Call to Arms

Gharu'ndim

Sho

Viamontians

Ispar History

Auberean History

Texts

Rumors

--Scribe ibn Tur

All over Osteth, mages have read the signs, and found the following ill-starred towns under imminent threat:
Holtburg
Rithwic
Samsur
Shoushi
Yanshi
Yaraq

We implore adventurers to begin gathering within distant sight of buildings on the evening of Wednesday, July 7th, and guard the countryside and inroads. Do not gather in the towns themselves -- we wish to intercept the foe before they get so far! For political advantage and a mention in the Annals, monarchs are advised to turn out with their allegiances. The hour of trial is at hand; organize now!

From the Zone

Call to Arms: An Overview of the Recent Defense on 7/7/99

Screenshots of the Call to Arms

By Auberon

The advance scouts of the encroaching force appeared around 5:30 P.M. Pacific Time, comprising lesser monougas and banderlings, mixed with the occasional drudge pack. Holtburg was the first to encounter banderlings, who made their initial assault near the menhir just outside of town.

Soon other towns were under assault. Shoushi and Yanshi witnessed several hard-fought early battles. Later in the day, Yaraq was attacked by a huge swarm of monougas, who nearly decimated the population. A nearby tumerok raiding band took the opportunity to attack, hoping to pillage and plunder amid the general confusion. Between them and the rampaging monougas, it looked as though monsters might overrun the town. Fortunately, the stalwart citizens managed to regroup and form a defensive line near the beach, thwarting the blitzkrieg invasion. The town of Rithwic seemed at first to have escaped the onslaught, but soon ravenous hordes of monsters descended on their homes as well. Holtburg and Samsur were also struck by the host of invaders.

Citizen defenders gathered their allegiances to defend the towns. Pockets of resistance formed and encountered the enemy on all fronts. Mages and archers used the surrounding terrain, rampart walls, and building terraces to good effect, while stalwart warriors engaged the enemy hand-to-hand.

In Rithwic, a Sho warrior, tired and wounded, spotted a slim figure cutting her way through the ranks of enemies. There was a familiar look to her fighting style. Elegant and precise, she reminded him of the hero of the sacred rock. Could it be? By the gods, it was Ben Ten! Once again, Ben Ten had appeared in Dereth's time of crisis to defend a town, just like she did in Yanshi so many years before. Ben Ten's arrival seemed to lift the spirits of the defenders, and the tide of battle turned in favor of the Derethians. Soon Ben Ten was spotted in other areas of the island. Through some mystical means, she seemed to gust in with the wind, and where her blade shone, it laid waste to her opponents.

Just as the people of Dereth felt they could breathe a sigh of relief, a new and terrifying threat loomed. The tremendous monougas! Towering over 40 feet tall, these colossal behemoths left a swathe of death behind them. At first they appeared unstoppable, but the Derethians would not be easily defeated. As the battle for Dereth raged, some spotted the true source of the attack, the Virindi, who observed the battle with cold calculation. Shadow Lieutenants were also sighted. Could the presence of these minions of Bael'Zharon signify an unholy alliance between Virindi and Dark Lord? The possible ramifications of such a union are horrifying to say the least.

The battle ended around 8:30 P.M. Pacific Time, with exhausted defenders counting the dead and healing the wounded. Although the toll was terrible, the day had been won, and Dereth was safe for the moment. As the citizenry return to their daily lives, they discuss the Call to Arms as a grim reminder of the dangers of complacency. May we heed this lesson well, for surely this will not be the last time we face the enemy.
 

A Call To Arms  (click to enlarge)

From the Zone

Scavenger Hunt - June 1999

By +Larn Margot

It had been rumored that there would be a mysterious contest of skill and bravery across the land of Dereth, and I, being a scribe, was naturally interested. Bands of 10 to 20 brave men and women were meeting and forming teams at towns all over the continent. I caught up with "Team Three" in the swamps of Sawato.

