Echoes from the Caverns

Hello everyone! Hope you are enjoying R34!! Here is the news of the week!

* Play Release 34 Now!

* Q4 2016 Schedule

* Release 33 Lot Deed Raffle Winners

* Release 34 Postmortem Invite

* Fall into Winter Telethon of the Avatar

* Markee Dragon’s: Portalarium Inside Look + Shooter Jennings

* New Halloween Goodies, Musical Instruments, and Fireplaces

* Upcoming Events

* Community Resources – Players Helping Players

* Job Openings (1)

* Recommended Projects to Back

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the next exciting chapter in this fascinating saga from Cianna. It is entitled

And Then There was Nick, Part 2

Background music by Smartsound

 

“All right, spill the beans.”

Cianna had kept quiet as long as she could. When she and Nick left the Soltown tavern after their near run-in with the men from Rats Nest, they turned left, past a small scattering of houses and shops, and towards the woods where they would find privacy. Cianna waited for Nick to speak, but he seemed lost in thought, his gaze slowly surveying the woods before them.

“Nick?”

“Hmmm? Oh, sorry. Was just wondering what those men were up to.”

“Why should you care?”

“No reason, really. I just wouldn’t want to see anyone get hurt.” Cianna stopped walking and stared at him.

“What?” he said, noting the exasperation on her face.

“You are a walking mass of contradictions, do you know that?” she said. “First, you want to be part of whatever those men have going on, now you’re worried about people getting hurt. Which is it: are you a good guy or a bad guy, a gentleman or a cad?”

Nick chuckled. “I think you will find, milady, that all men are a bit of both.”

They walked a few more paces in silence.

“Cianna, there are reasons you need to be careful about who you make friends with in these parts, especially when you travel as a woman alone.”

“I told you….”

“Yes, yes, I know. You can take care of yourself. And I don’t doubt that for a minute. I saw you in action the day we met, remember?”

Cianna smiled at the memory. Returning to Aelasar’s Forest after one of her reconnaissance missions, she made a quick stopover in Brittany to stock up on supplies. There, on the waterfront, she found a rather inebriated Nick lying on the ground with a grizzled old man holding a knife to his throat while another went through his pockets. She dispatched the pickpockets with ease, took Nick to a nearby inn, and sobered him up.

“I should have left you there,” she said, laughing. “Would have served you right. But that was nothing, Nick. I really am quite capable of taking care of myself. I’ve trained long and hard to get where I am, and I carry the title of Lady Marshal to prove it.”

Nick whistled. “Lady Marshal is it? I’m in even grander company than I thought.”

Cianna bristled, then relaxed with a laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound so grandiose. But I am extremely well trained, and I am experienced in actual fighting, too. More than you’ll ever know.” The last part was said as a whisper.

She averted her eyes so Nick wouldn’t see the sudden pain there, but it had seeped into her voice, as well. Nick opened his mouth to speak, but Cianna cut him off.

“Tell me about those men,” Cianna said. “The ones you said belonged to the Baron.”

“No, they don’t belong to the Baron. Baron Drocis Fondorlatos has only one interest and passion in life and that is the pursuit of magic: black, white, good, bad, ancient, modern. He doesn’t care, as long as it brings knowledge and power with it. He does, however, own the town of Rats Nest, where he lives. It’s a pretty lawless place, since the Baron turns a blind eye to whatever goes on there. There are only two rules in Rats Nest: don’t mess with the Baron, and pay your taxes on time. After that….” Nick shrugged.

“He sounds a bit intimidating. Is he a powerful wizard then?”

“No one really knows, Cianna. He keeps to himself. Rarely ventures out. It makes one wonder what he wants all of that knowledge for, though.”

Hello everyone! Welcome back Asclepius! Here is the news of the week!

* The Passing of Lacey

* More Estgard Polish

* Community Spotlight: Relaxing in Bastion’s Point – Player Owned Town

* Hometown

* Fireplaces & Chimneys Update: Ornate Iron Fireplaces

* Community Resources – Players Helping Players

* Job Openings (3)

* Recommended Projects to Back

Hello everyone! Lord Baldrith here flying solo again. Please bear with me as I try to make it as interesting as possible! Asclepius will back next week! Here is the news of the week!

