzzled “ You are neither injured nor sick.”

“No ma’am.We are hale.” Neptune and Orion flexed their muscles while Jinx rolled his eyes at them.
Jinx then got to the point. “Have you seen a human here. perhaps causing trouble?”

She seemed to be in thought. ”We have seen much trouble lately. There are many strangers here. There are treasure hunters and looters around the ruins of the Juka fortress and Exodus. They sift all day and tempers flare. We see many who are hurt from fights that could have been avoided.”

“Maybe a woman with reddish hair?” piped in Lord Clint.

She raised a brow. “please remember that there is much unrest here now. Some in Britain blame the citizens of Ver Lor Reg and gargoyles in general for the events in Britain, despite the actual details of the riot. These angry citizens have been causing all kinds of trouble both here and in Ter Mur. These actions have stress relations with Ver Lor Reg. On top of that the conflict and strife between our people and the Juka continues.
Yet wait.
A Woman was here. Her name was Jenny. She kept to herself mostly. She looked a bit tattered.
Let me think. —–Where was Jenny heading?

Said she was heading to Britannia. Yes said she was going to hit all the Virtue towns.
She left for Yew about an hour ago.

We thanked the healer and head to Yew after politely turning down her kind offer of rest. Yew was my City and I was not going to wait for it to be in ruins again.

The raiders were very unorganized when we arrived. The town guard seemed to be keeping them down.

We quickly looked for signs of the red haired Jenny. As I passed the healers I spotted a piece of torn gown. It matched the colour that the meer healer had described Jenny wearing when she fled.

Around the back I could hear shouts of what… victory? I scooted around to see a woman being dragged by Meanie Monster and Neptune. They held her up to be seen by all.

“Hello Jenny” smirked Daniel Ravens. He was enjoying her discomfort.

Jenny eyed the rabble with distain and looked ready to bolt.

Daniel shook his head. “no… no…Stay there we have you surrounded. Why are you so nervous?”

“No real reason. Large crowds make me uneasy.” spat Jenny

Daniel was going to try to get info in a sneaky way. “Do you know a couple Alchemy prodigies in Nujel’m?”

Jenny laughed. “Is that what they claim to be? HA! They could not make a potion if their life depended on it.”

Daniel was calm. “So you know them?”

“I know OF them.” She stressed the OF.

Daniel felt he was getting somewhere.”Why do you know of them? They are not famous. He raised a questioning brow.

“This is ridiculous”. Jenny snorted “I was in the city when they were taken. I do not have to answer to a group of scruffy.“ She was staring at us. “What are you anyway? Thugs? You are not Guards.”

Daniel was grinning now. “No we are not guards. We are just looking for work…
We were hoping you could tell us how we could sign on with *he looked about then whispered* you know your raiders?

“My Raiders?” Jenny played her innocent role well. “I don’t think so. Why would I trust you?”

“Look at us.” Remarked Ansatsu “You said we look like thugs. We need work Hard times and all.”

Jenny took a moment to size them up, “hmm, you need to see Clarence. I do not know where he is. Perhaps in Skara?” she grinned evilly

Daniel sighed “so you can not take us to him”

“No .” Jenny shook her head. “He might be in Jelhom *grin* or Trinsic. You will have to look around.
And you did not hear about it from me!”

Now Daniel seemed smug.

“Grab her Katrina and Moxxi.We take her to the jail for further questioning.

We all escorted Jenny to Yew Prison. Venekor had pulled out an old oil rag and stuck it in her mouth. He was about to tie her arms when a knife seeming from no where appeared in her hand. ABA noticed the flash and yelled “Knife!”. As the words left his mouth, Maethoriel grabbed Jenny’s arm and quickly disarmed her.

“How dare you handle me like that.” Screamed Jenny. “I trusted you. I am not staying here!”

Daniel pulled his mouth in a strange grimace. “We will feed you from time to time.”

Then he looked at us. “We will report to Amonos our findings. He will let you know what is to be.

Ignore her. Come over here for a moment.

I have other business now. I suggest you check out the other towns and find this Clarence person and report back.

I kept a watch over the cities. It seemed we must have angered the raiders as they came with a vengeance over the next few days. I wondered if the turmoil would ever stop.

I talked to Amonos a couple days later. He had Jenny moved to join her friends in Nujel’m where she will stay until we find out more.

~Shadow Riter

Ultima Online at Wayback Wednesday

Kai Schober

15 May 2012 17:33:15 EST

MMORPG.com’s Twitch TV channel is going to visit Ultima Online tomorrow night, 05/16, in its Wayback Wednesday series. The session will launch at 9:30pm EDT (3:30am CEST).
The hosts Rob ‘Grakulen’ Lashley and Hillary ‘Pokket’ Nicole will be joined by Bonnie ‘Mesanna’ Armstrong and other members of the Ultima Online team to explore the game on Test Center 1 and talk about its 15 years of history.

Join us on the channel tomorrow night!

Discuss this article.

Queen Zhah asks your presence at the Tur Mer Throne room…

Queen Zhah read the  report her captain had handed her. The rumours were true. The large number of humans Gargoyles and elves that had flocked to VLR was causing great inflation and food was getting scarce. The poorer families were already going hungry. This disturbed the queen. She did not like her people to be with out food. She knew many of the Gargoyles in Ilshenar did not feel kindred to the Ter Mur Gargoyles but she also knew she could help them.