As the adventurers easily overwhelmed a red phyntos wasp, the rumbling of thunder could be heard across the swamp. Ichi jin-rai searched the corpse and found a pair of intact wings. "I got a wasp wing. That's worth another point . . ." Ichi jin-rai said, when a mud golem crashed through the bushes, running surprisingly fast for such a large monster. Two more of the creatures soon followed. The rest of Team Three -- Elorian, Aslan the Lionheart, and Jane the Brave -- easily slaughtered the golems, their bodies crumbling to a thousand pieces. Following the battle, the relatively green Aslan jumped with excitement, exclaiming, "I've never seen a golem before!" However, after inspecting the remains of the creatures, the adventurers seemed crestfallen. What were they hoping to find?

During a brief respite from the fighting, I asked the nature of this contest. It happened that Team Three was one of the eight registered bands participating in a six-hour scavenger hunt. The objective was simple, if a bit odd: collect monster body parts, medallions, and armor specified on a public list and turn them over to an advocate for points before time ran out. Of course, different items had different point values, ranging from the one-point Auroch Horn to the thousand-point (not a misprint!) Olthoi Cuirass. Perhaps the advocates needed these ingredients for a special spell. Or perhaps this strange hunt was intended to encourage adventurers to eliminate the evil creatures of Dereth. I do not know. Team Three was trying hard not to get ambushed by golems in the process of collecting one-point wasp wings.

After the event, I discovered from an advocate that Team Four, consisting of Vidorian (the leader), Jon, Draco, Blackthorn, Doremon, Kewlbreeze, and Tobias, had achieved victory with a staggering 171 points. I sought them out and discussed strategy with them. Kewlbreeze originally set his sights high. "I wanted to go for the Olthoi Cuirass at first =)" he told me. However, Jon convinced the team to "stay with the easy stuff." Obviously the strategy worked for Team Four, whose most valuable item was a swamp stone, worth a lowly three points. Slow and steady seemed to be the key to the scavenger hunt. No team brought in an item worth more than four points.

Team Three, the team I was following, finished second. Perhaps their choice of hunting ground had cost them victory. Soon after being attacked by the golems, Ichi jin-rai was ambushed by two swamp gromnies. Jane the Brave summed up the situation best when she exclaimed, "RUN!" This scribe was glad he was not noticed by the gromnies (I bravely hid in the bushes).

Congratulations to Team Four for their astounding success!

Final Team Scores
Supplied by Dave@Turbine
(Team 1 and 5 results not available)

TEAM CRYSLIS
No breakdown available.
TOTAL 9 POINTS

TEAM #2
No breakdown available.
TOTAL 7 POINTS

TEAM #3

18 White Rat Tails 2 Black Rat Tails 4 Brown Rat Tails 1 Swamp Stone 8 Drudge Charms  6 Banderling Scalps 3 Red Phyntos Wasp Wings 8 Blue Phyntos Wasp Wings 3 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings  3 Wood Hearts 2 Gold Tumerok Insignia	18 points 2 points  4 points 3 points 8 points 6 points 3 points  8 points 3 points 6 points 8 points
TOTAL 69 POINTS

TEAM #4

1 Blue Phyntos Wasp Wing 1 Red Phyntos Wasp Wing 5 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings 1 Wood Heart 39 Auroch Horn Spears 16 Swamp Stones 12 White Rat Tails 1 Grey Rat Tail 5 Drudge Charms 15 Banderling Scalps 1 Skeleton Skull	1 point 1 point 5 points 2 points 78 points 48 points 12 point   1 point 5 points 15 points 3 points
TOTAL 171 POINTS

TEAM #6

12 White Rat Tails  3 Grey Rat Tails  2 Red Rat Tails  9 Black Rat Tails  30 Banderling Scalps  2 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings  1 Red Phyntos Wasp Wing 7 Drudge Charms  3 Wood Hearts 2 Auroch Horns  1 Auroch Horn Spear  2 Swamp Stones  3 Skeleton Skulls	12 points 3 points 2 points 9 points 30 points 2 point 1 point 7 points 6 points 2 points 2 points 6 points 9 points
TOTAL 91 POINTS