* Estgard Polish

* Lord British and Darkstarr Attending SotA Con

* Shroud in the News

* R33 Postmortem Recap

* Shroud at the Austin Games Conference

* Halloween Content

* Elven 2-Story Row Tax Free Bundle

* Upcoming Events

* Community Resources – Players Helping Players

* Job Openings (3)

* Recommended Projects to Back

Hello everyone! Here is the news of the week!

* Tropical Island POT Polish

* Upcoming Economic Balance Changes

* Richard Garriott Hi-jinks: AMA! Dragon Con Wedding! Storytelling!

* Testing Incentives Program

* Sales of Virtual Items for Real Currency Policy

* Elven Bundle Store and Add-On Goodies

* Elven 2-Story Row Tax Free Bundle

* Upcoming Events

* Community Resources – Players Helping Players

* Job Openings (3)

* Recommended Projects to Back

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with a wonderful story from Cianna Danaan. It is entitled

And Then There Was Nick, Part I

Background music by Smartsound

 

 

Cianna jumped as the door to the Soltown tavern burst open with a clatter and a rush of cold air. The soft, plaintive melody she’d been absentmindedly playing on the piano died away. A youngish man, clearly the worse for drink, stumbled through the door. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, pushed his cloth hood off, and glanced around the room.

“Barkeep! Barkeep! Another round, if you please.”

“Ya haven’t had your first yet, mate.” The grizzled old man behind the bar said, laughing. “At least not here. But you’ve definitely had a few rounds somewhere else, by the looks — and smell — of ya.”

The scattered patrons in the tavern laughed, the young man joining in with them.

“But, isn’t this the Fire Lotus Tavern, good man? It’s not? Hmmm, I could have sworn I was in Owl’s Head.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I seem to have lost a continent. Well, no matter, let’s remedy this problem on the spot. Barkeep, my usual, if you please.”

The barkeep beckoned with his finger. “Come here, my boy,” he said, a look of bemusement on his face.

The young man swayed as he ambled up to the bar, leaning across the counter so he could hear the barkeep. “Yes, my good man?”

The barkeep whispered, loudly, so the room could hear, “Seeing as you’ve never been here before,” he said, “I don’t know what your ‘usual’ is. Do you see my problem, mate?”

As the crowd laughed again, Cianna rose from her seat.

“He’ll have a whiskey,” she said. “You can bring it to my table.”

Everyone turned to look at her as she spoke, the young man turning a bit slower than the rest, trying to maintain his balance as he went. He looked at her in confusion for a moment. Cianna thought she saw concern pass over his face, but if it was there, it quickly vanished.

“Milady? Is that you? By all the Watchers in Adoris, it is! It’s you!” He turned to a hefty man sitting on a stool near him. “It’s her!” he said to the man. “The love of my life, the apple of my eye, the….”

Cianna strode forward and gripped the young man by the elbow. “Quiet, please, Nick. I don’t care for too much scrutiny in public.”

“Shhh, shhh, yes, milady. I understand, I do. I’ll be quiet. Quiet as a….as a….”

“Foghorn?” said the barkeep, stepping past them to place a whiskey on Cianna’s table. “Anything more for you, miss?” he asked.

“No, I’m good, thank you.” She handed him coin for the whiskey.

Cianna steered Nick to her table, helping him to maintain an upright demeanor. She pulled out the nearest chair and guided him into it. She looked him over with a smile lurking at her lips as she sat down again.

“So, we meet again. How are you, Nick?”

“Ahh, but it’s good to see you again, milady.”

“Stop with the milady business, will you? Cianna’s good enough for me.”

He raised his eyebrows, then took a sip of whisky. “Cianna it is, then. Only trying to be respectful to my lady love.” He winked at her.

“I’m not your lady love, Nick. We barely know each other.” She laughed at his pouting face. “It is good to see you, though.”

“And it’s grand to see you,” he said. “Your beauty brightens up the day. Puts the very sun to shame, and makes the moon cry in his cups.”

Cianna laughed again.

Hello everyone! Here is the news of the week!

* Free Lot Deed Raffle Tickets in R34

* Release 33 Postmortem

* Estgard Polish

* Fireplaces and Chimneys

* Swamp Island POT Templates Update

* Elven Bundle Store and Add-On Goodies

* Star Citizen Cross Promotion Update

* Upcoming Events

* Richard Garriott at Dragon Con

* Community Resources – Players Helping Players

* Recommended Projects to Back

Greetings Avatars! Here is the news for August 26, 2016. On my own this week as Lord Baldrith has computer issues. Hope to have him back next week! Hope you survived the landrush and are enjoying R33!

