Summer Faire
Guest Reporter Proserpina

Many traveled to the Skara Brae Faire Grounds last eve, a balmy summer night, to enjoy an evening of food and fun. Special flowers and plants had been grown to celebrate the month of July and it set a festive atmosphere before the evening had even begun.

Guests mingled and joked while the delicious smell of char-grilled ribeye steak and roasted chicken legs filled the air. Burgers and hot dogs on lightly toasted buns, deviled eggs and baby ribs were laid out on picnic tables alongside the stage.

Friendly skirmishes broke out while all waited to see what the night had in store for us. And then suddenly she was there, materializing out of the air and standing center-stage. Grindylow the Hag. She was pleasant enough, greeting and inviting everyone to eat and promising an archery tournament, foot race and a dart competition. She slipped away as quietly as she appeared to prepare and everyone quickly finished their drinks and waited again.

At this time a strange orc named Elvocar appeared and led people to the corpse of his captian. He demanded to know which humie had killed him. Since nobody had any information to give, he left vowing to return with his clan.

Grindylow materialized again and people voiced their concern about the orc. She admitted she had wanted to bury the body and had forgotten. Hoping that the orc would not be an issue, she called everyone to line up for the archery tournament. Some did extremely well, earning three robinhoods in a row. Some couldn’t quite get the hang of pulling the bowstring, and some just attacked the archery buttes after their three shots were used up *cough* The Yattering.

Saphira took first place with a total score of 110. She will be crowned Best Shot of the Season for the human division. First place for the gargoyles, with a score of 150, was Megara. Both will be given plaques in the Hall of Honor.

No sooner had the winners been announced when a wave of angry orcs descended on the fairegrounds. The people were quick to respond and defend, but at what price?

Grindy quickly hurried everyone to the Skara tracks for a footrace. Sosarians lined up in groups of six ready to run, though the special shoes handed to contestants would only prove lucky for some.

The winner from each group would compete in the finale. Mad Martigan, Meanie Monster, James, Rasenar and Chainsaw all lined up for the last race. Fastest of the Season would be decided in mere moments, the racers lunged forward when the hag yelled, “GO!” but Meanie Monster would take first place and earn the title Fastest of the Season.

Breathless and sweaty many walked back to compete in the final game of the night, the dart competition. For awhile the Duchess of Dawn, Lady Wildstar, held onto the lead earning her a 40 for her throwing. And where speed was Meanie’s strength, darts failed him, earning him a 1. James was the victor here, taking first place with a score of 41. He also will have a plaque engraved with his name and hung in the Rewards Hall.

Grindylow bid a all a farewell and gestured to the strawberry shortcakes and freshly baked pies before she shimmered back into air.

Congratulations to all of the winners! Thank you EM Crysania.

High Councillor of Britannia Occupies Lake Blackthorne
WarderDragon

We all know where its coming from.

Blackthorns weathered journal? The bombing of the bridge of Castle Blackthorn? The disappearance of Castle Blachthorn? The destruction of the Gsrgoyle City? The defeat of the manifestation of Exodus(or Blackthorn)? The Riots? All within weeks of each other??

I choose not to wait! My Path is clear once again!

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out its coming from this island….I would rather have my cannons pointed at the possible danger than find out too late, with my cannons pointed towards the meek shepards of Maginica.

*waves his High Councilor of Britain sash*

Until I am voted out, you pry it out of my cold dead hands, or Lord British returns, I will fulfill my vows I made those years ago..The protection of this world.

I have always been here.

The Plea
EM Crysania

Queen Zhah clenched her taloned fist tightly. She furled and unfurled her elegant wings as she paced her chambers. News that the sickness from the refugee’s that had been taken in from Ver Lor Reg was spreading to her people had just been given to her. Several of the Ter Mur citizens had already lost their lives and more were showing symptoms of the disease each day.

Turning towards her daughter, Rhista, Zhah said in a stern voice,

“You are not to leave the palace grounds! This disease, brought in by those refugee’s from Ver Lor Reg, We do not have the means to cure it. I do not want you exposed!” she exclaimed.

“But Mother,” Rhista started to say.

“No buts, Daughter!” Zhah demanded, ” do you not realize, how dangerous this is? To think, I offered them a place of refuge..and now they bring this…this..sickness into our city!”

” Mother, we must help them if we can,” Rhista said,”We offered them refuge, are we to let them just die? To escape from one hell in the land they came from, only to meet their deaths here?”

“I have done what I could, I have sent them to the fishing village, far from the city until a cure can be found. They are quarantined there for now”, Zhah replied.”I have set up Labs there for them to find a cure to the sickness they have brought to us.”

