+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Olympia Times issue g1-48 | | May 24, 1995 | | | | turn 48 192 players | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+Questions, comments, to play: info@pbm.com
Olympia PBEM
* * *
Notice of rule changes: -----------------------
As of turn 50, the following rule changes will be in effect:
1. The TELL order will go away. It was a late addition to G1 and was a mistake.
2. Speedcast won't reduce a spell's casting time below one day.
3. Speedcast will not work on the Trance spell.
4. Farcast spells which depend on the presence of a target in the destination province will use up the farcast regardless of whether the target is found. This parallels the way speeded casting now works.
5. Magic use of any kind will be banned in the Imperial City safe haven. This parallels the no-building and no-combat ordinances.
6. SEEK will be changed to have a 10% chance of finding a hidden noble per day (note that the week-long success rate is approximately the same as it is now).
The
parameter to SEEK will become optional. SEEK without specifying a target will seek for any hidden nobles. If the target noble is omitted, SEEK will have a 5% chance of finding any hidden nobles present. 7. Magical barriers can't be placed around buildings, only provinces or sublocations.
8. Control units will no longer be exempt from attacks in Hades or Faery.
9. Units which have health "n/a" will require a hit of 50 points or more to kill instead of the current 1 point. This will not affect combat (i.e. attack), but rather TERRORIZE, Aura blasts, Lightning bolts, and other means of directly applying damage to a character.
10. RAZE must be executed by the owner of a structure.
Player-contributed press
Because of fear of unrest and a large influx of immigrants to a continent with low resources, visitors to DRUCARTAN are asked to procure a visa before entering the area.
If you want a visa, please send a message to John Sen[m6f], describing the nobles in the party, the size of the party, and the reason for visiting Drucartan. There is no fee, and requests will only be refused in rare ( i.e. I am bringing 2000 men to kill all nobles ) circumstances.
Re: The Sponsorship =============== Due to the complete lack of response, this offer has been canceled.
The Sen Clan would like to speak to any factions living on the island north of central Drucartan
-- The Sen Clan [di4]
For general consumption: you can make a scroll of a _school_ of magic.
-- The Mystics [nt7]
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THE ILLUSTRATED MAN'S IMPERIAL EMPORIUM!
Iron now for sale! Get some, and practice striking while it's hot!
FOR SALE--- wood: 7 gold longbows: 50 gold broadswords: 35 gold iron: 30 gold BUYING--- blank scrolls: 100 gold peasants: 10 gold yew: 20 gold wild horses: 20 gold
While you're in our store, don't forget to pick up a map! Called "a thing of beauty," and a useful tool, to boot! Order yours today! 75 gold or 15 provinces -- new customers 35 gold or 10 provinces -- repeat customers Both Typvs Orbvm Olympia and Provinia map included! Also please mail your surface address.
The Midnight Carnival ___ ||||| /\ =====---`=== oo oo /\ /\
-- The Midnight Carnival [nx2]
---------------------------------------- S. CAMARIS Update: WAR ENDS (?) ----------------------------------------
The Alliance of the New Moon appears to wish to make peace with us. We have ceased hostilities against them, for this turn, and shall see what they say (in the Times) and what they do.
-- The Crazy Quilters [vn7]
Pilgrims Aid Society
The Pilgrims Aid Society offers free thoughts, advice, and discussion to all nobles of Olympia. I especially enjoying helping those who are new to this world. If you have a question or concern, contact me!
-- Akmall Benhalla [p3p]
Tangiers, in the far north of Western Camaris, on the Barbary Coast [ap21], is still open to visitors. Don't let the war (possibly ended by now) in South Camaris dissuade you from visiting the northernmost city in the exlored world. Please let me know if you are planning to visit, so that I can make your trip worthwhile. Also, neutral explorers wishing to avoid the combat zones in SC should feel free to contact me for more info on unsafe areas.
-- Tibilt the Bold [e7r]
The Olympia Atlas is accepting contributions, and is available for download! Be the first to contribute information for unexplored lands (Faery).
In the tradition of Oleg's Map (tm), the Atlas is a compilation of geographical information useful for explorers, traders, and adventurers. Best of all, it's absolutely free!
To contribute to the Atlas, simply send turn excerpts (cut out all the incriminating parts) that contain the following information:
o) Mapping data (region & route info) o) City market reports o) City skills lists o) Inner locations
and send it to sx6@g1.pbm.com. We'll include it into the next version of the Atlas.
