Okay, so apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the governors ever done for us?

Actually, even if you couldn’t care less about the whole election process and exactly whose posterior is filling the seats in the King’s Council, there are three important services that governors can provide to the citizens of Britannia:

Titles – All governors are able to bestow a title upon loyal citizens in the form “title of city”, just like the fixed “Governor of city” that the governors themselves have. The customizable part can be up to twenty characters long. This title is in addition to the normal subtitle you may have on display and appears directly under your name. Of course, it is up to individual governors to decide what titles they are prepared to hand out and to whom, but generally they seem prepared to give people whatever they want, within reason.

To grant a title, the governor will have to meet you at the town stone. Should you no longer wish to display a title granted by a governor, you can go back to the town stone and remove it, and all titles will be automatically removed at the end of each term of office.

Trade Deals – Each city governor is able to set a trade deal in place which gives a buff to all citizens of respected rank or higher. There are a number of trade deals a governor can choose from, but the three most popular seem to be Bardic Collegium (+1 faster casting), Guild of Assassins (+5 SSI) and Guild of Arcane Arts (+5 SDI). To actually benefit from any deal in place, you will have to visit the town stone and activate it. The effect lasts for twenty-fours at which time you will have to return to the stone to re-enable it, assuming the city still has that deal running. The trade deal effect will not go over the normal cap for the given modifier.

Please keep in mind that trade deals cost a city two million gold per week to maintain, a not insubstantial amount of money and something which the governor would have to find out of his own pocket if there is any shortfall in town funds. Therefore, if you are making regular use of a trade deal and wish to see it continue, you should seriously think of making a donation to the town treasury by dropping gold or checks onto the herald at the bank. The punitive taxes on town coffers that were in effect last term have been abolished, so you can be sure that all your hard-earned lucre is now going towards financing deals rather than Lord Blackthorn’s private art collection.

If your town is not running the deal that you want (or one at all), then you might want to consider contacting the governor to request a change. You can either look for him in-game, send him a pigeon, or leave a message on the town noticeboard at the bank. Another possibility, particularly if you have no great affinity with any particular town, is to switch your loyalty to a town that is running the deal that suits you. To do this, you need to resign your citizenship from the loyalty rating menus and then wait one week before declaring in a different town.

If you do not have the required status to be able to utilize a trade deal, the fastest way to get there is donating items to the trade minister at the docks by dropping them into the chest next to him. Four thousand boards and/or ingots will take you from zero loyalty to respected.

Town Improvements – Governors are able to petition the King for changes within the town area. Such alterations vary from simply adding new services, such as bankers or stable masters, to cosmetic ones such as naming roads and buildings. The nature of the governmental bureaucracy means that these proposals have so far taken a long time to be brought to fruition, possibly depending upon how elaborate the requested modifications are. But the sooner you get the ball rolling, the better. So if there are any changes you would like to see in your home town, then contact your governor without delay.

[ discuss this post ]

Ironfist crushes Goop

The political controversy in the capital capped what has been a dramatic end to the elections in the contested cities of Minoc and Moonglow, where just a single vote ended up separating the two pairs of candidates.

In Moonglow, inaugural governor Sam’s late rally was not quite enough to overtake York, who ended up winning what has been an enthralling race 24-23. It had actually been a pretty quiet day in the city, with few votes being cast and little active campaigning from the two candidates. Nevertheless, York, a recent immigrant from the Chesapeake area, had spent a nervous last few hours pacing around the bank, desperately trying to swing any remaining floating voters to his cause. But it seemed that most citizens had already cast their lot in a contest which had seen overall turnout increase by around 400% from the previous one.

“I had a feeling it would be close,” York said afterwards, with a palpable expression of relief on his face, “Sam ran a great campaign. However, I am glad to see that we got so many people to vote and made Moonglow such a popular town.”

Reaction to York’s win was generally favourable, even amongst those who had voted for Sam. “He seems to have a lot of enthusiasm and ideas,” said Talia, “and I hope he carries out his plans for the town. I will support him as long as his politics don’t clash with my own.”

The Moonglow campaign was a stark contrast to Minoc, where voting had been sporadic to put it mildly. Ladra, who had started the day 8-4 in arrears and seemed to be having trouble convincing even her fellow thieves to vote for her, found herself at an even worse 10-5 with just over an hour remaining in the contest. But she was boosted by a last-minute rush of votes, headed by a thief who declined to give her name, and finished up squeaking an improbable 11-10 victory.

And lastly, in New Magincia, incumbent governor Morgan Ironfist ended up annihilating challenger Viscount Goop by a whopping margin of 38-1. It had been a puzzling campaign from Goop, who had lost the previous contest by a rather more respectable 33-10, and one wonders why he had chosen to run in the first place.

