In Minoc, those who had heard the call of the criers and gathered at the Barnacle tavern were greeted by the Viscount Raymond Lyons. He explained who he was and told us of the current situation “First of all, a strange kind of gang took over the Mount Kendal Mining Camp. We managed to contain them, and we were getting ready to overrun them with the city guards, but then we started to hear strange noises.” When questioned about these noises, he further explained “Screaming. Especially women’s screaming. One voice in particular….A woman but her voice… Rather inhuman. Also, sounds… Well, unmistakably the sounds of human forms being hacked to pieces. The sounds of torture and mutilation.” He had called us to the tavern so that we may accompany him to the mining camp and address the situation.

 “Strange… The place seems empty enough now…”

Arriving at the Kendal Mining Camp, it seemed as though the strange gang the Viscount had told us of had moved on, for all was quiet. It wouldn’t last long though as we soon found ourselves attacked by mutilated walking corpses, mutilated hydras and mysterious beasts that I cannot begin to describe.

“What are these things????? This is not like any Undead I have ever seen!!!”

 After the battle, an instruction book was discovered not far from where we stood. As the Viscount read, he told us that the mining camp had been used as a torture camp. However, the Mysterious Knights had moved the camp to a ‘pit of injustice’. The possible location of a pit of injustice was mulled over for a couple minutes before the dungeon Wrong was mentioned as opposing Justice. The Viscount could not accompany us as he had to stay and help in Minoc, but he provided a gate for us and we left for Wrong.

Upon entering the dungeon, we were attacked not only by the creatures that resided therein, but also by several minions. An unusual trail of machetes on the ground led us deeper into Wrong, where a few mysterious guard beasts were waiting. Their presence indicated that we were close to figuring out what was going on.

Heading North into one of the chambers, the figure of Callie could be seen. It was a horrific sight, seeing this once pretty young woman, whose death many had witnessed, standing before us. Her body covered in scars and hundreds of stitches. A weary sadness filled her voice as she spoke, asking us to kill her, for they wouldn’t let her die. “I thought death was the end. When the machines killed me… Death was just the beginning…” Callie was crying freely now, overwhelmed with the pain of her suffering. “They didn’t start asking for information until the last few days! Then all they could talk about was my research into Exodus! The Mutilator won’t let me die…” She looked at the crowd through her tears, her eyes pleading with each of us in turn before continuing.

“You must kill him… If you can’t kill him, they will keep me alive forever, just to rip me apart and use me and stitch me back up to start it all over again. Here he comes…”

As everyone was recovering from the fight with the Mutilator, a figure clad in dark armour appeared from the darkness, his voice rising above the din “I really do not know whether to thank you or hate you for killing Jayson. He was an efficient servant. But he was also….unpredictable.” Looking over the crowd, he continued “Saw the infliction of pain as more important than the goal. But still… He was efficient at what he did. Oh well… In the business of enforcing Virtue against itself, you take the… if you will excuse a bad joke, the good with the bad.” Chuckling maliciously, the Mysterious Knight vanished into the shadows as quickly as he’d appeared.

Faeryl Tyr’athem
Atlantic News Reporter
Knight Major of the Crux Ansata

EM Meet & Greet, 9pm Eastern April 12th. West Brit Counsel Hall (called EM Hall by some).

One of or both of Atlantic’s EMs will be present.

Please gather at the Barnacle Tavern in Minoc, to help Viscount Raymond Lyons of Minoc investigate strange goings-on in that city, even over and above the rioting, raiding, and protesting.

This event will be called “The Awakening: Night of the Mutilator.” It will be announced on the in-game town criers a little later this week.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Britain Under Siege of Full Scale Rebellion! Knights of the Crux Ansata Called To Arms! To Arms! 

Dozens of rioters roamed the streets, and the mysterious kegs located in various areas of Britain had begun to explode. As the Knights of the Crux Ansata gathered in the House of Virtues to await the arrival of their commander, they found themselves besieged by numerous small groups of disgruntled citizens. Forced to defend themselves, the Knights fought back with the help of Sir Hethe Idem. Shortly before Lady Amandin’s arrival, Sir Idem began to speak with the group as a whole “You see now the damage peasants can do when they are unchecked. You think it is the Virtues that keep them in line? It is not.” He looked over the crowd and continued “The Virtues are fine for us. For warriors. For the better sorts… For the peasantry?  No. It is not the Virtues that keep them in line. It is fear.  Fear and blood. Fear, and blood, and fire.” With that comment, Sir Idem vanished.

Upon her arrival, Lady Amandine expressed her sorrow for what had occurred to preserve some sense of security, and her concern that the uprising had graduated to a new level. When asked if we had noticed the mysterious kegs scattered around the city, many acknowledged that they had seen them. Some spoke of how they appeared to have been crafted in Ver Lor Reg, and a few others mentioned how they had witnessed some of these kegs exploding.

