------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. .. .||. ||.. ... || || || ||.|| `|.. || || `|.. ..|'''.| '|| || '|| '|' ' .... . .... ..||.. ... ..., || .... || '' .|| || || || || .| ' || .|...|| '|. | .|' || || || || || || || || ''|...'| '|..'|' ||. ||. '|..' .||. '|..| ||. '|...' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 1 Coin --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome, faithful and patient readers, to a new issue of the Canticle, and happy winterly holidays! May your treasure hunts give ridiculous amounts of loot and any honest work you might do in between make you rich even more quickly, may your presence charm aggressive monsters silly and your torches never get wet when exploring dangerous caves. In this issue we hear the stories of Adinos, Biko and Tarott. More interviews are to be expected still: Meg has already sent me interviews with Oakram, Flint, Methos and Ironic, with more to come, and I will try to publish them in about the same order as they came in. I have fallen one MC meeting behind with the digests, but I think two meetings in one paper might get too heavy, so we will hear about the last meeting in the next paper, which hopefully will not be late, or at least not more late than we usually are... I would like to thank Meg, Claire, Druenarrii, Arfbarky, Paldin, Eubulides, Adinos, Biko, Tarott, the Senate Hotline, Musashi and all our advertisers for their help with getting material for this issue. -- Fir Assistant Editor The Canticle --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <*> CANTICLE INDEX <*> -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- News in Brief......................2 Newts from AA......................8 Haiku Time.........................2 Interview with Tarott..............9 Adinos' Story......................3 Mortal Council News...............14 Website Competition Announced......5 Claire's Puzzle Page..............16 Biko's Story.......................6 Classifieds.......................17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS IN BRIEF _________________________________________________________________________ | Recent visitors to the haunted | A family living in the forests east manor have reported disturbing | of Duendar could probably use some dreams. Some independent sages are | help from brave adventurers. studying if this has anything to do |____________________________________ with the royal ban on whiteleaf. | ____________________________________| The senate has got new blood! | Current senators are Buxley, There has been much discussion | Bytre, Dale, Dawg, Florin, Idul and about recent and violent volcanic | Jerusulum. The other half of the activity near Zhamarr, threatening | senate consists of the arches, to seal off the area from curious | currently Adinos (QC), Arpeggio travellers. It now seems that the | (Mudlib and Driver), Malire (Law), powers underground are settling, | Oakram (Education), Paldin (Balance) and regular visitors can breathe | and Scarecrazy (World). Congratula- more freely again. | tions to Idul and Jerusulum! ____________________________________|____________________________________ Monk Board Haiku Time, by Eubulides ********************************************************************* * I look at the board, * Herm in a green booth. Hoping to be amused, but * Rogue lies in Hamza's quarters. There are "No new notes." * Idling monks abound. * ********************************************************************* * Addiction Haiku: * The Kniggets revel * Far into the drunken night. If you plan your day * God help that poor goat. After checking reboot time * You play too d--- much. * * ********************************************************************** (Any expressed opinions belong to the author. The publishers assume no responsibility for anything. Thank you. -- The Canticle Staff) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In an attempt to introduce new and old players alike to the characters who have resided on Ancient Anguish for a considerable amount of time, and also to relay the stories of founders and current arches alike, what follows is Adinos's experience. Adinos, as you may or may not know, is the current arch of Quality Control (QC) and here he tells us how he came to the realm of AA: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, my official "first" login was a little over 6 years ago - in July '96... but that is not entirely accurate. AA was actually recommended to me back in March '92 as a nice Mud, by a girl I knew in Iceland - and who was known on AA as "Chick". Unfortunately, I only logged in once at that time, and then went back to playing my regular Mud at that time - NannyMud. I had actually been playing Muds for quite a while before that - I was a wiz on the original Genesis Mud (the first LPmud, run by Lars himself), and then I ran my own mud for a while (a mud named "Nameless"). Anyhow, I was playing