This is the news of the week:

Play Release 33 Now!

Summer Telethon of the Avatar Part 2 Results

$10 Million Gift: Virtue Cloak

Swamp Island POT Templates

Lot Deed Raffle

Breathe Emotes, Smoke Emotes, Pets, and Fancy Clothes

Upcoming Events

Richard Garriott at Dragon Con

Dawn of New Britannia Community Trailer Contest Results

Community Resources – Players Helping Players

Job Openings (4)

Recommended Projects to Back

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with another great story from Them Lock. It is entitled

The Hanging Tree

Background music by Smartsound

The elder dryad of Grunvald has long been dormant. Deep in the forest, nestled within her sacred grove, she had taken root and entered a cycle of hibernation that would last one hundred years. Her delicate frame had grown strong and tall, towering above the canopy in the form of a massive oak tree. Her presence enriched the very soil for miles around her, invigorating growth and warding off disease. Immobile but aware, the forest had grown vibrant and flourished around her and for a time she had known joy in its purest form.

She initially became aware of the outlanders presence when the first trees were felled, the distant harvest at the very edge of her realm stung her like a salted lash. She had reached out with her mind, sending forth the predators of the forest in an attempt to bring the intruders to justice. But one by one the creatures consciousness were lost to her, victims to the same axes that had murdered her wards. Saddened, the dryad poured her energy into the forest in an attempt to heal some of the damage. But the massacre had only just begun, as each day passed more and more axes tore at her forest as stones were driven into the soil in an ever expanding scab of roadways that delved ever closer. Nothing slowed the brutal advance, she had summoned thorns and brambles and swarms of biting insects to no avail. Day after day, month after month and year after year… she was losing ground.

It was twelve long years before the monsters reached her. Frozen in place, she stared down at them with fury as the horrid creatures took shelter from the sun beneath her boughs. If she could move she would eviscerate them, but move she could not. It was one week later when her heart splintered and broke. Her sacred grove, her children, her greatest loves were taken from her. Before her eyes axe and saw tore her babies from the earth, their bodies dragged aside, drawn and quartered. Her silent screams sent out a shockwave that caused panic throughout the forest, birds took flight and deer bolted, all life for miles sensed her pain and fled… all except the outlanders. In the days that followed, her wailing continued as, with horror, she looked on as the dismembered remains of her family were crafted into a great hall.

Like maggots in the rotting corpse of her grove, the outlanders grew quickly in number, a forest of human structures sprang up around her in cruel mockery of her loss. The green life that once surrounded her was replaced with cold, grey stone and the air was filled with the unbearable stench of burning wood. They had made her a captive, a centerpiece, a trophy of war displayed at the very heart of their lifeless, ugly settlement. The weight of foot traffic compounded the pain of cobblestones that bit deeply into her network of roots, causing her great pain and cutting her off from the outside world. As far as she could tell, all life had been wiped out. She was utterly defeated and so very alone, she had begun to will her own death to no avail.

As a stage was constructed at her feet and ropes hung from her boughs, the dryad could not help but wonder what fresh torment her captors had in store. A crowd of the stinking beasts gathered at her feet, jeering and calling out as a trio of outlanders were led to the ropes, hands bound behind their backs. In horrified amazement the dryad watched on as the creatures were hung by their necks from her limbs. She felt the life slip from their bodies as they dangled and twitched from the ropes… they were killing their own kind!. Over the years many such executions took place, and she grew to take pleasure from the act. After decades of tortured misery she had come to delight in the fear she sensed in the condemned. Sanity had long since abandoned her,

Hello everyone! Here is the news of the week!

* Final 3 Days for 15% Bonus & All Pledge Expirations!

* Summer Telethon of the Avatar Part 2

* NPC Submissions Requested for Spite!

* Port Graff Revisited (Part 2)

* Shroud In the News

* Land Rush Update

* Star Citizen Cross Promotion Update

* Upcoming Events

* Richard Garriott at Dragon Con

* Dawn of New Britannia Community Trailer Contest

* Community Resources – Players Helping Players

* Job Openings (4)

* Recommended Projects to Back