The Atlas is available by ftp from your nearest PBM ftp site (ftp.erg.sri.com in the USA, check the PBM FAQ for other sites), in the directory /pub/pbm/olympia, as atlas.X, where X is the turn of the last update.
The Atlas is also available on the PBMGames forum on CompuServe, in the fantasy games section, as atlas.oly.
Brought to you by the Skulking Vermin (sx6)
Note!! Due to Real-Life (tm) commitments, the Atlas will be appearing irregularly, as I have time to assemble contributions.
-- Sludge [x0o]
MONTHLY NOTICE
The Brotherhood of Ormos claims the city of Avalon [ao0k] and all lands and resources inside the boundary of [bp05]-[bp08]-[br06] -[br09] inclusive, as its sole and lawful demense. Those wishing to visit Ormos are required to request a visa and await clearance before attempting to make landfall. All unauthorized visitors are unwelcome and looked upon with extreme prejudice. Captains needing to make landfall at Avalon for emergency repairs will not be molested, but are still required to contact me for a visa.
-- Pelinore Dragonslayer [p4s]
My allies and I have more opportunities than we have nobles to exploit them. This includes land safely controlled, access to new lands for exploration, exotic magics to study and trade routes to operate. In the past I've only recruited new starters, but now have enough on offer to tempt established players too. If you're interested in joining the team, contact me for details.
-- The Weird One [j2g]
This is monthly notice if you wish to visit the environs of Cycarth and Redwine please be courteous enough to let m9l know (you can reach him at heyman@camis.stanford.edu. I do not currently plan to restrict access, but would like to know who is wandering around in my front yard. I would especially like to know if you plan on using any of the natural rsources (peasants, wood, and the like) in the provinces bt25 bt26 bt27 bu25 bu26 bu27 bv25 bv26 bv27 bw25 bw26 and bw27.
-- Darkman [m9l]
THIS NOTICE HAS SLIGHTLY CHANGED!
Visitors are welcome to the area controlled by the Cohorts of Colossus [vo4], as long as they obtain travel permits first. Not all requests will be granted. The affected area includes the land provinces bounded by bx25 and bz27, and the province by24.
To avoid possible misunderstandings, please do not enter this area without a permit, nor collect resources without express permission. No, really, I *mean* it. Honest. I only rarely refuse reasonable requests, and then only because I've already granted my quota.
This policy helps ensure the security of all nobles within these lands. If you are interested in a franchise on collecting resources in one of these provinces, please contact me. I have friendly arrangements with several factions along these lines.
-- Sheriff Pelenth of Gentlewind [f3i]
Does anything control Hades or is it as ugly as it sounds? How does one go to Hades?
-- Shiver [o0v]
Ahoy, maties. Anyone know what lies south of the continent of Rimmon?
-- Bagheera [y3d]
Hmm, the quality of the anti-AOO propaganda seems to be declining again after its brief ascent into literacy :) However, there are still a few coherent points being made, which I shall reply to.
> I'd like to apologise for my Amber critique a while back. I was hoping > to be so offensive that the item would be censored and player names would > be henceforth banned from the Olympia Times (as they should be.)
Apology accepted... okay, if you're _that_ hung up about player names being referred to in the Times (even though the game makes player names public knowledge) I'll omit yours in future :)
> He was > right that I only captured 20 siege engines and I guess he could only see > five nobles. His analysis of my defensive maneuvers last week was still > hopelessly wrong.
The only remaining alternative being that you ducked into a hidden sublocation, in which case there was no way I could have done anything about it even had I known about it beforehand.
> Gee, let's boil down the long defense of the AOO by Amber. Looks like > they're accused of two things: breaking treaties and attacking newbies. > For the first, he says, yeah, we had an agreement with the Iron Nation, > but not necessarily all the FACTIONS within the alliance, and not all the > NOBLES within the factions we DID have an alliance with. Unh-hunh.
Ah, no. At the time the agreement was made, the Iron Nation no longer existed as a coherent political entity; the various messages we got from Iron Nation factions made that clear. The factions we negotiated with wouldn't have been in a position to sign an agreement on behalf of all the previously Iron Nation factions even had they made it clear that that was their intent, which they didn't. Like I said, an 'agreement' which one side doesn't get informed let alone consulted about until after the facts, is not an agreement. The word implies informed consent by both sides.
> As for the second accusation, Amber says, basically, "Yeah, some of us > attack newbies. Tough."
> it's also true that many nobles think beating on > newbies is a punishable offence.
