Getting In Your Head -------------------- The first in what will (hopefully) be a series of informal chats with the various and wonderful folks that populate our Shattered World. ------------------------------------ Nadre ----- I recently had the opportunity to meet and talk with a member of Shattered World's chivalry-bound fraternity, the Knighthood. Pharaik, a kind and talkative member of the species I like to call home, gave me some frank answers on monarchs, theives, and the joys of meeting new folks. Here's how it went. --- Nadre: How long have you been a resident of the Shattered World? Pharaik: Ages. N: Can you approximate? Who was King, or Queen, when you first arrived? P: Trax. N: Ah. Good King, would you say? [Pharaik nods, then casts a familiar spell; a pixie appears, waves at me playfully, and dissappears in a puff of green smoke. I smile at Pharaik.] P: Sorry, just wasting a little spell energy. N: What drew you to the Knighthood? P: Decapitate, and tame-animal. [Pharaik summons up another pixie, as if punctuating.] P: And a dislike for thieves. [Pharaik mutters some unusual words; an earth golem grows out of the floor, and as the sun comes up on the horizon, the golem intones, in a muddy voice, "I will go east," and does just that. It's a casual reminder of the magical sort of land that is this Shattered World.] N: Thieves, eh? Is that an issue of nobility, or one of personal grudge? Or both? P: Both, I guess. N: Have you had much trouble with thieves? P: Not really, only losing a coin here or there. But that's how they make their living, and I don't blame them, what with the high advancement fees. N: You don't blame them? [Pharaik shakes his head at this.] P: Their advancement fees are really high, but worth it because of some of the powers they can obtain. And to the average player, what is a few coins here and there? N: I suppose I see your point. P: I don't like ones that do it to new people, though. They are the ones I wish to decapitate. N: Ah, I suppose the new arrivals are the ones who would feel it most. [Pharaik nods.] P: I remember being new to this world. 200 coins was a gift from the Gods. [I nod, and smile, and think of my food budget and an income that is based mostly on blood plasma.] N: So what is the most exciting thing you've encountered in the Shattered World? P: Being new, that is the best thing that can happen. Not a worry in the world, except...kill that rat? Or don't kill that rat? [Pharaik smiles broadly, and I laugh out loud.] N: Well put. P: Meeting new people is also great, learning about different people from different places. N: How often do new folks arrive? P: Quite often, actually. I usually help a new person every two weeks. N: That's good to hear. And do they seem to stay around, for the most part? P: Some stay, some leave. N: Other worlds than this, I suppose. [Pharaik smiles.] N: We were talking about cults, earlier. You're a member of Shriek's cult. Can you tell me a little about her? P: She is a nice and generous Lord, to a certain extent. [I can't stop a wry grin from creeping on to my face at this; I think to myself that there is a certain weathered honesty in that qualification, a reminder that in politics, nice and generous can't always be steady friends to a person of power.] P: She's also a kind a caring lord, from what I have seen. [Pharaik smiles warmly, as if remembering a joke.] P: And she has a good sense of humor. N: Seems like a fair enough endorsement. P: I have never seen her angry. N: Never angry? In your time with her cult, have there been no political shakeups? [Pharaik shakes his head neutrally.] P: Maybe I just don't see them. But none have happened in her cult, since I can remember. N: Considering recent events, that's probably a good sign. [At this, Pharaik smiles.] N: Well. Are there any philosophical nuggets you'd like to share with Sanom City? [Pharaik raises his eyebrow.] P: Philosophical? A piece of advice for the people? N: I don't know; the meaning of life? Any golden rules? [Pharaik pauses, thoughtful.] P: Help when help is wanted, give when people are needy, and always be open to advice and suggestions. [I smile] N: That's fine advice, as far as I'm concerned. [Pharaik nods, smiles happily at me.]
