------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. .. .||. ||.. ... || || || ||.|| `|.. || || `|.. ..|'''.| '|| || '|| '|' ' .... . .... ..||.. ... ..., || .... || '' .|| || || || || .| ' || .|...|| '|. | .|' || || || || || || || || ''|...'| '|..'|' ||. ||. '|..' .||. '|..| ||. '|...' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 1 Coin --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings, good readers, and welcome to a new issue of The Canticle. As you probably know, I have taken over running the paper from Thaddeus senior, who has now retired to spend time exploring the wonders of Infidian. We sent a small troupe to do a speedy tour around the continent as well, with some hasting help. Their report starts on page 7. I have also begun raising funds for polishing up the publication process somewhat. I was approached by a group of gentlemen clothed fashionably in black, and they made a long-term contract for advertising space in the newspaper. I am not quite sure why they insisted on a signature in blood, but then I have heard that many official deals are done that way up here in the large towns. The gentlemen said they are members of The Courts, so their business must be very official. We will be having the first advertisement on page 4. We have been forced to delay the publication of Dubanka's story about his short tenure in the King's personal guard, as an envoy from Balan has requested to study the interview very carefully for any national secrets that might leak from reading it. I am sure we will come to a nice, uncensored agreement eventually, and publish the story in the next issue. Many thanks to all the people who helped in making this issue become reality: Hayden, Dafeon, Spock and Talia (who probably deny having been serious), Sylwen, Bytre, Theryn, Adinos, Serin and Killcrazy. There should never be a shortage of things to report thanks to the magnificent people around the realm! Thaddeus Jr. Aspiring Editor-in-Chief The Canticle --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <*> CANTICLE INDEX <*> -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- News In Brief......................2 Contrived Reporting................5 Player Housing.....................3 The Death of A God.................6 Strange Folk On The Loose..........4 Exploring Infidian.................7 Lost Clan of Dwarves...............5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W S I N B R I E F ----------------------------------------+---------------------------------- The kitchen alchemy and chemistry | Necromancers report tremendous division of The Canticle has, after | increase in effectiveness, as the many liver-wrenching experiments, | alchemist can now pick up more managed to produce something useful | than one ritual component at a with their still: apparently distilled | time to bring to their customers. ginseng is an efficient poison remedy. | Word has it this was caused by a The discovery was made just in time | cleric finally taking a look at to save a victim of a surprisingly | his arthritis. successful trial of poisoned arrows. +---------------------------------- Evil rumours suggest the experimenters | Drudge has set up a crafts and got help from Carcera out of pity for | trades board for adventurers to the testers who had already drunk well | advertise the services they seek over a potell of different distilled | or offer. He revealed to our flowers. | reporter that the move is already ----------------------------------------+ bringing in more customers to his A recent rearranging of the plants in | bar. Andeli has vastly improved the +---------------------------------- acoustics of the castle so that the | On Okdyetenn 11, 587, a group of guards inside can now hear visitors | Bears was seen hopping around the asking for entrance also when the | continent of Anguish "like a guard outside is somehow absent. | spastic wizard", through an ----------------------------------------+ unusual number of portals After sending a few troublemakers to | scattered around the realm. A imprisonment at the dark side of | loud "Wheeeee!" could be heard Ancient Anguish, Arch Theryn was seen | from the group as they passed. leisuredly waving his wizardly staff in | The Canticle considers this a search of more offenders. Soon a law- | sign of more games needed on the abiding Balance assistant hastily | gaming slate. alerted him of a potential miscreant, +--------------------------------- and the quickly-reacting arch released | The Ancient Anguish Tourism a mighty punishment before noticing | Council looks for ways to stop that the executive end of the staff | the littering of woods. They remained pointed towards himself. After | suggest a deposit for all rusty trekking back from the dark side, | chainmails and small wooden Theryn noted that the tool would need | shields which is paid back when some rebalancing to make it easier to | an orcish raiding party returns tell which way the staff is held. | their gear after the battle. ----------------------------------------+--------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Player Housing In Stormmonth 9th, Adinos called together a quick meeting to give an update on how the project on building new houses on the Tantallon residential area was proceeding and to gather some final feedback. He estimated the project to enter the approval phase in the wizardly realm in a few weeks. Player-owned housing has been a long-term project originally started by Flint, and Adinos has since picked it up for a finishing touch. One of the major special features of a house is that it can allow