And so the autumn election campaign has come to an end with a full set of governors on the King’s Council, including six newcomers. And it could scarcely have worked out better for Lord Blackthorn. His penchant is for a state of chaos, arguing that order leads to stagnation, and with such a diverse Council, including a pirate and a thief and no single group dominating, he would have been hard-pressed to hand-pick a better bunch.

Full governor list for autumn ’13

Britain – Hugibear (Prepare to be Boarded)
Jhelom – Salinger (Cereal Killers)
Minoc – Ladra (Barter Town Inc)
Moonglow – York
New Magincia – Morgan Ironfist (Gilfane)
Skara Brae – Hoffs (Gilfane)
Trinsic – Kelmo
Vesper – Victim (Victim’s R Us)
Yew – Samantha (Gilfane)

[ discuss this post ]

Hugibear accused of underhand tactics in victory

Controversy marred the final hours of the election campaign in Britain when new governor, Hugibear, was accused by rivals of using dirty tricks to swing the contest in his favour. The claims came from Sprago’s campaign manager, Baby Doll, who asserted that her opposite number, Bo, had brought in dozens of foreign labourers with dubious citizenship eligibility in order to swell his vote count to an unassailable lead.

It has been a dramatic end to a day which began with pirate Hugi holding a narrow 20-17 advantage over the current governor. But by late in the day, Sprago’s appeal to friends and supporters had seen him almost double his vote to take a 32-20 lead, mostly thanks to allies Legion of Honor. But in the last five hours, the pirates added an amazing thirty-eight votes to bring the final figure to an impressive 58-33 margin in their favour.

Pirate guild leader, Parium the Black, was quick to scotch the accusations, insisting that almost all the votes had come from Arrr members or their allies. But Baby Doll insisted that Bo and his supporters were openly admitting that they had used outsiders to rig the election. No doubt the political back-biting will continue for some time to come, but election officers in Britain proclaimed that no rules and been broken and that all those who had voted were eligible to do so.

“The city of Britain has declared that Hugibear is the new legitimate governor of the city, “ announced the voting supervisor, “there will be no recounts or reruns.”

And so it is that the citizens of Britain are preparing themselves for what is likely to be an interesting and very different style of government for the next three months, although for some it is too much.

“I’m disgusted,” said Goliath, “I’m a citizen of Britain, but not for much longer. We have witnessed some true political garbage today.”

For others, though, it will be business as usual. “Everyone knows how politics gets dirty in the big cities,” shrugged one passer-by.

[ discuss this post ]

Legion of Honour tip balance

With little more than seven hours remaining until the polls close, a late appeal by Sprago has seen him surge into a 32-20 lead over his rival, Hugibear. A good chunk of those votes have come courtesy of the Legion of Honour guild, who arrived en-mass to register their support.

“We have come to support an alliance friend,” said Sarah, a Council member of the Legion, “Sprago has been very supportive to us since we arrived here from Atlantic and has granted us access to his extensive hub.”

Over in Moonglow, a nail-biting finish looks on the cards as Sam now trails York by a mere two votes, although neither candidate have been much in evidence in the town yet today.

And in New Magincia, better late than never seems the message of the day after Viscount Goop picked up his first vote. If he can just find another thirty-six from somewhere, he will have the lead…

[ discuss this post ]

Vigorous campaigning in Moonglow

Citizens of Britannia now have less than a day to cast their votes in the governorship elections, and in Britain, Minoc and Moonglow, each one could be crucial.

The closest contest is in the capital, where Sprago has narrowed the gap to his challenger, Hugibear, and now trails by only three votes.

“The latest count is 17-14,” said Jebidiah the herald, “and there’s an awful lot of folk who haven’t voted yet. The summer contest was effectively over two or three days before the end, but this one is going down to the wire. It’s too close to call.”

The Britain election has been universally acknowledged as a rather lacklustre affair, with no candidate making any efforts to reach out to anyone but their own core voters. In Moonglow, though, after a relatively slow start, campaigning has been furious and the city has turned into the main battleground of this term’s elections.

Yesterday saw governor Sam stepping up his efforts for re-election with a fresh appeal to his supporters, the result of which has been a doubling of his vote count in the past twenty-four hours. Challenger York, meanwhile, is employing elaborate (and no doubt expensive) advertising methods including the use of specially trained birds flying “Vote York” banners. This has helped him keep up a steady stream of votes and he still enjoys a decent, but reduced, advantage of 24-18 over Sam.