NannyMud, where I was a wiz, and had a few areas and quests installed, until I had a fall-out with the management there - I had by that time become sick and tired of Mud politics, and just wanted a Mud where I could code - I think of myself as a pretty good coder - but I would suck as a politician. So, it was time for me to move on, and find a new Mud to call my home. But how to pick the right Mud? I started with a list of criteria. It had to be an LP-based Mud. It had to be established, not in the "we-are-looking-for-someone-to-code-our-initial- areas" stage, and it had to have a reasonable player base... and more players than wizards. Wizards outnumbering players is a sign of a dying mud. I quickly ended up with a very short list of Muds, and gave them a try... most were eliminated quickly, and finally only AA was left. So... Here I was, a level 1 newbie, planning to become a wiz as quickly as I could. I asked some people about the available guilds and classes, and decided that I would like to become a ranger - their range of abilities sounded quite interesting. Interview with Adinos continued on page 4 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Adinos, continued from page 3 ... So, off I went, trying to find my way to the ranger camp. I got lost... and wandered through the forest, until somehow I stumbled into the paladin class hall, and decided that even though the rangers sounded like fun, the paladins were a class I would enjoy playing. I became "Adinos, the well-meaning novice", a half-elf paladin, looking for a nice guild to join. That became a toss-up between the Monks and the Knights, and for some reason I picked the Monks... and I stayed a Monk for three years, leaving in June '99. My last day as a mortal was somewhat unusual in that I had the quests and the exploration points Gaius required, but I didn't have the xp - due to an unfortunate meeting with Alton, which did not go as planned, so my last day as a mortal was spent in a "safe" way - smiting Astaroth over and over. It took me four months to reach wizard status (Gaius gave me the go-ahead in November '96) - and then I could finally sit down and start coding. I became a level 21 (equivalent to the current 500) in January '97, got my 22 (600) a year later, got promoted to 700 in December '99 and in January 2000 I somehow got talked into becoming an Arch - something I had never planned - as I said earlier, I just wanted a place where I could code, and stay way from Mud politics. Ah, well... I did not play a mortal for several years after wizzing, so I missed the whole excitement about the new combat and the rivers. When I finally started a mortal in January 2000 I had to re-learn quite a few things, as you may expect. Today I have mortals in all classes, almost all guilds and no... I am not saying who they are - except my only "official" mortal, who is Charles. Boon spent a lot of time trying to figure out who the others were, but as far as I know, he failed totally. I have always been a solo player - didn't party much while mortal, and the same is true for most of my current mortals. Still, there were some memorable players from my mortal days - Sunny, for example. She wizzed at about the same time as I did, and we went questing together for a while. This was shortly after a particular quest had been installed, so... uhm, on second thoughts, if I wrote anything about the handcuffs, leather- studded clothing and the bed we encountered, it might be... uhm... mis-interpreted. Besides, it is all quest information anyhow... yeah! Interview with Adinos, continued on page 5 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Adinos, continued from page 4 ... Of course, there was Sully, who later became my sponsor. She was in the monk guild, and while I was still a mortal she asked me if I was planning to wiz and if I had any plans for what I wanted to create. I told her about some of my ideas, and we spent quite a bit of time discussing them. She later said that she would not be surprised to see me succeed her as World Arch - Well she was wrong there... but I keep wondering if I will meet her again... one way or another. AA has changed quite a bit since I started playing - perhaps not as much as in the previous years, but the changes are there. It is not perfect, and there are things I would like to see changed, but on the whole, AA is a great little community, where I like to hang out, and do my best to improve in various ways. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Website Competition Announced The senate has announced a competition to revitalise Ancient Anguish's website. Anyone interested is to submit a sample website of a minimum of four pages. Further information can be found on the Announcement board, ground floor of the Town Hall of Tantallon. Entries close on Feb 1st 2003. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\// //\\ //\\ \\// LOOKING FOR GOLD UP NORTH? \\// //\\ //\\ \\// I have the equipment you need! The best gold \\// //\\ pans available anywhere, sturdy backpacks - //\\ \\// I even have magical potions for sale! \\// //\\ //\\ \\// Visit Dubo's trading post in the Norton village. \\// //\\ //\\ \\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\// --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- What follows is a short narrative from Biko, one of the original founders of AA, as well as an interview.... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- To explain how AA came about I first need to explain how I met Zor. This happened on a mud called "World of Mizar". This was the second mud I played and I made it to the level of wizard. Once wizard, I created the first guild on that mud. As I remember it I called it "Knights of Mizar". Zor was one of the first members of my guild. He came with lots of suggestions and I incorporated some of them into the guild. We talked a lot about general mud design. One day he told me that he may have a computer at his university on which one could run a mud. I contacted some of my old mud friends who I knew were good coders and Zor contacted some of his and we got a bunch of people together and started discussing how we could set this new mud up. I've forgotten most of the people but I know Eldar (who was a real life friend of mine at the time) and Midian were two of the coders I brought in. Zor brought in Drake. I know that at some point the discussion on what to name the mud came up. My suggestion was "Home of the Ancients" after an album by KLF and someone mentioned a name that had Anguish in it. Then someone else put the two together and suggested Ancient Anguish. We all thought it sounded nice so we decided on that. After that we just started coding. I got the job to work on the combat system. One thing that I didn't like about muds up until then was the fact that combat was too simple. To make it more interesting I constructed a system where one could aim at individual body parts. This meant we also had to have different pieces of armour for different body parts. This meant collecting your perfect suit a lot more interesting as well. Eldar helped me create the combat and armour system. We also decided to have classes in the mud and that each class could have several guilds under it. I coded the original mage class. Most spells were taken out of an AD&D computer game that I was playing at the time. As a lot of the spells had different types of damages like fire and cold, I added this into the game as well. That's how the abilities came about as well. Interview with Biko continued on page 7 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Biko, continued from page 6 ... Once we'd opened the mud all the creators were made arches. At the beginning we didn't have any certain fields of responsibility. That all came later. It was fun as more people started joining the mud and we began seeing more and more people on line. Having players playing your code is an amazing feeling. After an initial run in period, which consisted of a lot of bug fixing and coding, things pretty much settled down. As a lot of people did, I started using the mud as a place to socialize. Making friends, talking to people, meeting girls. I got quite emerged into this artificial world. Too emerged. That's the reason I stopped playing. I decided that I had neglected my real social life too much. MeG: How long, from beginning until you stopped logging in, were you active on AA? Biko: It's so long ago I don't really remember. I'll try by using logic. :) I know that when I started playing AA I wasn't doing much of anything else. AA opened when? Beginning of 1992? That must mean I started working on it late in 1991. I started college in the summer of '93. That probably means that I had my most active period up until I started college. I know that during a certain period I was playing A LOT. From 6pm (that's when the cheap phone rates started in Sweden. I was online using a USR 14.4k modem) to sometimes 7 am. That's 13 straight hours. I think I was still playing while I was studying but I guess not as much. MeG: When's the last time you logged on? Biko: I still log on from time to time. Although before I heard about the anniversary I guess it was 2 years since I was logged on. MeG: How different is it now, or how different was it when you last logged on, from the time you used to log on all the time? Biko: I don't play enough now that I should be able to notice any differences compared to the 'glory days'. MeG: Did you form any lasting friendships on AA? Biko: I had some real friendships then. I don't have contact with the people anymore though. Fell in love a few times too. :) Interview with Biko continued on page 8 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Biko, continued from page 7 ... MeG: Did you meet any of the players irl who you are still friends with to this day? Biko: No. We had plans to meet. Most interesting people that I