“I do not like explosives from their Daemon Queen… Being shipped into our city.”

Visibly angered, Lady Amandine led us to the Royal City where we confronted Queen Zhah about her kin and how the kegs came to rest in Britain. “I was under the impression that we to maintain a positive relationship. I would hate for international relations to… escalate. I am going to Vel Lor Reg, I hope not to find anything that would sour our relationship.” Tensions ran high as Queen Zhah regarded us in silence. “Come. Let’s go to Vel Lor Reg. See what we can gleam.”

In the city of Ver Lor Reg, we encountered a gargoyle by the name of Marisudrol. Although he didn’t speak our language as well as others in the city, he seemed to try his best to answer our questions.  When told of the explosive kegs bearing the mark of the gargoyle city, Marisudrol appeared to be shocked. He quickly told us of the original purpose of the kegs “To tell you that our people had accumulated barrels to help both our peoples to cross the rock slide, into the Exodus region. To be driven by the need to know what was going on there. To know that climbing is limited, to know that flying is as limited.” He explained that the kegs had disappeared, and he was disturbed by their presence in Britain. Lady Amandine demanded to know how the kegs had ended up in the capitol city, and Marisudrol’s response was simple “To tell you that they were very powerful explosives. To not know.  To know only that they vanished, to presume they were stolen. To say we have no reason to harm you, to think we have both been wronged.” It was decided that we would return to Britain and attempt to carefully remove the kegs before they could do any serious damage. Thanking Marisudrol, we went on our way.

“To wish you luck… To be… sorry.” 

Upon our return to Britain, the Crux Ansata spread out to push back the rioters so Lady Amandine could remove the kegs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before drama began to unfold on the bridge to Castle Blackthorn. A peasant woman stood on the bridge, screaming and crying, a knife in one hand and a young child in her arms. I arrived on the scene to see Lady Amandine and a small group of Knights attempting to talk her down, to spare the child and end this madness. The woman, Mary Sue as she was called, then posed us the difficult question “What if it were one or the other. What if it were the city, or this baby, which would you pick?” How does one answer such a question?  Mary spoke again, her voice rising in anger “Not pleasant is it. To have this city dependent on one like me is it. That’s my name. Mary Sue Nothing, Mary Sue No one!!!”  She continued to speak, voice now quivering slightly “The nobleman who gave me this baby…He did nay care for me. Nor do any of you care for any of us… The Virtues got us oppressed… Beaten… Barbarously used… You all do as we please with us.”

“Ah there she is… The noble Ansata Commander.”

Lady Amandine, who had left in search of Adamu, returned to attempt to continue the negotiations with Mary. Trying a different approach to the situation, she apologized for how she had spoken before, and attempted to explain her view on the rebellion surrounding us “You must understand… Change is hard. You cannot demand it so suddenly.” This only served the further anger Mary, who began screaming and crying “Suddenly? We’ve always been here!!!!! You just ignore us…  You ignore us until we got weapons.” When asked what she wanted, the woman demanded our answer to her earlier question. It appeared we were to lose either way.  A voice in the crowd rose above the others “The baby! The city can be rebuilt!”

“THE CHOICE IS MADE!!!” 

What occurred in the next few moments was almost surreal. Mary tossed the baby at Lady Amandine and without hesitation, set herself on fire. There must have been more kegs behind her, for the explosion that followed was massive, and destroyed a large portion of the bridge. As all this occurred before us, Castle Blackthorn itself was also consumed by flames.

The baby, a young girl, was passed to me with orders to ensure she was raised properly. Lady Amandine then turned to her Knights, and spoke “We must put out these flames… We must destroy these bombs and powder kegs. Or Britain will be a ruin. Please, fan out and take to arms.” With a final declaration “These here are no longer our countrymen. Destroy these Anarchists. To arms!”  the battle truly began.

No mercy was shown to those that rioted, for they had crossed the line this time.  Sir Idem had returned and aided in the fight, mercilessly hacking at those that opposed us. The lifeless bodies of peasants lay strewn over the streets of Britain, their blood staining the cobblestones upon which they rested. The battle seemed almost endless, and for a while, not even the help of the Fellowship seemed to slow them down.

Called to the graveyard, we watched as Lady Amandine set off the explosive kegs one by one. Lancing over at Sir Idem, he appeared to be enjoying things just a bit too much. “I love the smell of explosives in the morning… Smells like victory…” Having then overheard a comment that I had spoken a bit louder than intended, he shot me a rather unsettling look, like a predator sizing up his prey. Thankfully, he was soon distracted by Lady Amandine, who now approached us having finished setting off the kegs.