But it is still all to play for, and York is maintaining his stoic demeanour, “It’s not over until tomorrow, so it’s still up in the air for me. I am campaigning when I can.” He also went on to add a conciliatory note to his adversary, “Sam has great support in Moonglow. I don’t see why we can’t work together regardless of who wins.”

For his part, Sam was far less forthcoming about the situation, seemingly genuinely shocked by the vigour of his hitherto unknown opponent and the support which he his enjoying. “Who knows?” was his only reply when asked if he still thought victory was possible. But he went on to suggest that he would indeed be willing to work with York.

It has been a quiet day in the other two contested cities of Minoc and New Magincia. There seems to have been no voting activity at all yesterday in the former, but with such a low turnout one cannot rule out a last-minute rush of votes tipping the scales in Ladra’s favour. And in the latter, Viscount Goop is still without a single vote. There have been sightings of the slime at his swamp in Zento, but he has been unavailable for comment and it is anybody’s guess of quite what his game plan is. But it would seem that nothing short of starting a Barracoon spawn in New Magincia is going to save him now.

[ discuss this post ]

The Perilous Inquirer
Vol. 1, Eleventh Issue
September 13, 2013

UPCOMING EVENTS
The Pirates Guild, Arrr, is hinting of a celebration to coincide with the grand opening of their new “Pirates Cove.” Our cub scouts have reported recent shipments of gigantic hogsheads of rum, gigantic headless hogs, tons of turnip greens and huge bales of freshly harvested aloe vera leaf, a remarkably powerful laxative, all being carted into the new settlement.
More about this event to come as our intrepid reporter, Kattasrophe, seeks answers.

At Last Weeks Events: Zaine won NBT’s Scavenger Hunt despite every single word on the list being a word-jumble
Igg a pie of TGIF guild found the Arcane Crown at the Papua Tinkers’ Shop to win Ilexia’s Treasure Hunt.

THE PIRATE SONG
Against convention we rebel to sail the sea of briny foam,
We drink with daemons straight from hell and chase their asses home.

The waves be drunk and so are we, the moon be high and so are we,
We’re sinful dirty pirates and we’re sailing to be free.

We’ll blow y’re ship to smithereens, board y’re women and belay y’re men,
We’ll sink y’re bloody brigantines and haul y’re treasure to our den.

So flee the hull that flies the skull or Davy Jones will pick y’re bones.
Cannon balls and boarding brawls are winsome cheers to buccaneers.
–  © 2010 by GD Deckard (DeadBob)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN UO
When moongates were unstable, a moongate could fail and you would find yourself standing on a platform in the ocean.
To escape, you had to slip by a revolving iron grate and enter a white moongate. Today, that platform is still there, though it is now used only by savvy seafarers who can sail to where the 4 corners of the map touch. There, if you can figure out how to get onto the platform, you can still enter that white moongate and discover a journey of old.
– Thanks to Camaenion for the history bit

ASK SEVERN
Ten Toes asks: Everyone seems so angry all of a sudden! Have I gone crazy or are they really mad?
Dear Ten Toes: Good news! You’re not crazy! I suggest all towns invest in Prozac salt licks to help solve peoples anger issues. Bad news, you only have nine toes….

CLASSIFIEDS
Siege Estates
Its a even hotter day than the other days boiling yet Siege Estates sends you a cool breeze now on sale at vendors near you Siege Estates Vendor Edition 2.0. Don’t be left dry an thirsty when you can have a nice cold bottle of booze. Drink Responsibly, Cheers!
– Grimlex

Waterfall Bridge Shop
Located within the guard zone at the waterfall across the bridge from Justice shrine Northwest of Yew at coordinates 95″49′ N x 0″54’E
♥Love All, serve All♥
– Your Pixel Crush

The Perilous Inquirer
3rd house on left out the Luna south gate.
News & Booze! Free current issues are on the “News” steward; Free named liquors are on the “Booze” steward. Back copies are free on the shop named, “Siege Droppings.”
Submission guidelines are posted on the bulletin board.
Reporter: Kattasrophe
Contributor: Severn

~sine die~

Join the discussion at:
http://uo2.stratics.com/community/threads/the-perilous-inquirer-eleventh-issue.304721/

York maintains lead in Moonglow

With under two days of voting remaining, Hugibear has edged further ahead in the Britain governorship election. He now enjoys a 15-10 advantage over Sprago, up from the 11-9 of two days ago. Yes this is still only around 40% of the total turnout for the previous election, so there are clearly votes out there to be had. But the low-key approach by both candidates has done little to help their positions, and just a few appearances on the streets in the closing days may be enough to swing things decisively in their direction.