met were either from the US or Canada and it's rather expensive for a student to travel that far. MeG: What did you learn as a result of helping set Ancient Anguish up? Biko: A lot of C-coding first off. :) That it's easy to become drunk with power. When you're put in the position of being arch wizard over a game that a lot of people take very seriously you get power over a lot of people's lives. Sometimes I abused that power. MeG: Any words of wisdom you'd like to share with the people who play on AA now? Biko: As with everything in life: DO NOT OVERDO IT. The second thing I would say was to take care of your real life social life. When you hear about people's marriages getting in trouble over online addiction it's scary. MeG: Thanks again for sharing your story with us. I know people will find it interesting! :) Biko: Hope so! It's nice taking a walk down memory lane. ____________________________________________________________________________ Newts From AA as reported by Arfbarky Members of the AA town council have been seen stuffing their respective pants with geckos and releasing them outside of town. When buttonholed about the growing infestation, council members uniformly denied that there was any problem at all. "We're just taking the air," blustered the Mayor, hastily fastening his pants. "These are our personal pets," objected a council member. "Go play, Sparky," he said fondly, to one of the hundreds of tiny lizards erupting from his drawers. ____________________________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought it would be a good idea (per Fir's suggestion) to interview a member of the Mortal Council, one who's been testing for quite some time. I chose Tarott, one of the rogue representatives at the time of this writing, and we met on the testmud as I began the interview. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MeG: Hi Tarott, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I'll start this one out like I do every other one and ask you how long you've played AA? Tarott: About 7 years.. I think 3 or 4 with Tarott. MeG: Has Tarott always been a rogue? Tarott: Always.. my first character was a ranger.. nice enough. But I fell in love, and from that moment on Tarott was my favourite character. I didn't play another character till she was first 19. She was my only character for a bit. Just something about rogues. MeG: And now you're a mortal council member. How many terms have you served so far? Tarott: This term makes it 1 year, so 4 terms. MeG: Does it get easier with time, or does that really not apply to the mortal council? Tarott: It's never easy. MeG: Why is that? Tarott: Because no matter what you think you have done you never really do. I remember when Norton went into 2222 and I found 2 new things.. and I was just boggled. And than there are areas here on the testmud. Like Cyrano took me a month to do.. Elad even mocked me playfully when I was working on it. Remember we start from scratch on the testmud. Wizards might not help us or not listen to us. MeG: Do you think that wizards don't listen to you? Tarott: I think some do and some don't. It's really fustrating when areas are let go. Nothing becomes of them when they could have been great. And when you try to encourage them.. or try to change a piece here or there. MeG: So it's a matter of which wizard's area it is as to whether or not they listen to your suggestions? Tarott: I think everyone works really hard. While I work on testing a project for lets say a year now.. they have worked on it for sometimes several years. That being, they're very sensitive. You earn your place here. In order for a wizard.. just like mortals, to listen to you.. you have to prove it. MeG: Do you think as a rule that wizards don't listen to the testers or that they do? Interview with Tarott continued on page 10 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Tarott, continued from page 9 ... Tarott: No I don't. Llanfear and Paldin and Velkyn are EXCELLENT examples of people who listen. MeG: (nods solemnly) Tarott: They honestly care. MeG: Are those the only three? Or are they just examples? Tarott: You'll find the more work that went into the area.. the more details.. The more the wizard cares.. while if the area is not so.. the less chance the wizard will listen to you. And those are just examples.. I've been pleased and proud to have met many. The list goes on and on.. Sudian, Scarecrazy.. MeG: Can you estimate how many areas you've tested that have been put into the game so far? Tarott: Actually I can give you the exact amount, let me look it up. MeG: (giggles) Tarott: 23 projects that are in the game, not counting the details and items in them. MeG: Wow, that's a lot. You must be proud. Tarott: (shakes her head) It's not how many areas.. it's how well you tried. MeG: Have your ideas or suggestions been incorporated into the areas/projects too? Tarott: Actually, yes. (looks extremely happy) MeG: So in