Announcements - 2002/02 - Fever Dreams

Event Teaser
''Material retrieved from original Zone caches available at http://web.archive.org.

''Original Link (now dead) - http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ASHEfeb02teaser1.asp



 Fever Dreams 

February 11, 2002

“Koga Hideki.”

Hideki looked up at his visitor. He had seen her before. . . at a royal reception perhaps? A long time ago. She was old, but she had some streaks of red in her pale hair, and her face was mostly free of wrinkles.

He didn't bother wiping the sweat from his forehead, as the cold winter breezes traveling over the river cooled the drops for him. He had been in this river spot for a long time, the Lifestone a daily reminder of his failure. But still they came looking for the Shadowhunter Armor, even though the threat of the Shadows had seemingly long since passed.

Some lessons take long to fade. And some should never be forgotten.

“What may I do for you?” He had seen that face before, but he could not place it.

She laughed. It was not a friendly laugh, and Hideki felt ashamed, like he had done something wrong. “It is not what you can do for me, Koga Hideki. It is what I can do for you. It is time for you to be healed. For all of Hamud's victims to be healed. Prepare yourself, armorer. The process is not free of pain,” she said, smiling all the while.

Before he had time to respond, she reached out her hand to his head. Hideki's screams entwined with the chill wind, as they wove their way together down the river.

He was running. He dashed along, nearly blind, through dark stone corridors only visible when the occasional flash of energy sparked along the wall. He couldn't remember where he was running to, but he knew what he was running from.

The Atua Ngamaru glided a few paces behind him.

More running. Sweat trailing down his matted brow. Something was wrong. He couldn't see these twisty corridors, yet not once did he collide with the solid stone. There was only the running, feet pounding like the flat, calloused palms of a shaman on his buadren, the cold lightning-scented air scraping the water from his eyes

Sister Wind, are you here? Please hear me!

The moan that rolled down the corridors was hollow and strange. The anima were silent. They did not speak here, but remained monoliths of light and shadow, motion and shattering. Old were these anima, older than the council fires. The Sisters had never touched the face of this world, if there was a face within the endless falling. ..

Lightning flashed, sizzling bolts of fiery light arcing up the walls. He had come to a chamber, a tall dome of glistening stone. There were no visible entrances. No exits. The Ngamaru hovered in a loose circle around him, their sharp metal claws click-clacking against one another.

He whirled from one to the next, lips curling back, the blood of Aun pounding out the rhythm of battle. He was a warrior, strong and mighty. He reached to his belt for the familiar curves of his Taiaha, eager to meet Death and hear her whispers. He would not be the only one to hear her final words in this hell.

His hand came up with empty air. His Taiaha was gone. They had taken his weapon. He screamed, plunging to the ground. There was no escape. There was no escape. There was no escape.

He was running...

Observation: Subject has been in stasis period for one hundred eighty four Race 67a circadian cycles. Query: Yet exertion moisture still is evidenced on his forehead. Causation: Analysis needed.

Response: Energy analysis indicates high-intensity mental activity. Local nomenclature: Fever dreams.

The body of the Aun warrior continued to stay still within its energy prison. It had not moved in a very long time. An occasional drop of sweat made a small plink as it fell against the stone floor. No one was there to hear it.

__________

“You were responsible for them? Those. . . mockeries? I confess I can see no reason why you think such admission would gain you favor here.”

“Ahh, milady, the “candy-canes,” as some of the townspeople so cunningly referred to them, were merely the beginning. A demonstration of potential. I could do more. So much more. But I need help, help from a person with power. Your puissance shines brightly around you, milady. There is so much we could do. . .”

“Tell me more.”

__________

He stood there, cloaked and cloaked, for no eyes or ley-sense to see. He was disturbed by the beauty of the room. Even more disturbed that he noticed the beauty. That it appealed to him. He was. . . beyond such things, yes? Logos. Concepts. Words. Do you feel? Yes, I feel. What is your name? Candeth Martine. I feel the hammer breaking. Are you Martine? Yes. Ankle shattering. Are you Martine? Yes! Magnify receptors for lower upper limbs. Left lower arm cracking. Are you Martine? Please, yes, please. Mercy. Right lower arm breaking. Are you Martine? Please. Please.

He looked down at the sleeping form on the bed. She is so beautiful.

“Melanay?” he whispers. “Melanay. I am broken. They have broken me, Melanay.” He is crying. Real tears leaking from fake eyes. He reaches out a hand to stroke her long blonde hair. Blonde? Illogical. Melanay's hair was a deep russet brown. The figure below stirs.

He vanishes from the room. The woman has a groggy recollection the next morning of a few wispy purple bubbles dissipating in the middle of the night. She dismisses it as a dream. She can only worry about so much.

__________

He gathered up all his power and hurled it at the wall of energy before him. It had no discernible effect. He screamed in rage. There had to be a weak link somewhere. He had gotten through. More power, rage fueling him to a depth of power he did not know he had, churning and seething, a roiling reservoir of fury.

The explosion knocked him back, almost taking his consciousness away. Fear made him fight off the fatigue. Fool. So dangerous to lose one's awareness in this place. The barriers remained, glowing and resolute.