A bit of economy with the truth here, hmm? :) In the fighting which began the history of hostilities between the AOO and our main opponents, the AOO factions involved were also newbies; the factions from both sides had joined the game on turn 1.
> we have our right to kill you, > of course.
Certainly, you have your right to kill us off if you can manage it, same as in any multiplayer game :) I was merely pointing out that all the BS about the AOO being evil incarnate and our opponents being knights in shining armor is just that - BS. Furthermore, it has been used to sucker newbie factions into suicide attacks on AOO members, a practice which I consider dubious to say the least. (I have been assured by a couple of our opponents that they personally have had no part in this, and I'm prepared to believe them, but at least some of our opponents have done so.)
-- Amber [s0s]
___ ___ ___ / / ) / ) /___ /___/ /___/ / . _ _ /_ / )_ __ / / _ _ . __ . _ / / / _> / /___/(_>/ //< of / / (_)|// / // (_>The First Bank of Provinia has offices in some of the major cities
on the continent of Provinia. The FBoP offers the following facilities.
o Excellent Interest Rates on Bank Accounts. o A Fast and Efficient Courier Service. o Special offers for New Olympia Players. o Money Transfers. o Short and Long Term Loans. o Insurance Policies. o Pawn Broking Service.
Call in at your local branch for further details.
-- First Bank of Provinia [y6v]
used ships for sail contact carioca@io.com for details. will trade for wood.
-- Joao Ferreira de Alimeida [f0w]
Anyone coming to North-Central should contact me before landing. I have helpful advice & knowledge of local conditions, so send your birds to me post-haste.
-- General Norc [z1a]
The Alliance of the New Moon would like to set matters straight as to the current war (largely over) that has occured on South Camaris. We have been in fairly steady contact with Oleg the Loudmouth, Dogmatix, and several members of the Iron Nation since early in the game. Several of our members started on turn 1, and thus have followed the course of the various wars with great interest. In that time we have developed a strong and abiding aversion to the AOO, as well as the intention of stiking back at them, something we have now begun.
As our first target, we chose what we thought were AOO-aligned factions in the north: those on South Camaris. To the charge of attacking by surprise we plead GUILTY. Only a fool would warn his enemies he was going to attack. Unfortunately, it seems that our decision was based on outdated information. The South Camaris factions were friendly with the AOO early in the game, but have now satisfied us that they have since gone their seperate ways. Therefore, the Alliance of the New Moon and the SC factions have reached a agreement allowing the South Camarisian factions to reoccupy their former lands and castles.
I am not shy about admitting a mistake, and apologize to the SC factions for our actions. This whole situation should serve as a caution, however, that it is unhealthy to be a friend of the AOO. It can come back to haunt you.... Take this as a warning, to all the rest of you who have any connection to AOO: stay out of the North! Northern Olympia is not now, and never will be, an AOO stomping ground. -- the Crimson Sage, ANM press secretary
-- Seline Fireflower [w0l]
Rumors
Faery city [im0l], port city, in province Forest [ia2k] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Routes leaving Faery city: North, to Ocean [dz7a], 1 day West, to Ocean [du0l], 1 day Out, to Forest [ia2k], 1 day
Skills taught here: Scrying [162], Artifact construction [164]
Market report:
trade who price qty wt/ea item ----- --- ----- --- ----- ---- buy im0l 1,000 2 1 gate crystals [83] buy im0l 500 10 5 mithril [82] sell im0l 1,000 1 300 winged horse [54] sell im0l 200 5 30 mallorn wood [70] sell im0l 30 2 5 cardamom [106] sell im0l 35 10 1 avinia leaves [65] sell im0l 500 1 1 Golden ring [it2p]
Inner locations: Courts of Chaos [f38], castle, defense 40, owner: Shimizu [c4a], duke, wielding Dart of Roshun [dr8k], with 23 soldiers, ten crossbowmen, one riding horse Oberon [fp6m], savages, number: 61, "under player control", with 70 crossbowmen, one orc, accompanied by: Zarra [j6p], prisoner Cordelia [e2b], prisoner Savage [gw5v], savage, "under player control", with two riding horses, three oxen Barbarian [cp8z], barbarians, number: 10, "Atalan League Scouts - Red Patrol", with five workers, accompanied by: Wurun Ravuk [x1y], priest, prisoner Savage [fd8v], savage, "player owned and operated", with two riding horses
Ships docked at port: Queen Mab [eb7i], roundship-in-progress, 84% completed, 15% loaded, owner: Nelson [f4u], with 20 workers, 17 peasants
Wanted Dead or Alive:
Bastrestric ther Archymonaged
For crimes against nobility, and for questioning in the untimely death of the dearly departed Miyuki-san.