Dear Reader: This article is the first in a series. Written to help you enjoy the different characters and what better way than to start with The Sanom Times' new Editor, Duke Patrick? You ask: Sir Patrick, what brought you to Shattered World? Patrick says: I once read an article written by Jenna. It was about the guild system. I was intrigued by the concept of alliances. So I logged in to have a look. I have been playing ever since. You ask: Have you become a property owner? Patrick says: Yes. I own the Fun House and the Pizza Restaurant and my Armoury off of Royal Parade just north of the Randy Goat. I used to own 4 to 6 houses, a brewery, magic shop and bank branch, and a takeaway. You exclaim: For my characters that cannot drink what they kill like the Aracheans, I wish that there were still a Take Out stocked full of goodies. Patrick says: Maybe I should buy back the funhouse feeder then. I lost a few because I was unable to check my properties for a while. I had other responsibilities. My studies. You say: You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, unlike many of your opponents. [Dear Reader: Duke Patrick is a Knight and founder of the Knight's Guild Vulcan so he is very used to a skill know as Decap! Many have "lost their heads" over this Knight!] Patrick smiles happily. You say: What do you consider your single most important contribution to Shattered World? Patrick says: I'm not sure if I really have contributed anything here. I have ensured that the knights get good alliances. And I try to help new players when it is needed. Give them advice and such. Other than that I just enjoy myself here. Hopefully my presence here is enough of a contribution. It is always better to play together with players rather than against them or alone. You say: You have inspired many to come here and relax and have fun and to be good and noble as they slash and hack. You smile happily. Patrick says: Yes, that is my way of life. We can all... kill... in harmony with each other. You ask: Do you have other characters as well as your human Knight? Patrick says: yes, several. Killer the grmkel healer, actually I have about 3 or 4 healers; 4 roc riders; 2 other knights. Some of my characters are druids also. I have a few thieves and berserkers. You could say I have a small army. Every character is designed with a specific purpose in mind. You exclaim: Well it sounds as if you are definitely contributing to Shattered World with your presence! What do you like best about being here in these lands? Patrick says: If you look hard enough you will always discover something new. Some secrets, of course, are best kept to yourself so that everyone discovers for him or herself. I like fighting and being able to improve yourself by fighting. One of the keys to becoming a good merchant is to keep an eye on the auction houses. Sometimes something good comes up. You have to be aware of when the deal closes so you can get the best price. Well, Dear Readers, I hope you have found this first part of our interview enjoyable and informative. Please come back and read the next edition when Duke Patrick shares more secrets adn tells us about his Guild, Vulcan, the Knights' Guild. --Peaches, Roving Reporter
The Go player: We have all seen him, sitting in the restaurant. We have all helped him play the game who's name he bears, but what goes on in the mind of this, chatty, dedicated, multi-facited member of our quadratic community? We here at the Times decided to find out. What follows is a transcript of the interview. SCT:How are you today? Go:All you need to kill the God warrior in the Valley of Winds is the whistle. SCT:Interesting. Let's get started, shall we? How did you first get started? Go:Hmm. This is tricky! SCT:Take your time. Go:Treasures do grow on trees! SCT:So... you're saying that you learned from a tree? Fascinating! Next question: How do you earn a living here? Do you get paid to play? Go:Dodinas is a sneaky thief and he is loaded with coins. SCT:Now we're getting soem dirt! So this Dodinas, he steals for you? Go:It is runored that the pixies want gargamels staff for it's healing qualities. SCT:You're insane, aren't you? Go:Half of what you hear is right... the others are left... or was it.. SCT:I see that this is a waste of time. Good Day. Go:The moron who wrote this book didn't deal with this problem. SCT:Sigh. Well there you have it. The stoicism, the strength, the utter lack of comprehension that this man has is truly an example to us all. Remember the words of this learned games master:Humans are good for nothing but knights. Good hunting from the Sanom City Times.
Recently a new monarch was announced in shattered world. Now, there have been many monarchs in all of the history of Shattered World, but this champion of lords is more special than other lords. Shriek is a queen. Now as I have heard from other players who have been in this world longer than I, there have been some queens before her, but I think that there has been only one who has actually stayed in the position long enough to be remembered. But anyway, Queen Shriek received the throne by having the most cult points. Although she does not have the largest cult in the world, she used her wits and intellect to create an alliance with the also powerful cult or Wrack (who had also been king for a very short time). At the time, Queen Shriek and Duke Coldrock are battling out for the throne. Ever since Shriek un-allied with Coldrock's cult he and his high priests have been scrambling to recruit as many new members as they possibly can, but they are yet to stand up to the power of Queen shriek and her alliances. Queen Shriek is a nice person who believes in fairness and in helping others. Although she will not go and answer every question that you have right there and then, she asks you to think it over and try to figure it out for yourself. What does this reporter think of her method? Well I believe that this is the true way to helping a person. As a person once said, "if you catch a fish for a person, they will eat for one day, but if you teach them how to fish themselves, they will be able to eat for the rest of their lives."