TEAM #7

1 Skeleton Skull 6 Swamp Stones	3 points 18 points
TOTAL 21 POINTS

TEAM #8

4 White Rat Tails 2 Banderling Scalps 1 Drudge Charm 2 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings  1 Grey Rat Tail 1 Wood Hearts 1 Auroch Horn Spear	4 points 2 points 1 point 2 points 1 point 2 points 2 points
TOTAL 14 POINTS

----------------

TEAM 4!!!!
Please submit a team screenshot asap to claim your magic item prize!

Thanks everyone for participating!! We plan to do more contests in the future as the beta process allows. We hope to see you all participate. We are going to publish these results on the Zone web pages, so if you have any stories or screenshots to submit... please do so we can get them up on the zone! e-mail them to Sarneho@turbinegames.com

Dave Namerow
Online Community Manager
 

Shardath describes the pic of Team 4 above: "This picture was taken last night in Holtburg. It's really hard to say if all these people are group 4 or if we are missing anyone because it was so hectic last night in Holtburg. None the less I hope this is good enough =)

P.S. I'll send some pictures to Sarneho but I must confess, except for the ones taken in Holtburg, they weren't very exciting pictures, I was on the Auroch Horn Collect Team so the most I got was pictures of dead cows =)"

From the Zone

Shreck's Final Hour
By Shreck, aka Fracas@Zone

The world was about to end. Dereth was set to fade out within the hour. It pained me that Shreck, my Sho warrior whom I'd meticulously built up through weeks of blood (his blood), sweat (my sweat), and tears (don't ask), was going to disappear forever. There were to be no statues of Shreck in Arwic's town square, no mention of him in the history books -- just “poof,” and he would be gone.

I had to bid farewell and get one last screenshot of the powerful warrior whom I'd brought up from a mere pup. I felt silly -- how could I actually care for this video-game character? After all, I figured I was done with Asheron's Call after this initial beta period. I'd spent too much time building Shreck into a man who could stand on his own, and his death seemed like a good excuse to avoid spending even more.

I found Shreck standing in Arwic where I'd left him. There was no one else around, and it was strangely silent. I set up and snapped the screenshot beside the levitating blue gem that had delivered him so often to this peaceful town, then, like any good warrior, turned to the blacksmith shop for one last inspection to see if anyone had left some cool weapons behind.

As I bellied up to the window, someone suddenly called to me. A character by the name of Epsilon was asking if I knew where to find an Olthoi. He had never seen one before and wanted to take one on before his character was wiped. I told him there was one in the Arwic mines just a few steps away through the portal. He asked if I could show him. I couldn't pass up one last adventure, so off we went.

His character was the same level as mine, and we had no problem dispatching the pathetic drudges and zombies we found along the way through the labyrinth. In no time at all, we'd come to the mist-filled hallways that had earlier made me pause for fear of what was beyond. But Shreck was a well-traveled warrior by now, and the Arwic mines were familiar, even comfortable. Epsilon and I first took on a granite golem. In no time it was pile of rocks -- we were invincible! Around the next turn we found the Olthoi. Epsilon said he was impressed -- who wouldn't be? An Olthoi cuts an imposing figure. Fortunately the Olthoi in the Arwic mines is a wounded one, and with a few deft strokes from our swords we quickly put it out of its misery.

Apparently somewhat deflated by the ease with which we had put down this otherwise impressive creature, Epsilon offered up another adventure. He knew of a place on the coast where rumor had it an entire troop of Olthoi hung out. The only Olthoi I had ever seen was the one we'd just carved up (and its previous incarnations); I was eager to take on a fully charged soldier.

