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January Obituary Column

ONYX

Demented Alien

Krash Dummy

Jax

WILLIAM WALLACE

Bloody Offals

Morgan

Manx

Sass

Air Max

Arcan

Chrysalis Yeti

Frog Archeress

Gangstalicious

HELL DOG

Josephine Stone

Midnight Rider

Nurgle and Ronin

Ohn

Olive Isbane

Raylei Mae

SeShOmAn

Sol-Leks

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GOF Vendor Mall Opens In Luna

Guild of Friends has been around a long time. Not only has this Great Lakes guild been around a long time they are very active, helpful….and yes…friendly.

With the recent drop of houses in the realm ( rumor has it roofs fell on several people and they have not been the same since ) it was a personal joy for me that a GOF member got the plot right behind my Luna Manse. The location was owned for many years by Karen Karpenter, a close and good friend. She left to experience another realm and popped back in several times a year to say hi and fill me in on her game and personal life. I will miss her but no doubt she will be happy that her old home went to such a nice person, Celes.

The vendor mall is starting to set up shop and there are some good items, even a few deals to be had at this location. Please stop by even you if are not in the need of anything and leave a message on thier bullentin board. Best wishes and good luck with your new business venture !

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Shrine of Chaos Created In Felucca

For many months I have been hearing about the creation of a shrine dedicated to Chaos on Great Lakes within the Felucca facet. Last month a marked rune was dropped in the mailbox at my Luna Manse to this new display. Several weeks ago I suited up in my fierce outfit and ventured to this location. To my dismay the shrine was/is set to private. It did not take me long to figure out this plot belongs to Snippa a.k.a  K. Voyvoda amoung others. Snippa is one of those characters that has come and gone through the years and I knew him back in the days when Felucca was controlled by a real force, Black Company, a guild Snippa himself belonged to.

Last night I again opened a gate to this location and to my delight the owner of the shrine was in da house!

I was given a tour of the shrine and filled in on what is in the future plans for this location, most of which I cannot repeat. However I can tell you that when this shrine is finished there will be a grand opening that will be blood filled , prizes given away and very memorable. Designers can be fickle as we all know and several of the rooms are not finished yet at 74o 9″N, 44o 43’E the shrine.  Below are a few screenshots. When the grand opening happens I will be sure to inform you as it will be mind blowing.

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Brialla’s Journey, Saturday, January 28th, at 8 p.m. CST

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LORD GAR RETURNS AND THE BAKERY

Lord Gar may not been a name old timers remember but he was around at the birth of UO and has recently returned. It is always great to have people return to our realm and a world we all love and enjoy.  Lord Gar had many different names back in the day but has chosen Lord Gar as his reincarnation. We spoke for a long time last evening as we are both old school  UO players still excited about the many things offered to us. Lord Gar played beta and six months into the birth of Tram before he had to leave to further his real life education. Asking him why a return to UO when there are so many flashy new eye popping games out there his reply was, ” I’ve always held UO as the standard of what a mmorpg should be “.

Aside from his history with UO Lord Gar also has two friends that have encouraged him and that he spends most of his game time with, Iktha and Nebiros. These three have a wonderful small but very organized shop just outside the Luna City walls called The Bakery at cords 93o 42’N, 12o 56’W.

When visiting this shop be sure to check out the design and decor. No doubt this shop will improve as the weeks and months go by so it will be a good place to mark a rune for  future revisits.

WELCOME BACK LORD GAR !

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Lady Messana in her strange black and whiteness and Queen Zhah in her golden glory attended the New Assisant Royal Spy Masters promotions this past tuesday evening and what an evening it was.  Magnus Grey and Sarah Paumera needless to say were in attendence also as were many onlookers.

The crowd was so large we were swept away by a teal moongate to a beautiful location. A location that the Queen granted the Royal Spys to use when they see fit. One can never have enough secret locations for a rendezvous especially in the spy business. Though the stage was very dramatic and grand, I noticed( myself included ) some people got stuck once upon the platform. I myself had a rather hard time hearing ( reading ) what was going on stage. Not a good thing for a reporter.