“The fishing village?” Rhista exclaimed,”It hasn’t been used for years! The land holds nothing they can use to even try and find a cure!”

“It is not your matter to decide Rhista. They will have to work with what they have” Zhah said.

“Can we not ask for help? The human and elves are knowledgeable in the alchemy arts. Can you not send word we need their help?” Rhista asked.

Queen Zhah turned and looked at her daughter and spoke sternly.

“We, the gargoyles of Ter Mur are a proud people. We do not ask for help. We will keep this matter in our own lands, there is no need for the humans and elves to know. You should understand that, Rhista.”

” Yes, mother I do understand” she replied softly.

“Good, now, do as I say, do not leave the palace grounds. We must avoid this sickness, for who will run the city if we contract it? There are other races of gargoyles who would do nothing more than rejoice at our demise, and try to take our city from us,”said the Queen. “Now go daughter, I must meet with my advisers on this matter.”

Rhista walked towards the door leading out into the palace. Slowly a slight smile formed on her face. She knew then what she must do. Leaving her mothers chambers, she flew down the hallway to her room, where she took up pen and parchment. She had heard of the man, Dupre, surely he would help them in their plight. He was a brave Paladin, one of honor. He would understand the need to keep things quiet relating to the sickness.

Finishing off her letter explaining what was happening in Ter Mur, Rhista rolled the scroll and sealed it. She left her room and found a messenger on the grounds.

“Take this to the one known as Dupre, tell him it is for his eyes only. Go swiftly and silently, try not to be seen leaving the grounds!”, she said.

The messenger nodded his great horned head and lifted his wings in the air. Swiftly and with out a sound, he flew towards the moongate to deliver the message.

Celebration of the Season
EM Crysania

Celebrating the Month of July!

When: Saturday, July 7th

Time: 7pm pst/10pm est

Where: Skara Brae Faire Grounds

Food, Fun, and Games to be had! Dress in your most patriotic Colors!

Archery and Darts Competition, Foot Races!

(occ) You never know who may show up! Come expecting “guests”!

Magic and Science: The Plague of Ter Mur
WarderDragon

The Plague is spreading.

A wasting disease has claimed the lives of hundreds in the Holy Empire of Ter Mur, its effects beyond even the means of the most talented magicians to cure. The Lesser Daemons and their wingless pets are the most succeptible to the disease, which appears to have been carried on the backs of the refugees from Ter Mur.

Alchemists and Apothocaries are being requested in the Fishing Village. It seems it’s time we put the knowledge we learned under the Healer of Vesper to the test.

[OOC]: Found this on the EVI Forums. It might help those interested get started.

Battlefield: Ilshenar
Conclusion to the Machine of Discord
WarderDragon

It’s over.

A week has passed since the Machine God – Exodus – was vanquished. A week since legions of the Emperor’s Faithful – marching with the blessings of the Time Lord and the Virtues – charged into the Fortress of True Light and reconquered it in the name of Britannia. The threat is over, once and for all.

Or is it?

The battle was not without its costs. Hundreds were killed and committed to the Void, and even more were injured, crippled beyond the means to cure through magic. Our resources were taxed to their limits, and the alliance that brought the cities of our former Kingdom together has crumbled as soon as it was erected. The moongate, an ancient arcane achievement of the Protoculture, which we have no means to replicate, has collapsed upon itself. And Ver Lor Reg has been corrupted, forever, the taint of the Warp staining each brick and stone, a breeding ground for daemons and other corrupt hellspawn.

And, for all that was achieved, we are left with more questions than answers.

Is Exodus dead? It seems strange that an Elder God, a being of such immense power, one who managed to manipulate and change the course of Serpent Isle, and who has held countless civilizations under his puppet strings since time immemorial, would throw a cosmic temper tantrum, and could be drawn out, only to die for what is otherwise an inconsequential piece of real estate.

Exodus, who was created through a combination of Black Magic and alien technologies, was described in earlier reports as being a daemonic machine, an immense and powerful creature miles wide, and as large as Castle Britannia. This chamber, known as the Dark Core, matches the description of the giant complex located beneath Ilshenar. If that is true, then what was the daemonic being we faced in Ver Lor Reg, and was he the true Exodus, or just an extension of his will?

And there are other questions to be answered.

What role did Exodus play in the famine, droughts and chaos that has recently erupted across Britannia, causing starving serfs to turn against their feudal masters and demand the end of the Kingdom.

What was his relationship to the Technomancers discovered beneath Mont’Or?

What will happen to the Machine Legions now that there is no longer a central mind to direct their actions?