Meanwhile, in Minoc, where voting was deadlocked the other day, Possum has now moved out into a substantial lead given the low turnout. He is now reported to be ahead by either 8-4 or 10-5, a turn of events which has seemed to rattle his opponent, Ladra.

“Possum’s on the way to becoming governor,” she announced, “Sure you want that? Vote for me! Vote Ladra!”

Over in Moonglow, York’s release of his manifesto seems to have helped somewhat as he has now extended his margin over governor Sam to a fairly considerable 18-9. Yet the challenger is taking nothing for granted yet.

“I am not ruling out Sam,” he told me, “he has already come back at me twice.”

And finally, in New Magincia, the situation remains as it was on Wednesday, with Viscount Goop still not having lodged a single vote in his race against Morgan Ironfist. It caps what has so far been a disappointing election for the Eye-for-an-eye guild, with all three candidates behind to one extent or another.

[ discuss this post ]

The Perilous Inquirer
Vol. 1, Tenth Issue
September 6, 2013

UPCOMING EVENTS
Ilexia’s Treasure Hunt: 3:PM EST Sat, 7 Sep 13
Location will be announced over General Chat

NBT Scavenger Hunt: 8:PM EST Sat, 7 Sep 13
At the Perilous Inquirer, 3rd house on the left out the Luna south gate.

Planning an Event? Tell us & we’ll help spread the word!

OVERHEARD ON CHAT
“More guys would join if factions had camp followers.”

DEADBOB INTERVIEW
by Kattasrophe, age 12
DeadBob 70, is the guild leader of NEWS. He said, “There are a zillion ways to play UO. Reporting news is one of them. I have another character on Siege and I love it here. It’s a frontier town.”
I asked him, “What do you like most about the people here?”
He says, “People here control themselves based on their needs. There is no law. And I like independent people. Like you and Tang, they take responsibility for their actions.”
I asked him one last question, “What is your favorite thing to do here?”
He says, “The Perilous Inquirer, of course!”
[Editor’s Note: This was supposed to be Ladra’s interview, but she declined.]

WINGUS & DINGUS STRIKE AGAIN
aka Blade Runner and Parker Swiftness, the formerly freelance graverobbers continue to kill & rob people who can’t fight.
Their careers as night diggers ended when they made the mistake of looting Lord Blackthorn’s tomb in Felucca, taking his gold teeth and triggering a hidden Sacrifice spell. The ex-Frenchman resurrected on the spot.
Now, under Blackthorn’s sway, Wingus & Dingus are forced to steal from the dead in order to pay for the King’s leprosy medications.
“You kill carebears & crafters and won’t fight PvPrs. Soooo lame,” Xaphan accused them. “You won’t fight people who can fight back.”
Blade Runner’s response was too long to fit in a forum post, but made no sense anyway.

ASK SEVERN:
Benjamin Gold asks: “I’m a pirate, and I can’t seem to keep my boots dry! Any suggestions?
Dear Pirate Ben, Yes! Stop wearing boots! Instead wear little sponges on your feet so they soak up all the water for you.

PRESIDENT STUMBLES INTO RADIO STATION DRUNK, CONFUSED
President, Viscount Of Yew, and his Rune Beetle, Lucy Borgia, accosted DJ Def of uoRadio.com, demanding an evening of Metallica.
“That’s why you retards suck at PvP,” he explained to noone in particular on Chat. “You said Metallica sucks.”

The Perilous Inquirer
3rd house on left out the Luna south gate.
News & Booze! Free current issues are on the “News” steward; Free named liquors are on the “Booze” steward. Back copies are free on the shop named, “Siege Droppings.”
Submission guidelines are posted on the bulletin board.
Reporter: Kattasrophe
Contributor: Severn

~sine die~

Join the Discussion at:
http://uo2.stratics.com/community/threads/the-perilous-inquirer-tenth-issue.304312/

York posts early lead in Moonglow

At the halfway point of the election voting, it is still all to play for in three of the four towns with a choice of candidates, and only the thickness of a ballot paper is separating the candidates in two.

In Britain, pirate Hugibear is holding on to a narrow 11-9 lead over incumbent governor Sprago. This is well short of the sixty-one total votes cast in the capital last time, but the fact that neither candidate has published a manifesto or gone into any great details on their intentions has been a factor here. Instead, citizens seem to be voting based upon their opinions of the candidate’s past.

“Mr Sprago has always been reliable in his actions, these pirates are nothing but trouble,” said Liv Firetone after she had been to place her vote.

Not so, says Hugi supporter, Kaisa. “Us pirates are here to fix the the city! Clearly there is not enough wenches or drinking of rum!”

Still, the lack of any manifesto does not seem to be hurting the prospects of Moonglow challenger, York, who now holds a handy 14-8 lead over Sam.