items to survive past reboots - e.g. books placed in a bookshelf will survive Armageddon, although equipment left on the floor will not. There will initially be a limited amount of houses, which means a tight competition on buying them. Fine housing in Tantallon is going to be limited to only the hundred of the very rich, or communities of people who team up to buy one and share the spare keys. A few houses will probably initially be auctioned off via a real estate agent - that is, the house will be for sale for 48 hours before bids are opened. If there is a big market for housing, residential areas might be extended in other villages as well. Houses can also be traded between players, so the market will determine prices in the end. It is still clear that houses will not be for everyone. There was discussion on whether the houses can be broken into. For now it seems that the most popular option is to not allow it, due to e.g. the potential Law problems. The Tantallon guards can be trained to keep all burglars out. People can still wander around the residential area, looking at the houses, so it will pay to keep one's garden in shape and the front porch clean. While the house itself is expensive to get, the aspiring houseowner will also need to prepare for the cost of furnishing. While the general outlook of the house's two to even 24 rooms can be adjusted by the resident, fixed furniture will have to be brought in from professionals. The Cyprum furniture industry has already prepared for the upcoming task. Various kinds of beds, fireplaces, fountains, bookshelves and paintings are ready in their storage already. In the meeting, additional items such as trashcans, cupboards, swings, baths and even garden gnomes were brought up as suggestions; anvils will require a Balance check. Slaves to open doors, maids, purging saunas and other more wild ideas might be implemented if an industrious wizard picks them up later. Some houses will come with a garden, where seeds can be planted to grow safe from vandalism. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strange Folk On The Loose Mechanical scorpions assault people on the streets! Strange glyphs on the ground frighten children and adults alike! A steady flood of strange fumes wafts from the north room of the Ancient Inn of Tantallon! What is going on? We tried to approach some people who are known simply as "artificers", but the fumes and strange metal creatures following them around frightened our interviewer senseless. We sent a braver interviewer to follow an artificer around from a distance, and a few days later she left her resignation to join the mysterious group herself - and was not heard of since. What is this mysterious group? Do they worship dark lords? A representative from The Common Church in Tantallon has noted that the worshippers of a new god are welcome to the shared place of worship, but no artificers seem to have appeared. A mage noted he is making some profit helping them to study at the mage library. Apparently artificers are somewhat scholarly, but are their powers going to be used for good of all or for evil? Word has it that people have gone missing from the poor quarter of Nepeth, and folk followed by gleaming monsters have been seen cutting up dead bodies. Will they take over Anguish? Will the air go grey from their mad brewing? Can they really control those metallic monsters? We will keep you posted! , \ / , / \ )\__/( / \ / \ (_\ /_) / \ ___________________/_____\__\@ @/___/_____\___________________ | |\../| | | \VV/ | | CHAOS!! Where all your dreams can become a reality!! | | (especially the nightmares) | | CHAOS!! Spellpower in abundance!! | | (almost for free!) | | CHAOS!! Join now and watch your titles grow ad infinitum... | | (for the small price of your soul) | | | | ((do not forget to check the fine print on that contract)) | |_____________________________________________________________| | /\ / \\ \ /\ | | / V )) V \ | |/ ` V ' \| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lost Clan of Dwarves Unavailable To Comment Dafeon has instructed adventurers to keep away from the northern valleys, unless well prepared. We promptly sent a freshly hired reporter to search for the weathered wooden door in the mountain to get an exclusive interview with the mysterious people living within this mountain described by its discoverer. A few days later the reporter showed up again, filled with arrow holes and somewhat pale from the blood loss, saying that the residents were not too keen to discuss their political position or hobbies. The Canticle is hiring braver and more persistent interviewers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Contrived Reporting Recently, a strange sea monster beached northeast of Neville after a storm. A reliable source found in the Scythe pub mentioned that this dakosaurus, as it was called, had been trying to enter the Infidian town of Gemynd and had been almost killed on sight. It had gotten there through a dimension door, but then the mage who cast it had blocked its way back. While one might wonder why a sea monster would want to enter Gemynd in the first place, our reliable source explained that it had recently been to a reading by Varys the numerologist, had found out exactly how old it was on the way and decided that it simply had to visit Gemynd before it was too late to do so. While there is no reason to suspect the credibility of this report, we feel it useful to note that the Scythe pub, among many other pubs and shops, has improved its service considerably and that our source had previously been ordering the maximum number of Polynesian Sunsets he could afford to buy. He was very pleased with not needing to order them one by one any more. He was also very interested to discuss the fate of his uncle, Arthur Polynose, who apparently first brewed the Polynesian Sunset. We decided to leave this item of history for a later issue. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***************************** I call into the shadows, The Death of a God, by Hayden 'Why must it be me?' ***************************** And from the meadows it answers, 'Can't you see?' I awoke in field, This reply brought up a question, Though suddenly odd, I couldn't ask, The feeling would not yield, My thoughts showed a message, I felt like a god, From the past, The grass had burned, A beautiful scene, Just melted away, Full of blue of green, And I had earned, Then a black cloud, A chance to stay, Rolled over the land, But for a cost, the thunder was loud, I was still here, With lightning's hand, What I lost, Like the crack of a whip, Was always held dear, The noise carried, It would awake the crypt, And then I started to realize, To which many were buried, At least it wasn't my turn to die, A chill hit my spine, I stepped foot on the grass, My soul in distress, Now like coal, And brought to the divine, And now alas, I lost my soul. There I stood, In a lifeless room, On one side peace, ____, The other doom, /.---| I was patient, ` | ___ Though anxious all the same, (=\. /-. \ I knew I was a creation, |\/\_|"| | Of some holy name, |_\ |;-| ; The gods looked from above, | / \| |_/ \ The demons from below, | )/\/ \ I saw a white dove, | ( '| \ | Then a black rose, | \_ / \ I still stood, | / \_.--\ Calm and at peace, \ | (|\` I knew I would follow my belief, | | \ And then two lights, | | '. One black, One white, | / \ Hit together, jgs \ \.__.__.-._) With a force to remember, --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exploring Infidian After the rediscovery of the vast continent of Infidian in the east, The Canticle was the first to send an exploration team to report on the wonders of the lost world. The team consisted of a shapeshifter, Otter, who was considered to be at least somewhat versed in the culture thanks to her extensive training at the Shapeshifter Enclave, a mage, Kataja, to bring in a general touch of scholarship as well as instant trinkets to trade with the natives, and an aspiring cleric, Juniper, to carry the luggage. What follows is the journal of our brave team, as noted by Kataja. Day 1. Here we are, all packed and ready to go. As I am writing this, Otter is trying to figure out how to open the front door of the offices. Erin comes to tell us that our funding has been cut slightly more, so we will need to pay her for the parchment provided for this journal as well. We send Juniper to do some Commodities Exchange runs to pay for the cost. Day 2. We set off today, and after some asking for directions, found master Diggan lounging at the Golden Ducat, and after a few drinks (Juniper was needing some encouragement) asked him how much it would cost to charter a ship. Luckily, someone else was heading that way as well, and agreed to cover the cost in exchange for some clerical services. Drudge, the bartender, was happy to cash in on the deal as well since he stated it was done thanks to his crafts and trades board. Exploring Infidian, continued on page 8 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exploring Infidian, continued from page 7 ... Day 3. Most of the day passed in the ship, the Storm Lancer. I had my suspicions since Diggan had not sobered up by the time we set off, and true enough, he did not land us in Gemynd but somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, I had brought a magical map from Hanza's and could be relatively certain that we were indeed in the middle of nowhere. There was a run-down hut nearby, where a shifty-eyed man suggested we try to get our goods sold through him. I managed to stop Juniper before she sold our rations. That girl needs to learn to be less trusting. Since there was swamp and sea to the west, and woods to the east, we decided to go north. After some hills we plunged into the Inverness forest. Day 4. Beyond some hoofprints of a herd and some hoot owls and screech owls, the first creature we actually ran into was a black rat. Otter ate it before I could do any proper research on the creature. Pfft, felines. We had been warned that some creatures of the forest might be poisonous or even cause disease, but apparently this one was harmless. Later today we saw some pronghorns from a distance. The mountains guided our path further north near the coast. Day 5. We located a bird sanctuary. The entrance gap was kind of tight; we suspect it could keep out raiding parties. As it were, Otter turned out to be more interested in fishing than pestering the razorbills. We found an enthusiastic bird researcher in charge. He seemed very concerned about the future of his birds. He gave us an interesting lecture on bird life and showed some sample scetches of birds. I think Otter took one to drool over. Day 6. We crossed the Vernon stream today by bridge, and finally made it to Gemynd. It turns out it was not such a bad thing that Diggan dropped us off further south, as the people of Gemynd were so suspicious of outsiders that we did not manage to get into the city. Luckily, we ran into a resident from a nearby farm who took us in for the night. Exploring Infidian, continued on page 9 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exploring Infidian, continued from page 8 ... Day 7. The Nehmar family living