We sailed across the countryside, passing all sorts of targets that, on a normal day, I would've fought for experience points and treasures. But accumulating experience was not our goal on this day. Epsilon and I were out for pure, reckless fun. As we were dashing over hills and valleys on our way to certain death, I was struck by how fun this game really is. I'd been a solo adventurer for most of Shreck's development. Later I'd joined up with friends and we traveled all over and fought hundreds of creatures. But this was the first time I'd hooked up with a complete stranger. The spontaneity of the adventure was the best part, and I realized then that Shreck had to return to Asheron's Call, and this time he'd be much more sociable.

Epsilon and I reached the Olthoi pack. They were a nasty bunch, none under level 21. I drew off one officer and led him into our kill zone away from the other baddies. It turned out to be the Olthoi's kill zone, however, because in seven strikes of its claws I was rewarded with a free trip back to Arwic. Epsilon was sent back to his lifestone soon after. We'd both died in a matter of seconds, but we put some hurt on the officer. That was good enough for both of us.

We met up again and ventured on, but time was running out. The server wipe was just 15 minutes away. I thought we'd end up saying good-bye to each other, the servers would be shut down, and that'd be it. But we got a message from the administrator telling us there was some sort of a meeting in Glenden Wood. Epsilon and I decided to check it out. We contacted the administrator asking for a shortcut to the gathering and in the blink of an eye, he transported us both to the Glenden Wood common, where we were met by a strange sight. There had to have been 50 or more characters standing about one little area. Many of them were stripped practically naked. Weapons, armor, and objects of all sorts were strewn about on the ground. At first I thought everyone was gathered to ready themselves for a massive player-killer battle. To my surprise and amusement, it turned out people had stripped off their armor and possessions not to gear up with better accoutrements for the big battle, but as an offering to the Asheron's Call gods. This was a death party. I noticed there was a character in the center of it all, a first-level priest created for this moment to give us all our “last rites.”

There was a tremendous amount of chatter. Keeping track of it all was almost too much. Epsilon and I had to communicate with the “@tell” code just to be able to pick each other out from the din. Everyone was taking screenshots of this moment and asking all of us to pose -- straightforward shots of characters in attack mode, and sillier staging with the emote codes like “YMCA.” There was a lot of good humor in the group. I noticed one character had stripped off all of his armor, then had set down all of his mana stones and parchment in a perfect circle. He sat in the center of this shrine till the end.

In the last minutes, we were all watching our clocks and there were a lot of good-byes as well as a lot of wisecracks. One guy yelled out “Hey, who stole my wallet!” while some Stanley Kubrick fan called out “My God, it's full of stars!” The priest had us all gather around and he gave us our last rites, mixing passages from the Bible with lines from Star Trek.

It was great to see all of these people in one place. I know it's just a video game, but there was something very human in this final gathering in which we were all about to watch our characters pass into oblivion. As the final seconds ticked away, people were jumping, running, casting spells, waving good-bye -- and the chatter reached a fever pitch. There were dozens of farewell wishes and promises to meet again in the next life. Epsilon and I will certainly meet up again and fight on in the new Dereth.

I glanced up from the chat window for one final look around. No one was moving. Everyone must have been busy typing in their messages, or so I thought. I looked back down at the chat window -- nothing. The once-frantic scrolling of messages had completely stopped. Yet all of the characters were still gathered around the priest. Magical swords still sparkled, and I had complete freedom of movement. It must have been server lag, I thought. I walked around surveying the scene and suddenly felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Every character was frozen in place. It was eerie. I called out, hoping someone could answer my question, “Why is everyone so quiet?” The message registered in the chat window. Surely someone would answer. No one did. It seemed Shreck had somehow been missed in the wipe and was going to live on forever. I decided to turn away from this spooky scene. I picked up a powerful sword someone had left behind, set Shreck on auto-run, and headed off for another adventure. Ten paces out, the gods of Asheron's Call caught up to me and sent me a final message: “Server Connection Lost.” Dereth had disappeared and, “poof,” Shreck was gone.