It was a night to celebrate indeed. Ariakas, Sir Joe, Ixtab, Shumer and Rascal all were promoted to New Assistant Royal Spy Master.  This group meets every tuesday evening at 8pm CST and are always looking for more to join them. To find out more please check out the EM Great Lakes boards.

On the subjuct of all things EM, later this month is the annual walk honoring Brialla of the Seven Tears. I attended this last year and had a jolly time. Saturday January 28th is the day and time is 8pm CST.  I hope to see you there this year. My datebook has a large tear drop drawn on that day so I do not forget.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE PROMOTED !

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Greetings And A Happy New Year To All,

For the past nine years I have posted a year end letter in early January. Usually I reflect on the year past touching on both world and personal topics that happen through the year and also changes and new history made in the realm. I could ramble on about the exciting new things we acquired in 2011 like the change in Shame, our amazing EMs, the wonderful Stratics staff, holiday gifts, ect ect ect. This year I decided to focus on the upcoming year and mainly dragons.

Dragons, different types of dragons, play a large part of the realm we call Ultima Online.  Just ask any tamer how important their Greater Dragon is. Often on hunts a call goes out for the need of a Greater Dragon or two, even three.

This month starts the Year of The Dragon throughout Asia and celebrated all over the world. Tet in Vietnamese, Seollal in Korean and Chun Jie in Mandarin Chinese are all known as the first day of the lunar calendar. January 23 is the day and marks ENTER THE DRAGON. Feasts, parades and drumming all assist in this entering. Last night while laying in bed I thought to myself how wonderful it would be if the EMs, game Devs or even player run events somehow focused on this special year and also highlight dragons in some manner.  If anyone is listening out there please think about this.

A new year often inspires people to play and/or create new characters, change thier ” looks ‘ and also change thier plot design. MOA on Great Lakes has done just that. MOA is the oldest and longest player run auction house and keeps its plot design  for extended periods of time so a new look is refreshing, shocking and I must add rather well done. Then again MOA does everything well.  For anyone out there feeling the after holiday blues think about tearing down that old plot and give yourself a new attitude.

MOA on Great Lakes

MOA on Great Lakes

As a gal that has been around a long time I still look forward to a new year in the realm. Over the years I have heard countless times by a wide variety of people on a wide variety of shards ” I’m bored “.  This comment always baffles me as there are so many skill/character types to choose from and such a huge choice of locations for hunting, people to talk to and things to create. One can truly be creative with Ultima Online and that is the reason why I have stayed with it for so many years.

I wish you all an amazing creative 2012 in and out of the realm!

Fondly, Lady Lava

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DECEMBER OBITUARY COLUMN

Celes

Celestine

Cella Peredhul

Chalmai

Chrysalis Yeti

Demented Alien

DreamWeaver

Dyr

Fire Hawk

Jessica Marie

John

Lindera

MalagAste

Miss Frenchy

Mr Mac Solo

Night Stalker

Rascal

Roj Blake and Mintia

See

Sulitania

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This is a very busy time of year for many of us and not enough time in the day to get everything done. I was at a holiday party in real life yesterday and was not able to attend the holiday party on the test shard. My character was created and dolled up in red and green. There is always next year. Before real life yuletide gets in full swing I wanted to post one last holiday decorated plot and it is a grand one. There was a rune and book in my letterbox to this location which is one of the best ways to get me to visit your plot. The book claims that the plot will be open to the public until Christmas. I was there this morning and that was not so. I was however able to take great screenshots from outside in the snowy cold. Hopefully the owner will make it public again. The cords to this location are 86o 14’N 165o 6’W

Plot is set to private at this time but hopefuly will change soon

Special reindeer treats on front steps

The halls are decked

Santa on the roof

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE ON GREAT LAKES