What happened to Blackthorne? How was he corrupted from a servant of Britannia, into the Machine Lord we witnessed during the Third War?

What will become of the Cult of the Machine?

For what reason did Exodus awake? Why did he risk revealing himself, and for what reason did he choose to destroy Castle Blackthorne and the last monuments to the Philosopher of Chaos?

Where is Ebon? What was his role in all this?

What will happen to Britannia now? Will our fallen kingdom, it’s feudal cities band together again under a common banner, or will new Kingdoms spring up to replace Britannia and fill the void?

* * *

Credit goes to Bryelle Vaughn of Baja and Faeryl of Atlantic for the screenshots. You can view her rendition of events here.

UO in Action has compiled video of the event. Click here to view the Baja version.

There has been a great deal of speculation of late concerning the final defeat of Exodus with regards to previous Ultima and UO2 Lore. You can view some of that discussion here.

I have also copied the first chapter of the Technocrat War – a major influence on the Exodus arc in UO – to the BRPA archives here.

The Festival of Masks
WarderDragon

The Sultanate of Nujel’m has invited citizens of Trammel to celebrate the Festival of Masks in commemoration of the final defeat of Exodus. The event is tonight at 7:00 PM PST / 10:00 PM EST at the Nujel’m Palace in the Abandoned Lands [Felucca].

You can view the original announcement here.

Creatur Featur: The Search for a Medium
WarderDragon

A week has passed since Alouenikah, the rather porcine consort of Lindae Seiren of Umbra, sent out a request to aid him in the search for his husbands(?) soul.

We met Ifan Shafiri in New Magincia, where he requested an escort to his dilapidated demesne on the edge of Umbra. There he explained that Lindae’s corporeal form had been …reconstructed, but the mans spirit would need to be recovered from it’s wanderings before the creature is lost to the Void. Ifan had enlisted the aid of a Drow medium, but the artist and psychic had chosen to escape his …indentured servitude and continue his other passion in the forests of Britannia. If we hoped to find him, we would need to follow the art.

(OOC: It was here that Ifan directed us to a notebook placed on his table. The notebook contained a password. Posting this password in the thread, Sketchbook, unlocked a hand-drawn portrait, leading us to the next location and clue.)

We found the Drow locked within the depths of the Orc Dungeon. Apparently the Greenskins thought he was a virgin, and deemed him an appropriate sacrifice to their “Blood Gods.”

Nicholas was the first to arrive, but before he could split the Drow open, High Councillor Fig and James, the assistant to Fern Goodfellow arrived to help the virgin sacrifice back to Umbra.

The Medium promised to summon the spirit of Lindae in appreciation for his rescue. The event continues this coming Thursday, July 5th at 8:00 PM PST.

Well I learned something… after I recorded it. The software only records up to an hour at a time. So guess what? The end didn’t get recorded. But here is a good portion of it. The footage of the battle is pretty amazing and the sheer number of people engaged in battle was impressive. This was an epic battle!

Hope you see yourself somewhere!

A Cordial Invitation
EM Crysania

Citizens of Britannia!

The Sultan of Nujel’m cordially invites all to this years Festival!

**********The Festival of the Masks*********

Come dressed in your finery and your best disguise and take in the beauty of Nujel’m! The streets will be filled with food, drink and merriment!
As is tradition, it will be assumed that all who are wearing a mask are part of “The Game”! A great ruby, The Eye of Dahsk, will secretly be given to one person to carry through out the festivities. While they carry this wondrous gem, all other attendees try to find out who has the Eye, steals it, and return it myself, the Master of Ceremonies and Vizier to the Sultan! The winner will receive a special recognition of a value far greater than that of the eye!

In addition, all brewers, distillers and wine makers are asked to bring a barrel of their most delightful tongue tingling brews to share! After all have had a chance to sample these fine brews, a vote shall be taken to which is the finest in the lands!
To the bakers and cooks, bring your tastiest morsels to delight our taste buds! Your pies, your cakes, we will share them all! A winner will be chosen for most originality! (Bring a copy of your recipe in a book!)

The Festival begins promptly at 7pm PST and will last until we either fall over in a stupor or the night beckons us to our rest! (approx 2hrs  )

Sincerely,
The Grand Vizier to the All-Powerful and Devilishly Handsome Sultan of Nujel’m

Event: Festival of the Masks

Date: 6/30/12

Location: Nejel’m City. Felucca

Time: 7pm Pst/ 10pm EST

Gate will be provide from WBB.

** Take note this a Felucca Based event!**
** Stealing involved**
**Fun to be had***