Recently a new Guild Leader took over the guild of Psyche. This powerful siren's name is Gladia. Although the power of her song may not be as powerful as the Guild Leader who preceded her, she is much powerful and deserves the position. Guild Leader Gladia came into power by proposing to depose of the former Guild Leader, Jailbait. Gladia won the vote of her other siren sisters by a landslide. The first thing that Gladia did when she came into office was the secure the much needed alliance of the guild of Javen. This alliance almost did not make it because of the financial position that Javen was in. The next item on Gladia's list was to lower the prices for all fees which psyche had on their products. She lowered the price of the one million-coin replacement of the soul blade and also lowered the 10K joining fee. After these improvements upon he guild, Gladia was so kind as to set the prices of all the shops that the guild owned so that psyche would have a passive income. In just 10 days these shops made 50 thousand coins. Guild Leader Gladia has also stated that she is always willing to give a loan to the guild at any time for 0% interest so long as it boosts the guild. But with Gladia the Great as our guild leader, we will always be climbing to the top. -Siren Brenda the Songstress
The Quest(ion)ing Mind ---------------------- Nadre ----- You hear: "Who are you? What do you think you're doing?" You look: a city guard. He has a rather grumpy looking expression upon his face. Here, in Sanom, on the streets, this is what every soul has to deal with on a daily basis. City guards, certainly, are a fact of life in any urban area, and are, certainly, important to the security of the reisdents thereof, but one has to wonder if the blunt, dreary mannerisms of Sanom's guards are really justified. And, perhaps more to the point, why are the guards so angry all the time? Recently, I spoke with one of the city's guardsmen who, at his request, will remain anonymous. What follows is an unedited transcript of our interview, conducted as I accompanied him on his daily patrol. NADRE: Hello, can I speak with you for a moment? GUARD: What are you doing here? N: My name is Nadre. I'm putting together a story for the Times, and I'd appreciate it if I could ask you a few questions. G: What are you waiting for? N: Nothing at all. First of all, you're a Guard of Sanom City; why did you take this job? G: I don't like people who murder others! N: Understandable. So you got into guard work as a means of satisfying your morality in parallel with the law? There are some folks in town who are more than willing to mete out justice by their own standards, law-abiding or not. G: Breaking the law is punishable by death! N: Yes, but is that a deterrent? I mean, how do you react to the suggestions, and I'm sure you've heard them, that the city guard is essentially a tool for the rich, that only the poor and often defenseless in Sanom really suffer from the bounty system? G: The newspaper articles are nothing but propaganda. N: It's not just the newspaper, there are a lot of people who feel this way. [Guard grumbles.] N: Right. I'd like to back up a bit, here. You went into gaurd work of your own free will -- stop me if I'm wrong, here -- and yet you seem acutely unhappy much of the time. Why is that? G: The wages for being a city guard are terrible. N: Is that all, or-- G: Working is so dull, I'd prefer to be out adventuring. N: Okay, so low pay and boring work. I can certainly understand that. What I don't understand is why you don't just give notice and do something else with your time. G: The crime rate is so high, we need more guards! N: So, you feel honor-bound to continue working for the city? That's certainly a noble position to take. G: To be noble is to be whole in body and in spirit. N: Fair enough. G: You know we'll be getting a new guard system soon? N: I've certainly heard rumors. Can you tell me anything specific about the plans? G: Constable Patrick and Deputy Malik are cleaning up the streets! N: I'll take that as a "no comment," then. I can't help but note that the tenor of your statement suggests a lot of stress on the shoulders of the guard. What is going on in Sanom City that is so troubling to yourself and the law enforcement machine in general? G: I suspect that a secret thieves guild exists under the city. N: Do you have any evidence of this? What leads you to belie-- G: The King is corrupt. The Judge is corrupt. N: What? Are you suggesting that the system is soiled at the very top? That our monarch and the seat of judicial power are somehow involved in this thieving conspiracy you refer to? [The gaurd glares at me suspiciously.] G: Perform a chivalrous deed and you maybe able to get protection... At this, the guard turned and walked up Centre Road, ignoring my attempts to get any further explanation from him. Certainly, the meaning of his last words puzzle me; something in his tone, something cynical and angry, tells me that among the guards there may be be stirring a resentment towards a suspect legal and political system. I can only speculate, but instinct tells me that mention of a "chivalrous deed" might be the harbinger of some desperate revolutionary action -- assassination? Coup d'etat? -- on the part of some very angry people. Who, exactly, those people are remains a mystery, as does the role of the city's guards, of Patrick and Malik, of our monarch and our judge, of, indeed, all the people of Sanom City and elsewhere, in this tense political climate. As for the surly guards who may well be the central catalyst, their demeanor, on a personal level, is not entirely inflexible. When I next met the guard to whom I spoke, I was greeted not with grumbles and glares, but with a smile, and, cheerfully: "Hi Nadre, don't break the law!"