that respect, the coders have listened to you? Tarott: Yes. In the rogue changes a couple suggestions I made were put in. Even when it didn't make sense at the time they went out of their way to accommodate when they were headstrong before. MeG: So you've worked in a collaborative way with several of the wizards? Tarott: Yeah. MeG: What do you think is the main thing you've learned while being a mortal council member? Tarott: Get along with others. (thinks carefully) When I first came in here.. I was hard.. REALLY hard on the previous testers before me. So that caused a lot of problems and animosity when I started out.. not just with other coders but wizards and it really put me at a disadvantage when I needed advice, had suggestions, needed something I couldn't do to be done because I expected them to be superman. I wanted so badly to be hard on myself.. that I just KNEW I would do this that and so on. And when they failed to do it.. I took it as a complete failure. Interview with Tarott continued on page 11 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Tarott, continued from page 10 ... Tarott: Wizards... who knew the testers.. took me as a joke or overbearing.. or assumed because I was like that with testers I'd probably be the same with their projects.. in fact, I wasn't allowed into several projects over it. MeG: Was it hard to get along with the other testers? Tarott: No.. at first they stayed away... but Bleys made it easier for me. Showed me the ropes. He and Sianan. They really.. god.. I owe them. :) Takiturn helped me with the mechanics of testing, they helped me with the compassion in it. MeG: Do you think all new testers need some sort of help from more experienced testers or can they generally figure it out for themselves? Tarott: You always need old testers, always. You need testers that know the ropes. MeG: Do you think that the current testers get along well? Tarott: Depends, each semester varies. MeG: (agrees) Tarott: But I notice when Bleys, you, Mordygan, Ghanime, Sianan were on.. those were the best terms. Everyone was great. MeG: Is it crucial for testers to get along or not? Tarott: Crucial, extremely. MeG: (nods) Tarott: Remember.. areas are set out for everyone. There is something for it for everyone and every class is a new way of fighting. When testing.. one class cannot figure it out by ones self. As a rogue.. I constantly need a mage to id something for me. So it's important I get along with them.. Same with fighters for weapons etc. MeG: What kinds of benefits do you think the mortal council has for the real mud? Tarott: That's a really hard question actually. I don't know if I know the answers. The benefits are a lot of course.. but I don't know.. I guess I can say when you join MC.. you take a new perspective with you as you leave. That perhaps is the best benefit. MeG: (agrees) Have there been any benefits for you as a player? Tarott: Tremendous. MeG: What are they, or do you want to share them? Interview with Tarott continued on page 12 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 12 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Tarott, continued from page 11 ... Tarott: I've gotten to know some good friends. I've found a new little group to ask questions and go to. I've been given the benefit to meet wizards and learn what's going on behind the scenes. I've gotten to take part is amazing areas that I never would have imagined. MeG: So it's a more diversified perspective on how a mud is run? Tarott: (nods) MeG: Well, in that case, does it bother you to read posts or shouts that say the wizards try to squelch creativity or that there is too much politics involved in implementing an area? Tarott: Extremely, I'm very hotheaded.. from my first term people knew that. I couldn't stand it when anyone said something about a wizard or mc. It drove me nuts. They have NO idea. MeG: Do you think the people who believe those things have a point? Tarott: No I don't. I think that they got turned down or things got busy and they think the world is unfair. But it has to flow. MeG: Do you think everyone should be given a chance on the mortal council if only to show them that there's more involved than they knew? Tarott: Yes and no... I think they should be given a glimpse.. just an idea.. And to give you one.. think of it like this. It's a never ending string of quests that you get no credit for (you can't wiz here) and Gaius points that also won't help you wiz. Gaius is like the wizards here who are so excited.. they give you hints but never the real thing so they can see how you will do it. MeG: Do you think that many leaks originate from the mortal council? Tarott: (nods sadly) Yes. I do, which is really really a shame. MeG: How do you think leaks should be dealt with? Tarott: I would say banished permently from MC.. but it's too late.. they've seen sometimes years worth of work. I'd personaly archkill them on the real mud - 3 days for every secret. MeG: Why do you think that some mortal councilers tell people what's over here? Tarott: For several reasons. I almost did in one case when it was someone saying a wizard was trying to kill off rogues and etc. But other reasons are they are insecure.. they want to be voted back in.. so they tell people so people will keep them in so they can be "informed". Interview with Tarott continued on page 13 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Tarott, continued from page 12 ... MeG: (nods) Do you think that many people get on the mortal council JUST to see what's being tested? Tarott: That and they didn't understand the point of MC. They didn't leave with the new perspective. Therefore what happened/happens here is worthless to them. Yes, some do get on the council just to see what's here. People who put in no time... or one or 2 hours. MeG: Do most mortal councillors test, though? Do they seem to be genuinely interested in helping improve the mud? Tarott: Unfortunately I don't know that answer. I've seen people who care.. and I've seen others who don't. I know when I test.. it's dead quiet and I'm concentrating on myself and what I need to do to break something than to ask how others are. MeG: Is it hard to try and break things? Tarott: (giggles) No. MeG: Is there anything you'd like to let people know about the mortal council, in general? Something that I haven't asked you about? Tarott: I think... if you are serious about running know a lot about your class. Love it. Love the game. Make sure you have free time. Make sure you've done research. Past testers will give you ideas of what they can. Look up on the main page what to expect.. and than go even further. Talk to wizards. Ask what makes a good tester. Make sure you love questing, Gaius, and exploring. Know maps well. Be ready to read and take instructions and directions. ALWAYS. Know you're not the best. Bugging something on 2222 once or twice doesn't make you able to bug everything on MC. Remember.. these wizards are waiting for you. And if Paldin has the time ask him what he expects and wants MC to be. MeG: What do you think the MC is, what its point is? Tarott: The point is whatever you make it into. You decide what you do here and what your goals are. MeG: So you have to be self-motivated? Tarott: Extremely. If you're home taught.. this is a great project. (falls down laughing) I just wanted to say.. I'd really like to have it published to thank Paldin and wizards by simply saying thank you, or by visiting their areas. Praise board allows this. Tells, shouts, and, of course, the praise command. MeG: Ok, then. Thanks for doing this, Tarott. Good luck with your testing. :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 14 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- M O R T A L C O U N C I L N E W S The Mortal Council election process was changed for the previous election, and the new council was elected by the previous Mortal Council and wizards with projects on the testmud. While the new council was relatively reduced in number, this period has been among the most active ones. About half of those who could vote did, with wizards coming out somewhat more active than members of previous council. Votes could now be given either for or against, and to all classes. To help more electees reach the required amount of votes in the next election, there will be some more changes to the system: each voter will have more votes to cast, and the amount of 'against' votes will be limited. The Mortal Council elected on Harvestmonth 565 looks like this: Mage: Riko Rogue: Bleys Fighter: Morpheus Necromancer: Lunger Cleric: Meg, Slinkee Paladin: Druenarrii, Ghanimp Ranger: Thorn, Levek, Mordygan Shapeshifter: Sharn, Erithywen The meeting on Okdyetenn, 562, was not yet digested in the previous paper. Here is a short version, based on Druenarrii's notes, of what went on. General: Paldin told that the MC election process was to be changed. Colours for the party line were brought up, and Venture is working on that. A coder for a blowgun was looked for. It was asked if 'help mc' could also show the time remaining before next vote, Paldin suggested that people continue to check it by looking at the voting box. Elephant feelings have stopped working on the party line or when used at monsters. Venture's line project should fix the former. A fix with squids was discussed, as well as a potential resetting of at least part of the Hall of Heroes. The Nepeth maze and ocean tides projects were brought up, but nobody seemed to know how either fared. Malire would look at a bug in a plant in Greenhaven. Mortal Council News continued on page 15 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mortal Council News, continued from page 14 ... Clerics (Meg): The recode is being worked on, Oliver says divine matters are taking time. Necromancers (Lunger): An assist command for undead was requested, with the same potential of turning them feral