Location reports should be placed in the Times
< Information about the Alliance of the New Moon < is solicited. Sighting reports of their stacks, < etc. Please publish them here, for all to see. < The more everyone knows about them, the harder < it will be for them to ambush their next victim.
Seen in last week's Times: > > -The New Pentarians
Very nice, except The Old Pentarians are still around, and we don't cotton to young'uns trying to muscle in on our territory. So git while the git'n is good.
-- Clarence, Lord of Pentaria
Is Oleg on his way out at last?
I have heard of talk of Northern East and West Ossicus. What about the south of that great continent ? It seems to me that it would be very advantageous to control the straits between the continents to the south of Ossicus (but maybe thats just me...)
Whoopsie, there were 28 savages, not just one :( So instead of outnumbering him 10 to 1 for a nice easy kill in the morning, then off to work, the little bugger fatally wounded one noble and killed all my workers, causing my Carefully Crafted Orders [sic] to spin off into absurdity: "quarry, wot you mean". "repair, you must be daft"
Everyone check the status of your contract nobles. I just lost one due to negligence, and the inability to copy orders.
Heard in Olympia City near the shadow of Lord Marat's scar upon this earth...... "Puff the Magic Dragon. Lived by the sea. He didn't like the AOO but did like you and Me. One fine day he travelled across the ocean blue and when he finished with marat he had fired up a stew"
Balextrical ther Acrimonious or whatever the heck his name is will be killing a noble somewhere EVERY TURN until he is stopped! Don't count on your neutrality to save you--he probably won't rest until he's the only magician in Provinia, as well as the most powerful!
The ONLY way to stop this menace before he WINS THE GAME is to hit the AOO *now*, while we still can! "We must all hang together, or we will assuredly hang separately."
What can you do?
1) Recruit peasants and build up your capacity for war. 2) Wipe out your local AOO garrison, and destroy their tax base. 3) Write your local Dogmatix or Oleg and ask how and when YOU can help!
Remember, folks, Marat's pretty rentboy can hit only one noble per turn, max: and then only if you don't take the appropriate action. And for anyone important, get absorb aura blast quick. Until then, spread your troops around a bit so you can't lose everything from one hit.
Anyway, out of all the nobles of all the factions that the AOO has ever hated - pretty much everybody - you'd have to be unlucky for them to pick on your own favorite character. The exceptions to this rule know who they are anyway
. Generous of the AOO to admit they run a protection racket, isn't it?
Hang in there. Revenge has been a long time coming, but will be sweeter for the wait.
I believe that Shado Clan which is attacking people in S. Camaris is an AOO allied faction.
Clifford's City Market Database: 117 city market reports and growing. Send in a city market report not yet in the database and for EACH report, you will receive a report each week on the commodity of your choice. For further info, write to w4t@g1.pbm.com.
Beware of flying oxen (you thought giant birds were bad).
A darkness approaches South Camaris which will soon cause all there to forget their petty squabbles and unite against this new threat.
Is there anywhere in Olympia left unclaimed? It sounds as if Tollus is nearly vacant at the moment, but the social climate is unhealthy. I haven't heard of anyone settling on Chardia, but it is hard to build a castle without a convenient source of stone. There may still be sizable uninhabited islands in the extreme south, but not for long.
What use are war mounts?
"Are those Faery Hills that I see burning in the distance?", asked Harttmutt. "Ya, they be Faery Hills", was the reply.
Is there a war going on in Ossicus? Inquiring minds want to know... Self conscious nobles looking for a home want to avoid the battle field.... -----the questor
I'm trying hard to get ideas for a regular monthly notice, just to avoid more use of brain capacity than neccesary. However, I'm also sickly fed up with land claims. What to do?
Well the castle is starting to shape up. It will be good to finally have a home of my own. My only problem is the possibility of running out of money before completion.
"I was hoping to be so offensive that the item would be censored and player names would be henceforth banned from the Olympia Times"
Sheesh, and they say the AOO is scheming and manipulative...
"How interesting."
"I agree. I think we'll explore the plains over there first, though. It'll give those wolves a chance to relax and drop their guard."
"Aren't they the cutest things?"
"Sister, those cutest things would happily eat you alive."
"Hmmmmm..."