Exodus Overseers have already assaulted the city.  More are on the way.

There had to be an answer.

*(Meet at the Ter Mur Throne room at 6 PT 7 MT 8 CT 9ET  on Thursday May 17 to see how you might be of service)

With the UO publish bringing the changes to Covetous imminent we invite you to inspect our own most recently published pages.

Covetous Dungeon Re-vamp – A Guided Tour

and

Vela the Sorceress

Entries have also been added to Hunter’s Guide, a listing can be found under the heading ‘Covetous Re-vamp’ in the left menu column.

If you have any feedback or information you’d like to share with us you can comment on any article on the site via ‘comment’ boxes at the bottom of each page. You can email to petra@stratics.com or send a private message to Petra Fyde on our message boards.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The community hunts are open to everyone! Come show your support for the Lake Superior community and take a walk on the wild side at the same time. Meet some new and old friends and have a bit of a challenge along the way.

Covetous Dungeon crawl
Date: Tuesday, May 15th
Time: 8:00PM CST
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center, next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi’Aken

Community Peerless hunt
Date: Wednesday, May 16th
Time: 8:00PM CST
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center, next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi’Aken

Grave Robber hunt
Date: Thursday, May 17th
Time: 8:00PM CST
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center, next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi’Aken

Community Champion Spawn hunt
Date: Friday, May 18th
Time: 9:00PM CST
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center, next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi’Aken

And remember, these hunts are for everyone, regardless of their skill level or guild affiliation. Come meet new friends, see new places, gain experience and just have fun.

Sabina Nikolai,
High Marshall, Community Hunt Organizer
The Order of the Silver Rose

The Pink Pickers

EM Borbarad sended out several messages to find a team to represent our shard at the international competition on TC1.

They need to go up against the Legend Gold Diggers in a T-Hunt Competition on the 27th of May.

But we only found one team who is brave enough to face the challenge to defend Drachenfels Honor.

They call their team The Pink Pickers!

The team leader is Cassandra.

And her team with:

Russ

Barbatos

Willi

Sophia

So the first meeting with EM Borbarad and the team have been turned in a first practice to show how the challenge will go on TC1.

Borbarad brought a friend to help with the practice.

They would get a map from level 1 to 7.

They had to find the spot,kill all guardians and loot the chest completely and then come back and then do the next one until all maps are done.

We could follow in General chat how our team was doing.

With looting and killing the guardians our team did extremely well!

Finding some of the maps where still a bit tricky.

After the team did all the maps and returned , the Pink Pickers new what points they still need to work on to beat the Legend Gold Diggers.

The next training session will be Tuesday at 8pm CET starting again at the chessboard in Nujelm.

Supporters are also welcome to watch!

New Frarc, Drachenfels News reporter.

[Discuss This Article]

]]> http://uo2.stratics.com/posts/29565/feed 0 http://uo2.stratics.com/posts/29560 http://uo2.stratics.com/posts/29560#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 05:32:06 +0000 WarderDragon http://uo2.stratics.com/?p=29560 Sleep, Interrupted: Part 2.
EM Godiva

Callie brushed off a log near her tent and sat down. She knew some of what had happened to her and what little she did know she could recite in her sleep. She had made Balthan, the guide from Ilshenar, replay that night over and over…

* * * * * * * * * *

They were in Exodus’ Dungeon. Balthan was uneasy. Callie was determined.

“This will be the find of the century, you know. It’ll be put in the Vesper museum with our names on it and they’ll never forget us.” Callie said, removing a strange panel from the wall.

A rumbling erupted from somewhere as she tore the panel from the wall and soon the entire dungeon seemed to be vibrating.

“Time to go.” Callie said, turning to Balthan.

Callie pulled out two Recall scrolls. She handed one to Balthan. They both began casting. Balthan did not realize her spell had fizzled.

“And?” she always asked.

“I do not know.” Balthan would reply patiently, as he always did, when he reached this point in the story.

“You must know SOMETHING.” Callie would insist.

“I do not.” Balthan would assure her, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

At this point, Callie would always slip into silence and turn away from him.

* * * * * * * * * *

“What am I missing?” she asked herself.

Callie pulled out a small satchel of coffee grounds, knowing she would not be returning to sleep.

She surveyed the excavation site as the pungent aroma of Occloean Roast filled the camp. One of the workers stirred and then awoke, offering a sleepy grin as he approached.

“Yer up early.” he commented, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Coffee?” Callie asked, forcing a smile.

“Sure.” he replied, yawning as he stretched his back.

They sat in silence as the coffee finished brewing.

“Almos’ fergot. Somethin’ came fer ya las’ night.” he said accepting the mug from her with a nod.

He walked back to his bedroll and retrieved something before returning to Callie. He made a clicking sound as he tossed it to her.

Callie’s brow furrowed as she looked over the parchment.

“Somethin’ wrong, ma’am?” he asked, sipping his coffee.

“Exodus monsters have been spotted in Ver Lor Reg.”

“Where them Gargs live?” he leaned over and passed wind.

“Mhmm.” Callie continued reading.

To be continued…