“Vote for York!” extolled Pvillin. “He said he’d put a trash can at the bank.”

But for others, York’s failure to provide details on his candidacy has indeed been a factor.

“I voted for Sam,” said citizen Talia, “as he’s the only one who has made a statement of his intentions. And he said he would get more telescopes for the city.”

Meanwhile, in Minoc, voting has been much lighter and is currently deadlocked at four votes apiece. It appears that every single vote here is going to be crucial.

“I would not like to say which way this one is going to go,” said Chloris the tailor.

And it is a very curious situation in the fourth disputed town, New Magincia. Current governor Morgan Ironfist has been spending the last few days vigorously campaigning both from his town hall and around the street of the city. And the approach seems to be working as many people have been to cast votes at the town stone. By contrast, his opponent, Viscount Goop, has not been seen. There has been no speech, no press release, no manifesto. In fact, it is doubtful that he has even stepped foot into the town since his nomination last week as he has not even been there to vote for himself.

“People are referring to him as “The Invisible Slime”, said Osmond the herald. “Lawks knows what his plan is.”

The exact count remains a mystery thanks to the abstruse Britannian election system which only gives the ballot percentages rather than absolute votes cast. And as nobody has voted yet for Goop, there is no way to be sure of Ironfist’s tally. But if the governor has polled even half the thirty-three votes he achieved last time, it is difficult to see how his opponent is going to catch up now. But Morgan is not taking any chances.

“I am sure it is all a strategy to overrun the city stone with votes on the last day,” he told me, “while many of my supporters will not feel the need to vote because it is apparently so one-sided.”

Citizens have until midnight on Saturday [EST] to make their choices.

[ discuss this post ]

The Perilous Inquirer
Vol. 1, Ninth Issue
August 30, 2013

BLACKTHORN SPIES ON CITIZENS
According to documents leaked by Ysebella Damours and published by a French newspaper, King Blackthorn has been eavesdropping on the general chat channel.
Confronted with this evidence, the King stuck to his talking points. “I’m not French! I hate factions! And, yes, that’s my grave at my Castle but I’m NOT a zombie!”

BOOMERS BALL
A bang up time was had by all
At the Boomer’s Ball in Ladra’s Hall.
The best laid traps for women & men,
Concealed the prizes & danger within
Exploding crates in Ladra’s Hall.

Along came Blade Runner, Parker Swiftness & Tick,
Looking for crates with a candlestick,
While Kelmo, Liandra, Hoffs and Dark Star
Counted the booms from the upstairs bar.

The guests agreed this was indeed the best Siege fest
In many a year. Though some did fear the reds’ unrest,
Death was but a deathrobe quest.
Katt won that.

YOUR PIXEL CRUSH
– Interviewed by Katt (12 yrs old)
Your Pixel Crush, 32, began playing UO 8 years ago. It took her husband 7 years to get her to play. She finally decided to play the game so she could play with her husband.
She says I’ll try anything once, but if I like it alot I’ll try it again.
But what I really like is crafting, dungeon crawling and tmap hunting with a side of roleplay. “I have been a gamer girl always even in high school,” says Pixel Crush. ”
P.S. Aside from PKrs killing people, they are kind of nice,” says Pixel Crush.

STUDY: 95% OF PKs DON’T CLEAN THEIR WEAPONS
This reporter, while observing PKs immediately after a kill, found 95 percent not using a cleanser, not scrubbing for the recommended 20 seconds, or not washing at all.
“<expletive deleted> off,” said BlOoDlUsT. “I usually wash my blade unless someone’s still trying to kill me.”

UPCOMING EVENTS
NBT is working on a Scavenger Hunt.
Ilexia may be planning a Treasure Hunt.

PLANNING AN EVENT?
Others might like to assist you. Tell us & we’ll help spread the word.

VENDOR PLAZA (Adv)
New vendor house out the Luna south gate; at the 3rd house on your left, turn left to the 2nd house behind the Inquirer, at 82N,20W.
Fresh Stock  *Imbued Gear * Filled Spell Books * Pots * LRC Suits * Gate Scrolls * Arties * Furnishings * Plants & Seeds & More!

The Perilous Inquirer
3rd house on left out the Luna south gate.
News & Booze! Free current issues are on the “News” steward; Free named liquors are on the “Booze” steward. Back copies are free on the shop named, “Siege Droppings.”
Reporter: Kattasrophe
Writers wanted! Submission guidelines are posted on the bulletin board.

~sine die~

Join the Discussion at
| http://uo2.stratics.com/community/threads/the-perilous-inquirer-ninth-issue.303999/