"You're just totally impossible sometimes."
Aside from the Circle of Hope Alliance, are there any other factions willing to publicly stake a claim anywhere on Ossicus? -The Ossican Colonists
The entire OLY world and all computers it's run on, or used for typing turns or any kind of email - in fact, the entire Internet - is claimed by Duke Marat. ("U hav bin worrnd").
Do any castles remain on Tollus? Is the great Tollus land rush set to begin? Are the rumors of hemorrhagic fever on Tollus true?
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Do castles in a city really earn up to 900/month? The rules seem to state that there is no benefit to putting a castle in a city...
"Enquiring Minze wantsta know: Izzit true that Duke Marat has now commissioned BarfEthic the FallenArchMage to research a new Necromancy spell: 'Summon Miyuki's Shade'???"
Maxx Peril - Third Eye in the case of the missing lawers.
Penny Bier had hired me to find the goblins, a race I had never heard of.
Well if I wanted to be paid I had to make at least an effort to find these goblins. Thought I thought they existed only in Miss Biers head. So what do you do when trying to find something that probably doesnt exist. Well when in doubt or needing anything to fill in the time card. I always consult an "expert" and my standard expert was Shanda Leer, a crystal gazer down on Spitting Dog Lane. When I arrived she was gazing into her ball.
Hey Shanda. Whats doing. I'm reading the wall. What? The Wall? Us mages have found a huge cliff in the wilderness down south. Using a far scribe spell and our crystal balls. We leave messages to each other on the cliff. Get that smirk off your face. We have divided the wall in different areas for different subjects. So we can talk to strangers on topics of common interest. Oh. And just what is your interest? Im was looking at alt.lurkers Leave it to you to hide in the shadows. Any thing tasty in it today ? Of course not. alt.lurkers is a area just for people who like to read what others write but never write themselves. Any one who would actually write in alt.lurkers is not a lurker, so they would have no interest in the group. Yea, sure, makes sense to me. Well, I hope you came here for some expert advice ?$? And not just to pry into my recreational habits.
Shark Attacks Fisherman In Marketplace
Imperial City
A fisherman was attacked by a supposedly dead hammer head shark he was dragging through a marketplace, police said yesterday.
They said Mannetjies Binneman was pulling the shark, which he intended to eat for dinner, by the tail when the fish wiggled out of his grasp and ripped open his leg.
The fisherman finally killed the shark by clubbing it on the head.
OPI
Liberty's Harum open for study. The Priestess is in and waiting for willing students. Nominal fees collected for gown. Study materials provided at cost.
What good is weather magic except on a ship?
Beavis: The attack on the Count of South Camaris sucks. Butthead: The Alliance of the New Moon are butt*&$#@'s. Beavis: South Camaris Rules! Butthead: Yeah, Beavis, but who rules South Camaris? Beavis: The New Mooners think they do! Butthead: Wow, and they call ME butthead! Beavis: Yeah, MOONers, heh heh, heh heh, heh heh.
* Market Survey: I am interested in the further profits of bounty hunting. Serious reward offers considered. Satisfactory payment procedures required. Please submit "serious offers". I am currently interested in the rewards associated with killing Marat and the other AOO scum. Perhaps some of the forces attacking the AOO would like me to create a diversionary or real attack. Old book skills and gold would pay for a powerful force for several turns. Easier targets will command a smaller fee. I will contact you directly if I am willing to pursue your target. I am currently available. * Low Profile Bounty Hunters
If the number of ships we have seen the last two turns is any indication, the so called northern Unexplored Region is (a) crowded, and (b) very well explored, indeed!
Venturing warily into the dark recesses of the abandoned building, which he now saw was a old, decrepit palace, he approached the object which glimmered in the dark throne room. cradled on the marble throne was a crown, encrusted with gems. He reached out his hand to touch the crown, and as he did so, a wind sprang up about him. The leaves swirled in the wind, seeming to whisper like faint voices from far away.
Where are there open plains for nobles to prosper?
Giving large numbers of men and beasts to orcs can be dangerous to their health. Sometimes angry peasants revolt.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ So now that the AOO is done for _/ and the Kamaris Kids are acting up _/ the question on everyone's lips is _/ _/ where's the _/ _/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _/ _/_/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_ _ _/ _/_ _ _ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_ _ _/ _/_ _ _ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ hiding out? _/ Sure they made a lot of noise early on _/ butt lately _/ _/ they seem to have disappeared into _/ irrelevance. _/ Why won't they come out and play? _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/