| Continued
. . . (previous) -
by
Allan Maki Turbine Entertainment Software
Keep Your Enemies Closer
-
from the
Zone
Thistledown PY12:
/
Earth: September 2001
It had been several months since the world saw magic this great in scope
and power. Now it comes again, but this time it is from an enemy that
remains obtuse.
The skies continue to shift and with them
now the land itself has changed. Through some understanding wholly alien
to the Isparians the Virindi have furthered their incursion by altering
the very nature of the wilderness. Creatures have been displaced and now
inhabit areas never before seen.
The Direlands have become a place of woe
and despair. It is here that the Virindi have laid claim at last to the
Obsidian Plains. They have driven away all others save for their allies
and those they mean to warp to their own devices. Further to the north the
Olthoi have been found swarming the landscape once again, there have been
pockets of the Olthoi seen throughout Northern Osteth but this new
revelation cannot bode well for the Isparians.
In Zaikhal, a once trusted ally has begun
displaying some frightening and unnerving characteristics. Diyas al-Yat
has begun removing his head, revealing an erupting column of portal energy
from his shoulders. This coupled with the arrival of the latest Virindi
shock troops, the Simulacra, leaves the fate of this ally as a new mystery
to be discovered.
In dungeons bearing the same blood-red
walls of their masters the Simulacra are preparing for what can only be a
final assault against the Children of Ispar. These beings look like most
Isparians in every way, yet their deliberate way of speaking will lend the
first shadow of doubt to the cautious adventurer, and once they reveal
their true selves by removing their own heads, attack and do not relent.
These new troops afford those adventurers
strong enough to wrest victory from their tenacious grasp with a new
shield and helmet of great power. These can be further enhanced with the
addition of a strange gem found within a final stronghold of the
Simulacra. But those halls are filled with beings of immense power and
should be traveled only by the most hearty of warriors.
The changes to the world have had an
unforeseen effect on the denizens of Dereth. While they have been pulled
from their climates and homes some of the creatures have banded together
under leaders of their respective races. These leaders are different from
their lesser cousins in look and in power. Travelers should be wary when
facing down one of these new foes.
Autumn slowly begins to crawl toward the
Isparians but it appears the war is far from over. Though the Virindi
themselves have lightened their assaults this latest maneuver is one that
has changed the way that most travel. This could be just a precursor to an
even greater change. The raiding parties of the Virindi death squads have
lightened but they still harangue the lonely travelers of the world.
This is a time of weary battle but the
hearts of the people are strong and in the face of this great terror they
shall not fail. But what comes next from the Virindi, and when?
Continued |