He probed them once more, knowing that there wouldn't be anything different, but desperate all the same. It was a wall of knots, tendrils of energy tied round and round each other. If only there was some way to cut or slip through the knot. But he had tried, Martine had tried. . . if Martine wasn't the answer. . . well maybe the other was. And additional resources were finally reopening. Soon. It could be soon.

__________

Where did the Flammas come from? So you have been keeping up with your studies, Borelean, even in the wake of all this madness. Good.

It is an interesting question. There are scattered Dericost text fragments that refer to. . . well, I am getting too far afield.

Have patience, son. Yes, that is a fearsome scowl. I'm sure one day when you are King you will have courtiers truly shaking at the knees.

Ahh, a smile. A good sense of humor is one of the most important things you need when walking in the circles that lie ahead of you. Do not forget that.

Here is what I know for sure. There are no references to Elementals appearing during the reign of the Seaborne Empire. There was speculation, in regards to the fragments I mentioned, but most credible scholars dismissed them as ancient tribal superstitions. There were some experiments, anyway, and some of those experiments actually furthered our demiurgy. . . the making of Golems. But most of the studies ended in abject failure, and some with a horrible demise.

That did not stop some from creating a set of lore and rituals and passing it down from generation to generation. It was supposed that the learning of these rituals would empower one to be an “Elemental Mage.”

Yes! That's exactly the right question. What could an Elemental Mage do, that a Hieromancer, or a follower of the School of the Arm, could not? For most of my lifetime, I believed the answer was nothing. They made claims about being able to control the elements, to give them body and intent, and make them subject to their will. These “Elementals,” though, were never seen, and the Elementalist Cabals had mostly died out during the later half of the Seaborne reign.

But as you, or anyone in Dereth could now inform me, the Elementals do exist. Flammas and worse in the caldera of Mount Tenkarrdun. Scintillas on the plateau of our reserve, Marae Lassel. I do not know where they come from. I have. . . guesses, but I have had far too many other pressing problems to investigate fully.

You chastised me earlier because you thought I was hiding something from you. And it is true that in order to do your duty you must have all the knowledge that you can at your disposal. Even if that knowledge is no more than a seed of concern to be planted now, to later grow into a tree of a solution. So before we conclude this session, I will leave you with this.

According to your people, to the School of the Arm masters, the elemental magics are agents of change. I know Celdiseth has tutored you in the Four Cardinal Paths often enough. Flame consumes, Acid decays, yes, yes, you know it, good.

But my people have long had a much different view of the elemental expressions of mana, Borelean. This view explains much of our reluctance to pursue further studies in the area. In my next lesson, I will show you the prism, and how it relates to the mana. But for now, this is what you need to know.

Fire, frost, acid, lightning. What do they all have in common?

They burn, Borelean, they all burn.

'''Unlike any other gaming experience, the world of Asheron's Call continues to evolve. Last month, enemies advanced against Dereth, while High Queen Elysa Strathelar fortified the land's defense. Yet there remains much work to be done...on both sides. Join us, as the Fever Dreams event opens soon!

'''Be sure to continue your part in this incredible ongoing story, and we'll see you in Dereth!

Roll Out Article
''Material retrieved from original Zone caches available at http://web.archive.org.

''Original Link (now dead) - http://zone.msn.com/asheronscall/news/ASHEeventrollout.asp



 Fever Dreams 

February 14, 2002

As winter recedes and lets her grasp slip free of Dereth and the Isparians, a new hand takes her place. Candeth Martine was rebuffed in his attempt to infiltrate the High Queen's Royal Guard in the dark month of Snowreap but his anger is not yet sated. His vengeance, directed at Elysa Strathelar's child Borelean, seems to know no bounds, and though he falls into silence now, his presence looms over the Isparians and in the night, dreams take on an eerie quality, one that is becoming all too real.

In the north rumors of a Tumerok Xuta spread as the Aun take their first tentative steps across the western sea. They are peaceful for the moment, but the length of that peace may rely on the extent to which adventurers are willing to go to assist them.

The greatest armorers in the land have been healed of their curse. They now are willing to create their old masterworks for those that wish to wear them. Hunters from the mountains have been seen hauling trophies of immense size across the barren tundra to be crafted into comfortable robes. A foe once thought extinct has returned.

The Arcanum enlists parties to travel deep into the wilderness to assist them in the latest task given them by their enigmatic leader, Nuhmudira. They advise against making the trek alone, but many souls of stout heart have been seen returning from the journey, worse for the wear and gibbering incoherently at their Lifestones.

The High Queen has fallen silent, perhaps moved to a safer harbor in an effort to protect her son. Asheron remains hidden within his tower away from the Isparians, intent on his own works. Nuhmudira has become more reclusive, yet she maintains the pace to allow all Isparians to find a place to call their own. And the strings attached to all these players lead to the hands of a man filled with hatred and driven by revenge.