He introduced himself to our commander as he had done with the rest of us before, yet maintained the usual mysterious and arrogant air that always surrounded him. “I am a lion, among wolves. We hunt the same prey. Sometimes that makes us friends. And sometimes… not.” Even after Sir Idem’s departure, that final comment lingered in the silence. It was Lady Amandine who spurred us back into motion by reminding us of the ongoing situation. “I have a city to save… As do we all.”

As night began to creep up around us, some of the Knights returned to the House of Virtues, only to find Sir Idem, cheerfully wiping blood of his halberd. He gave us one last speech before departing for the final time that night.

“And now, I hope you all see. What happens when there is pure freedom but no order? When there is no fear to keep the people in line. The Virtues are nice. They bind us, and by us I do not mean all the people but US, the nobility, the elite, together. But, for the peasants, for the masses, the Virtues are useless. If they think they have power over themselves, they will use it. We need to remind them just how powerless they are. Perhaps one day you will all be worthy to join the Fellowship… For now, the Crux Ansata will have to do for you…”

How much longer can we maintain control…?

Faeryl Tyr’athem
Atlantic News Reporter
Knight Major of the Crux Ansata

The stack of papers on Janel’s desk rivaled the large reapers of the forest even to the point of inspiring nightmares. She thumbed through the pile carefully, not wanting to add yet another task to her “to do list” by creating an avalanche. She looked around the second floor of the abbey and was amazed by the way everyone was working together to help the wounded, feed the hungry and whatever was needed. Observing was one of Janel’s favorite ways to pass time, her new workspace allowed her to do that unobtrusively.

 
With a start, she was brought out of her daze, as two soft furry paws covered her eyes. A smirk lit up her face as she exclaimed, “Could this be the ever sweet Cat Lxyen”? As the her eyes focused, she saw not one but two standing before her. Cat slid out from behind the desk to stand next to Striker, tail twitching, ears perked, looking very excited about something. She blurted out,” Madame Mayor, Striker here has an idea, he’d like to talk to you about?” Striker face wore an amused grin as she finished her sentence. “Lady Janel, we” he nodded toward Cat, “were talking about the perilous times Yew is in right now. Of course, we are not the only ones that notice this, but was wondering if you might help us to coordinate a food drive of sorts to help the citizens of Yew. Many I have come across all say the same: They need food, shelter, and care for their children: their families.”

 
Janel pondered the request briefly before replying, so many faces flashing in her mind of those she had encountered this very morn. “I think this is a grand idea, I would be honored to be included in such a venture. Let us bring this up at the next council meeting, I do believe it will be well received.” As she finished the last sentence her eyes lit up, “Oh. would you mind my parents cooridinating a healing post here? I know they would want to be involved as well as others from the Deep Forest.”

 
For the next few hours they sat making notes of supplies neccessary, people to contact and how to set the event in motion. After Cat and Striker took their leave with a promise to propose the idea to the council at it’s next session, Janel reclined in her chair and relaxed, something she had not done in quite some time. An adage she had read somewhere in her training rang in her thoughts, “Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has**.”
** Margaret Mead

“It is nice to know that Britannia and the Meer are still friends.”

Dasha, a Meer warrior, spoke to the crowd gathered around her.  She spoke of how the age old meddling of the timeline had affected her people. How some remembered their friendship with Dawn and the meddling of Adranath, but how for others, it was as though the last few years had never happened. We were told that things appeared to be similar with the Juka. Dasha continued to explain how some of her people had changed and now wished to exterminate the Juka, and that while not many, some of the Juka sought peace with the Meer.  We were also told that more numerous than those seeking peace were those that wished to eliminate the Meer, which brought us to the problem at hand.

These renegade Juka were being led by an old enemy of Dasha’s, The Warlord Kabur, and were attacking the Meer incessantly. They had been tracked to three possible locations and were to be a part of a coordinated attack upon them. It was much to my surprise to hear that Sir Hethe Idem had offered to help and he, along with the Fellowship, would also be a part of this attack. The plan was thus: A group of Meer, led by Dasha, would attack the first location, the Fellowship the second, and we were to attack the third, the Serpentine Passage near Mistas.

“I DON”T KNOW HOW BUT HE KNOWS YOU’RE COMING, YOU’LL HAVE TO HURRY!!!”

We came through the gate Dasha had provided and immediately jumped into battle with the renegade Juka and Kabur Guards. It was slow going, but we pressed forwards at a relatively steady pace. At one point  during the battle, a knight in dark armour joined the fray shouting about how Kabur and the mysterious knights have united and cannot be defeated.

“HONOR ABOVE ALL!! COMPASSION FOR NONE!!!”