on the farm turned out to be a friendly lot. They worship the frog spirit, and belong to the corresponding clan. I left Otter trying to strike up a conversation with a huge toad living on the edge of the fields and went to check out the smithy of the guy who brought us there. He would have been happy to fix any broken ladders we had or shoe our horses, but I figured Otter would not appreciate shoeing with any of her forms. For some reason, he had no weapons for sale. I tried to get him to tell me why, but he was reclutant to talk about it. When I was preparing to head for bed, Juniper showed up all excited over some board game she had gotten from the kid of the family. I made a mental note to bring back something with a greater cultural impact than a game. Day 8. When I woke up, Otter and Juniper were playing with the kid, Namael, tossing some kind of a strange contraption to and fro. I managed to drag them out through the gate to find our next adventure: The lady of the house instructed us how to find the village of Fallan in the northeast. But it would be a bit of a trek. I wished I had a stronger haste spell handy. Day 9. We arrived to Fallan so late at night we completely missed that they were having a Fayre, with competitions in various categories such as baking and pottery. When this became apparent, we tried to convince the locals that we simply had to be included as judges to the bakery contest. They were not impressed by our arguments, but overwhelmingly friendly all the same. We got some samples anyway, and were told that beyond the Golden Forest to the north we would find ourselves in kinder territory. Exploring Infidian, continued on page 10 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exploring Infidian, continued from page 9 ... Day 10. We found a resting place at a strange farm. The owner, Roald, was growing vaguely mouse-like creatures, chinchillas, for their fur. I did not quite manage to persuade him into giving us a pair for breeding on Anguish, and we hastily made forward when Otter was starting to look too interested at the creatures. What is it with felines and Infidian fauna? Day 11. After quite a trek, we found a group of kinder who seemed to have human blood in them as well. They set up a very complicated game, apparently aimed for solving political disagreements. It involved getting very muddy and running around, so naturally the excitable portion of the team was immediately sold to the idea. I found something more interesting to do, such as watching tadpoles grow in a nearby pond. Once the others had had enough excercise, they returned with the information on where to find the next point of our exploration: Redcliff. Day 12. As our brave entourage approached the community of Redcliff, we had a close encounter with a strange, shaggy creature. It walked on two legs and seemed vaguely intelligent, but as we approached, it dashed off into the bushes. We met a group of kinder out on a picnic of sorts. The children had built a fort from some kinds of building blocks, and were engaging in mock battle. We got our share of the hostilities: a barrage of mud balls lobbed our way gained the youngsters quite a flogging afterwards, but it seemed they considered it worth the trouble. Day 13. It was time to start heading south. We were instructed to not go on the eastern side of the mountain range we followed up north, as the woods there were haunted and apparently we would have needed a boat to get around the whole range. Exploring Infidian, continued on page 11 ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 23.0 17 Nethory, 588 Page 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exploring Infidian, continued from page 10 ... Day 14 - 15. Juniper got bitten by a poisonous snake today. Luckily, she was able to heal herself. We kept trekking south. We found a road through the mountain range, which locals told us is called the Aeries Mountains. The road was quite hazardous, with volcanic smoke and uneven terrain, but we made through it and relaxed for a while by the Dunadan river before continuing across it. The bridge was quite solid work, made of ironwood. Day 16. This forest is wondrous! We spotted an unicorn foal in the morning, and saw a sphinx in the distance. We hid from a cyclops and tried to set up some trading with a group of gnomes. All kinds of creatures we only know from tales and occasionally as guardians of ancient treasure groves wander around freely in these woods. This also means that the eastern parts of Infidian are best left for explorers who can take care of themselves. Otter insisted on running off to explore by herself. She returned only after we were already asleep. Day 17. Otter woke us up. She was covered in boils and feverish, babbling insensibly. Juniper struggled to get the fever under control. Luckily, I spotted some centaurs nearby who helped us get to the nearest hamlet, that of the Sunbird tribe. The village medicine man, although he was more interested in general consultation than helping us, agreed to lend some advice and herbs that seemed to be enough help to our cleric to defeat the disease. I took the time to bring up the lack of weapons again with the tribal elder, as we were among humans again - they are known for their interest in war and battle, maybe due to a short lifespan. The elder explained that all weapons were outlawed after the Great War finally ended. I find the solution interesting, although I ponder how the distinction would be drawn. After all, a whittling knife can kill rather easily as well. After a few days of gathering our strength, we set back for Anguish.