Following is a list of the most interesting additions made to the game this update. However, please note that not everything has been included--that would spoil the fun of finding out all manner of things added or changed! As usual, though, the town criers, barkeeps, and scribes may know the latest news. Also, the trades of crafting and selling are always in flux, so changes to prices and features are not always listed here in their entirety.

Highlights include:


 * Many new dungeons added to the world.
 * New recipes for cooks.
 * Strange new creatures of demiurgy enter the world.
 * New items for all to obtain and enjoy.
 * The return of Greater Shadow Armor and Hoary Mattekar robes.
 * More housing opens.

''Be sure to check the Developer's Notes for February, and the  Letter to the Players , to learn more details of the Fever Dreams event. Join us as we continue the ongoing saga of Asheron's Call, and we'll see you in Dereth!

Build Notes
''Material retrieved from original Zone caches available at http://web.archive.org.

''Original Link (now dead) - http://http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ASHEfeb02build.asp



 Developer's Notes 

February 14, 2002

We appreciate your feedback and bug reports in helping to ensure that the world of Dereth is a stable and fun place to be. Please submit any such bug reports to http://bugs.zone.com.

New Functionality and Content


 * Added a number of new quests and dungeons related to the ongoing storyline.
 * Now we're cookin'!

Miscellaneous Improvements and Changes


 * Members of your Allegiance now show up as squares instead of circles on radar.
 * Hooks that had “broken” (the hook thought it had something attached to itself, and it counted against the maximum number of useable hooks in the house even though the hook was actually empty) should be all fixed now.
 * People who own Villas and Mansions may need to travel to their dungeon and back before their house hooks function normally again.
 * The Hoary Mattekar has been spotted again in some of the wilds of Dereth. ..
 * Players who turn in Glimmering or Sparkling Gems will now receive the original Lesser or Medium Shadowhunter Armor. Players who have the “stoneable” or “post-patch” Lesser or Medium Shadowhunter Armor will be able to trade it for the original version, and vice-versa.
 * Players who turn in Scintillating Gems will now receive armor very similar to the original Greater Shadowhunter Armor. The differences between this GS Armor and the original is the new armor is a different color (and players will have more color options come March), and that these GS pieces have a Wield_Requirement of level 30 (meaning you have to be at least level 30 to use the armor at all). Other than that, all stats are the same.
 * Players will also be able to trade the new Greater Shadow Armor pieces for the old “stoneable” pieces and vice-versa. Currently, players with original Greater Shadow Armor are not able to trade in their original GS* for the “stoneable” versions.
 * 400 Cottages, 90 Villas, and 10 Mansions have been added to the world.
 * House Settlement portals for those settlements added in January have been added to the world.
 * There were a number of Mansions whose Covenant Crystals were closed to interaction in January. This should be fixed now.
 * The snow particles that were causing many client issues in January have been removed.
 * Fellowship bonuses have been removed for turning in items that award experience points. People who are part of a fellowship who turn in an xp-reward item will now receive their equal share of the item with no bonus (i.e., a person in a 2-person fellowship who turns in an item worth 100 xp will now receive 50 xp (50%) instead of 75 xp (75%). See our Letter to the Players  which explains more.
 * 9-people fellowships have had their individual xp toggled slightly upward. 9-people fellowships now share xp at 31% instead of 30.
 * The “rubble” quest has now been changed slightly so that the rubble is easier to acquire.
 * Rubble pieces are now givable.
 * @house mansion_recall is now functioning. You may use it regardless of whether you own a house, if your monarch owns a Mansion. You must have purchased Asheron's Call Dark Majesty to use the command. It works the exact same way as @house recall.
 * Portals that had a quest flag requirement (meaning you had to perform some action, such as killing a certain creature, or picking up a certain object, in order to enter the portal) were not accurately determining whether or not the quest flag had expired. This has now been fixed.
 * Some NPCs were unable to determine whether your quest flag had expired. This behavior was limiting access to Timaru and breaking similar dynamics. This has now been fixed.
 * Covenant Crystals that were not indicating an owned state (spinning and floating), even though their house was owned, should now be working as normal.
 * There was a bug in which people were able to side-jump onto a wall and stick. This bug has been fixed.
 * Some of the quest logic in the Elysa's Favor quest was not working as intended. This has been fixed.
 * Radar coordinates as the default option have been toggled back to default on. The client crashes that this option was causing has been fixed.
 * There are now Singularity equivalents for Bow, Crossbow, UA, Staff, and Dagger to be found in game.

Minor Details


 * The Elysa's Favor portals are now no-tie, no-recall.
 * The letter that the player finds at the end of the Training Academy: “A Crumpled Note,” is now no-drop/no-give.
 * The “Point Up” emote has been removed from the game.
 * When players abandon a house, the message they receive now no longer tells them that any items remaining in the house will be erased.
 * The gold/red letter weapons are now hook-able.
 * Hea Raiders' cache now casts a Lockpick Ineptitude curse that cannot be removed using Dispel Gems. You can still pick the lock, but you will no longer be able to loot it time and again by opening, dispelling, and picking again.
 * Auroch Pastures Estates portal now leads to the correct destination.
 * Numerous settlement portals had some spelling/incorrect name typos fixed.