 The mysterious knight came at us, savagely cutting at all in his path, and his cries of “NOW YOU WILL  ALL FEEL THE WRATH OF THE MYSTERIOUS KNIGHTS!” resonating in the air.

A short time later we were also joined by some of the Fellowship knights who helped us finish off the renegade Juka. As the last of the Juka fell, a Dark Paladin emerged, but we were prepared and he was dispatched without too much trouble.

“They were… Prepared.”

Dasha had rejoined us after the battle, exhausted and frustrated. She told us that Kabur had not been found, that he had known we were coming. We were directed to a book a little ways north of where we were standing, and told that it may be of interest to us. With that, Dasha took her leave to go rest.

Faeryl Tyr’athem
Atlantic News Reporter
Knight Major of the Knights of the Crux Ansata

EM Tiberies Event, Thursday, 29 March 2012, 8:30pm Eastern

The title of this event will be, “The Awakening: Against the Warlord.”

Come to the Sacrifice Shrine in Ilshenar, on Thursday 29 March 2012 at 8:30pm Eastern Time, to help Dasha of the Meer with a pressing issue.

For days the town criers had been warning everyone to be wary of infection, and on Friday night, a curious crowd had gathered at the House of Virtues for more information. We were soon greeted by Adamu Edom, who seemed pleased by the large crowd before him. However, his expression turned grim as he began to explain the situation…

“There is a great danger facing us…  And I do not mean disorder in the streets.” 

He quickly told us that he had received word from a man named Ende that there was a great evil growing in one of the dungeons, and it had to be taken care of before it before it became an epidemic. As he opened a gate, Adamu reminded us to be alert and check our surroundings for possible clues.

Upon entering the dungeon Deceit, we came across a man standing near a large stone warning of adventurers of the infection beyond that point. The man, whom Adamu addressed as Ende, frantically warned us to go no deeper as there were terrible things ahead. When asked what these ‘things’ were, he told us “They call themselves ‘the three” and are spreading infection and plague! All the adventurers that have come here have been turned into mindless thralls and zombies!” Many in the large crowd raced forward, not stopping to listen to Ende as he continued to plead with us. “Please, just seal the entrance!”

Descending to the second level, we discovered a torn page, but we were also assaulted by the usual undead inhabitants as well as several infected zombies. Having quickly dropped the zombies just by our overwhelming numbers, we examined the page.

The Three Plan To Infect All Of Sosaria, I Must Get News To The Crux… 

Who were ‘the Three’? And where were they? More information was needed. We continued down, dispatching more violet, bloody, infected zombies as we went. Partway through the third level, another torn page was discovered, this one mentioning a platform…

Some Sort Of Leveling Platform Is The Key… 

A leveling platform? Hadn’t we passed a room that had a sort of balancing mechanism the second level? Now fighting off alpha zombies and infected shadows along with more zombies similar to those of the second level, we trudged forward, passing another room with a balancing mechanism and eventually reaching the fourth floor. One last torn page was found on this floor, reading:

The Manufacture Of These Platforms Seems To Indicate Something Darkly Intelligent… 

There was one last room with a balancing mechanism at the very end… Taking a closer look, there seemed to be a message carved into the stone.

We Are The Three, Our Sickness Will Spread, The Infection Will Do What None Before Has Achieved!

Some were quick to figure out what needed to happen, others not so quick. The large crowd eventually broke into three smaller groups, spreading ourselves amongst the three rooms and bringing forth the Three from the depth of dungeon Deceit. The third room was faced with Princess Webberling, who was the first to be defeated. The adventurers in the third room rushed to join those in the second, who were faced with Brimley the Glutton. Brimley was tougher than Webberling, but with the arrival of reinforcements, he too was defeated in a timely manner. However, those in the first room were faced with seemingly the toughest challenge of the three. Wilford Dyiabeetusss had barely taken any damage by the time reinforcements arrived.  

Even with the full strength of the crowd the battle was long and hard. Poisonous clouds seemed to emanate from Wilford’s very skin, affecting all who came near. Warriors and mages alike were succumbing to their wounds as fast as others could be resurrected.  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Wildford Dyiabeetusss fell. The moment seemed almost surreal as silence drowned out the sounds of battle. At the top of the steps, the soft glow of a moongate awaited to return us to Britain.

 Arriving through the gate into the noisy streets of Britain, I stopped and sighed. A possible epidemic had been averted, but the lands of Sosaria still weren’t safe. Not yet. A heavy darkness is settling on these lands, and I fear the worst is yet to come…

Faeryl Tyr’athem
Atlantic News Reporter
Knight Major of the Knights of the Crux Ansata

Tell a Friend… Bring a Friend… preferably someone that runs slower than you do.
(Friday, March 23rd 2012 @7:30pm EST)

Meet at the EM Hall in Northern Britain.