as the command slay does now. Paldin approved of the idea, and hinted that he knew just the person to give the project to. Paladins (Druenarrii): Paladin auras disappearing on link death was brought up, and someone was looking into it. [1] [1] It seems that this turned out to be a feature, not a bug, after all. Rogues (Bleys): Rogues were feeling poisonous: suggestions were made to poison or ignite arrows, to add different types of poisons, and to allow rogues to poison something other than their secondary weapon. An elaborate change to how seclusion works was also suggested. Shapeshifters (Sharn): New clans are going to have to wait until Paldin is finished with some other things. Oliver offered a look at allowing shifter feelings on guildlines, but it sounded like a sizeable project. Body shop modifications for shifters were also suggested. Paldin would look into removing speech modifications between shifters in a similar form, and a bug involving Slither's gender. A bug with rocks rescuing and another causing trees to speed up were also brought up. There was a long discussion of shifter titles and a suggestion that nelitos dragons be able to eat rotting corpses in agreement with their scavenger nature. Shifting into other races will not be implemented. An idea was brought up about archers being able to use shifters in rock form for cover. Wizards are reminded to include code taking advantage of shifters' abilities in their areas. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- C L A I R E ' S **** * * ***** ***** * ***** * * * * * * * * **** * * * * * *** * * * * * * * * *** ***** ***** ***** ***** P A G E Hidden in the grid below are 10 weapons found on AA. Look forward, backward, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally to see how many you can find! See page 17 for a list of the weapons included. F F A T S R E T R A U Q V C G L P M E L J C Q S A B R E E N T P O D D C X U O M Z K U O L F U I C B H K M U A B V S P L T H L I I M Y T M A I R /| __ D N C R C E T P I N K O J D U E H V / | ,-~ / N I F E H O L E I K A H G O L D N E Y :| // / A P G G L E T H L Y A D O E R A M D | jj /( .^ H U G G L T E U T T O N N O T L R K >-"~"-v H S I A A E C O K S I M W K A B C N / Y J A N D S N O N L U E S C A Y L S I jo o | K E K Q H R A J T R G H P C O A N F ( ~T~ j C V R L H W E E I N U N E S U P T E >._-' _./ B U I Z E E O V O Z G A Q E N R A O / "~" | G A D O N R M L R E I O L E E O T L Y _, | L I G H T S T A F F O K R S B V S E /| ;-"~ _ l / l/ ,-"~ \ \//\/ .- \ Y / Y l I ! ]\ _\ /"\ (" ~----( ~ Y. ) '''''''''''''''''''''' (Bunny by Rowan.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 11.0 25 Fearmonth, 565 Page 17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________________________________ | ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ___ ____ | | The Canticle / / // / / / / / / | / | | / / /___//____ /____ / /__ / /__ / //____ | | / / / / / / / / / / / / / | | / / / / / / / / / / / / / | | /___ /___ / / ____/ ____/__/_ / __/_ /___ /____/ ____/ | |__________________________________________________________________________| | | | | Seeking an eager person to fill | Are you new to the world of Ancient | | in post for loyal servant. Must | Anguish? Are you learning how to | | be willing to serve in both this | play? Mail me or send me a tell, | | life and next. --Erilyn | please! Need you for interviews! | |___________________________________| --Meg | | |______________________________________| | Tired of the same ole food day in | | | and day out? Well, come get some | Tired of seeing only 6-digit experi- | | Froglegs! Just take a bite out of | ence? Always wanted millions but | | those walking, talking legs! But | death stopped you? IMS mail the | | be careful... the frog licks you | Supar Lung exp service. | | back, if you're not fast enough!  | We can help you win. | |___________________________________| --Lunger | | |______________________________________| | You might be an addict if you | | | have people accusing you of being | Fluiddruid is rebuilding the Yellow | | on AA more than King Philip. | Pages! Send in your favourite AA | | --Panthro | links / volunteer help. See the | |___________________________________| Adventurer board for more info. | | |______________________________________ | Lvl 15 Half-elf Ranger of the | | | Bear Clan is seeking intelligent | I hit things with club. Me bash for | | female companionship to share the | you. | | game and MUD matrimony. Contact | --Mefio | | MappyR. |______________________________________| |___________________________________| | | | Necro services for sale. Send tells. | | The weapons hidden in the search- | --Armidian | | a-word grid on the Puzzle page |______________________________________| | were: | | Curved knife, Dagger, Hand axe, Huge club, Light staff, Longsword, | | Quarterstaff, Rusty knife, Sabre and Vorpal blade. | |__________________________________________________________________________|