Update Notes – February 2001 – Lonely in the World
He huddles against the soot-blackened stone of the ruined aqueduct, surrounded by piles of neatly stacked tomes. Their deliverer floats away, cloak snapping in the late winter wind, accompanied by a hum that vibrates through air and teeth.
You will do it, Ketnan. You will do it for our friends. You will do it.
“Stop,” he whispers, clutching his head. It throbs in sympathy with the ceaseless, fading hum. . .
A ceaseless sea wind whistles around facets of living crystal. The crystal studies the veiled eye of the sun. More snow will fall today. The magic keeps the roofs clear. Still they do not come. The magic keeps the sconces lit, the fireplaces stoked, and the beds warm. Still they do not come. A few delicate pieces of white fluff fall from the heavens, settling on the piles around the patient crystal. The sea wind moans softly. . .
The man moans softly. A solitary, levitating gem throws gloomy syenite light across the stones of his cell. He stares at the gem, absorbing its feeble pulse, and hears the crush and roar of a frigid blue sea. He feels the salt spray sting his legs. A child laughs and crows, splashing awkwardly against the tide as she strains to catch the gulls. Warm arms encircle him from behind.
An otherworldly hum echoes down the corridor. He snaps his eyes away from the ocean light of the gem, and stands ready. He does not wipe the seawater from his cheeks. It will not be minded. The hum swells into the room. . .
The hum surrounds us. A chorus beyond the veil of time. Beyond the suns. Beyond the dark. The tone has always been. It shall ever be. Constant and resounding in the space beyond. There it sings to us, unchanging. It soothes us. It is all.
The membrane muffles it. Mere anarchic noise drowns it out, pulls us from the crystalline surety. I miss it.
The meat entity stands, leaking fluid from jelly surface organs.
Poor thing. We shall sing to it. The song shall comfort it. And in the singing, I shall comfort ourselves. . .
The next chapter in the unfolding saga of Asheron’s Call is about to begin.
Turn the page.
The powers of magic had been growing ever since the defeat of the Hopeslayer. Magi of the School of the Arm had already gained access to another sphere of influence and now they had uncovered the secrets of an ancient order of Empyrean warrior magi who stood resolute against the darkness during their greatest age. Those who command the sphere of War, able to find and pass the tests placed before them are able to forge Thaumaturgic and Exarch Platemail. This armor is light enough to be worn by mages, yet is endowed with mystical energies that afford its creator the defenses of the heartiest warrior.
As the School of the Arm found the Essence of Strife during the month of Snowreap, so too has the School of the Right Hand found an essence bound to Derethian “enchanting” magic. Sequestered in the wilderness and surrounded by a Menhir, the pulsing Essence of Artifice grants spells of the seventh circle to all who feed it the most powerful item scrolls found on the Obsidian Plains. Armed with these humbling spells magi now harden their armor and further hone the steel of their weapons, making them more fearsome then ever before.
Furthering the resurgence of magic, deep within the Mines of Despair can be found an oblong stone. Adventurers have discovered that this stone, carried by an ancient guardian, can be enhanced within the very heart of the dungeon using a piece of their essence and powerful returned magic. The resultant item hardens the mind and heightens the focus of whoever uses the stone, pulling away their access to Mana at the same time.
But all is not well on Dereth.
Tumeroks have moved onto the desert plains and opened installations there. Deep beneath the sands their vanguard forces prepare what appears to be a staging point. They have sent only an expeditionary force to fortify these bases but there can be no question as to the ill nature of their intent. Those who have entered these fortresses have returned with tales of the denizens within and the items of power they have retrieved.
Deep within the quagmire, scrawled in his own hand, Sir Candeth Martine continues his story for those with the fortitude to follow him. The darkness within him grows and the grim trail he leaves will take its toll on even most stalwart warrior’s mind. The changes within the man are growing more obvious with each letter he leaves travelers to find; it is a trail that has become rife with murder and ill tidings. At the hands of the Virindi his awareness has been heightened and he has become something not wholly human. His tale now leads adventurers back to the captors that traded him to the Virindi, the Mosswarts deep within the swamp. Brave parties recount his tale while speaking at taverns or in the company of the smithies shining their newest creations, the naginata.
As new arrivals are met with the friendly gestures of Helpers something wicked brews in the heart and sky of Dereth. The sky itself is filled with an unearthly amethyst hue. The land itself is now bathed in a lavender blanket that reminds the Children of Ispar that all is not well. The Hopeslayer may be gone, but there are other enemies who would take his place and remove the Children of Ispar from this world.
- Fixed inappropriate elemental resistance colors showing up on armor.
- Armor with negative resistance values will now display properly.
- Gave Black Ferah unique death strings and name.
- Updated the Mines of Despair quest.
- Removed a double quote from MacNiall the Unruled.
- Fixed a minor typo in the winter blue dye name.
- Relic Bones now have Life Magic, and drain health with Heal Self.
- Moved Aerfalle’s Keep to a new landblock, thus eliminating “grandfathered” site-specific Portal Recall points used by macroers.
- Changed all the detrimental Self spells to be irresistible. Players will no longer gain XP from resisting their own debuffs. Everyone out of the pool!
- Very low priced items, such as a single arrow, can once again be sold.
- Put back the Thrashers and Enforcers in the northern Dires. Troop wants you to know he is very sorry.
- All newly created swordstaffs have been renamed naginatas.
- Fixed a passage in the Lower Xarabydun dungeon so that players no longer get stuck there.
- Fixed staircase in the Xarabydun upper shop level.
- Moved a badly sorting painting in Xarabydun.
- NPCs in various newbie quests now directly broadcast the message: “You’ve earned (x) experience,” when you complete one of the quests and are awarded XP.
- Steel chests no longer snap shut on your fingers.