Jeska is a proud, noble warrior woman descended from the ancient red dragons and the barbarians that inhabit the mountains far to the west of Sanom city. A warrior aspect permeates her presence. Upon close examination you notice scars covered by warpaint on her eyes, her forehead, and her cheeks. Her face is painted up to look like a fearsome mask. Her eyes blaze with the intensity of the wit of generations of dragons in them. Around her neck she wears a mithril necklace with a fearsome cat warrioress on it with a long, curved scimitar. The word "Bast" is written in delicate writting on the scimitar. She has a lean, muscular body ending in a long, prehensile tail which she uses for added balance in combat. Her armour is strange and foreign obviously from her homeland in the mountains, It does not have the desgin flourishes that most armour has but appears more practical and thusly more fearsome. Her sword seems to be almost as fierce as Jeska is with a razor-sharp edge and scenes of bloody battles etched on the sides and handle. There are strange runes in the center of the blade which change as you look at them, they become readable and say "worldgorger falchion", how odd. She has a loose yet purposeful grip on the curved blade trying to lure those who'd try to sneak up on her into a false sense of security but truly ready to pounce at the drop of a hat. Her waist length, raven-black hair is tied into four silky braids and are bound in bladed beads for a wickedly painful hair flip for attacking opponents behind her. You look closer and each bead has the name of a person or a creature written on it, they must be tallies of her kills. As she notices you studying her she smiles a intimidating grin showing sharp, pointed teeth and then turns and idly tastes the air with her long, forked tongue.
History of Elrend. Elrend was a young and quiet active dragon, allways getting into mischief at MUD SCHOOL, accidently gas'ing all his friends, and somehow attacking his teachers with his ice'y breath. Elrend then finished school being chosen by 2 guilds, the illusionists and the thieves. Then one day while on a quest for his thief master he met and fell in love with a female draconian by the name of Samata(pronounced Samantha in common tounge). Unfortuantly after 3 years she broke it off. This caused Elrend to go berserk for a few months, and he fled to the realm of shattered worlds. Ever since he has been here in exile from his previous love, vowing never to love again.
Welcome to the Sanom City Times. We are proud to announce the newly appointed editor to our newspaper is the charming Nura Nal. Nura joins the newspaper as editor in chief after many a year exploring the wilderness of our wide and unpredictable lands. A burgeoning entrepreneur, Nura has made time to take on this position and grace the pages of the Sanom City Newspaper with her insights and sharp wit. We wish Nura all the best in her new endeavour as editor. Now a few words from the lady herself: Greetings and salutations friends of Sanom. I am looking forward to the challenge of making sure the Sanom City Newspaper continues on in its tradition of reporting the news and events of sanom whilst up holding the papers beliefs of honesty, integrity and enjoying a good ole yarn! ;-) For your information: The Front page of the paper will include the new articles for each successive edition. After being on the front page, each article will be shifted to its relevant category under the front page. Most articles will remain in the newspaper to maintain a historical record of the news. I look forward to seeing many contributions from all of you! The paper is always looking for good reporters and will pay well for good articles. A quick word of advice to younger characters and first time contributors to the paper. Feel free to submit any article you think may be interesting for the newspaper. However, please try and make it more than 2 Paragraphs in length, and don't be offended if the editor asks you to revise it, or changes it completely at her discretion! ;-) Happy trails and submit away! Editor in Chief, Nura Nal.
I remember back when I created my first character. I couldnt figure out how to do the quests. I thought that you had to sign up for them or something. But obviously, I was wrong. When I was trying to figure out how to sign up, I decided to ask someone. Now, I just kept talking to this person. Just talking to try to get an answer. I was able to get some answers that made sense but not once could I get any information regarding quests. Eventually I just thought that she was trying to be annoying. So I figured, Ill beat her at her own game. Heh... I was talking to her for an hour and a half. I began to suspect that she wasnt really a player. "I know" I thought. "I think Ill ask her a question". "So" I said. "How is it that you respond so quickly to all of my questions?" "By typing" she replied. "Well, how do you type so fast?" I asked her. And then she said something I wouldnt think an npc capable of saying as a response. She said "with my hands, silly :)" Finally some past god gandalf shouted "Dont mess with me or youll be banished, Star". Yes!!! I thought. Finally someone else I can ask about how to do the quests. So I did. I managed to get much more intelligent and useful answers from her. Then I thought to ask her about the other person I had been talking to. Her name was Johanna and she was a npc. I could not believe that. I absolutely refused to believe it. I was shocked. But most of all, I was very embarrassed. I had just spoken to a npc for 1 and a half hours. :)
I was born 18 years ago by the Red Dragon hidden deep within the known world. My dragon heritage gives me a large size and good dexterity. I had a good affinity to fighting but my intelligence initially was rather poor. But with doing various quests set out by the adventurer guild, I manage to gain some wisdom. My preference is in the guild of Siren, where I practice screaming my head off. The training has been difficult but I am now a second braid siren. I am still very young in age and I am training my skills as much as I can. But I hope to grow up to be a nice and big little dragon.
File last modified: Mon Oct 16 15:27:36 2006