+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Olympia Times issue g1-64 | | September 13, 1995 | | | | turn 64 181 players | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+Questions, comments, to play: info@pbm.com
Olympia PBEM
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Player-contributed press
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Maps are available! Get yours today from the Illustrated Man [s5e] in the Imperial City! If you're a new player, only 75 gold plus your surface mail address for all the info known about Provinia and the world! For experienced players, ask about a blow-up of your area!
-- The Midnight Carnival [nx2]
---------------------- S. CAMARIS Update ----------------------
Monthly notice: any new visitors to our fair isle should notify us in advance.
-- The Crazy Quilters [vn7]
Roll up, roll up, Lance's petshop sells everything you could possibly need (if it's pikes you're after).
-- Lance [m5h]
Gentlewind Visitation Policy
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 bx25-bx27, by24-by27, and bz27.
I only rarely refuse reasonable requests, and then only because I've already granted my quota. To avoid possible misunderstandings, do not enter this area without a permit, nor collect resources without express permission. Violators of this policy may be subject to arrest.
-- Sheriff Pelenth of Gentlewind [f3i]
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]
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]
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]
___ ___ ___ / / ) / ) /___ /___/ /___/ / . _ _ /_ / )_ __ / / _ _ . __ . _ / / / _> / /___/(_>/ //< 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 Special offers for New Olympia Players. o Excellent Interest Rates on Bank Accounts. o A Fast and Efficient Courier Service. 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 [v0z]
Rumors
Yeah, I think the AOO has succeeded in ticking off enough people
to bring about a credible backlash...
What two animals are needed to breed gorgons?
Does Necromancy? If not, why not?
"Stories about "innocent" travelers in Faery are greatly misinformed. Sneaky spies were treated just like all the other invaders of Faery. Future intruders will receive the same treatment. -- OneEye [e5y]"
Hey OneEye, like, how can youse tell dey wuz dem dere sneakin' spy-types? Oh, yeh - dey had two armz an' two legs, right?
So if ya gots two arms an' two legs an' halfa brain, stay outta Faery cuz it's, like, dah Bosses' poisonal toif. Got it? (Afta all, da Boss done _started_ da game in Faery, so it's awl his, see??? He ain't no "invader", now is he?)
The winds of fate are marching on the riverbed.
A Horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
There is now a mailing list setup for general use outside of the game. This is for players who do not read the PBMGAMES forum on compuserve, or the USENET discussion groups, and is specifically dedicated to Shadow Island Games' Olympia.
To mail to the list send to olympia@candy.co.uk
To subscribe to the list send to olympia-request@candy.co.uk with the subject of "subscribe". To remove yourself from the list send the subject of "unsubscribe". (NB. The parser will only recognise "sub" and "unsub" so a subject of "submarine" will also add you to the list!! A help and file request facility will probably be added at a later date. For the players without ftp capability.)
The list is for the discussion of game tactics, hints, improvements to Olympia, and general in-game roleplaying. It is not moderated, and is not being run by Shadow Island Games, although all messages posted there will be forwarded to them.
First birds, then lizards, then dragons. Only three turns away!
There's got to be a better way to make 25 gold! Sorry Folks!
Nothing to contribute this month but still short of cash :-)
turn 63 numbers of 178 players. Almost a castle for every other faction.
Characters: 7 64th Men: 131 72nd Gold: 2,824 82nd Land controlled: 0 88th Skills known: 28/70 60th Spells: 17/80 43rd Provinces visted: 188/9,995 57th
I'm not 1st anywhere YET!
I second the call for some of the really big factions to post their size reports. I am just in awe of how long it must take to order all those units around. It takes me a solid hour, and I am pretty tiny, and not doing all kinds of stuff. And still 10-15% of the tasks I had planned don't get done because of errors, because I usually can't afford the extra 45 minutes to carefully cross check everything.
Small Is Beautiful well, or at least Not Ugly
The owners of the city of Baelreath have one month to get in touch. You know who we are. We don't want any misunderstandings.
Your neighbors.
Sun Tzu says that Marat's an equine's ass. Just 'cause there's no noise in the forest... doesn't mean nothing's falling.
Dauntless the slug-horn to his lips he put And blew "Childe Rolande to the Dark Tower came."
In the last _Times_ someone wrote:
Attention: Residents of eastern KRUSSOS Missing: Siccum Rex [r8x] Description: 6 ft. under, weight 100, pallid complexion, does not respond. Quals: Shipcraft/Combat/Stealth/Mining/Persuasion Location: Graveyard [ag8e], in Plain [ct35]
Dead for several months now, Siccum is urgently in need of Resurrective therapy. As you can see, he is possessed of a wide range of skills and will gladly enter into the service of any kind soul who can extricate him from his predicament, or some other compensation can certainly be arranged.
If he was killed by the AOO they've probably already recovered the body for their own nefarious schemes. BTW, they pretty much control Hades in addition to Faery & Cloudlands.
"If MAFOC is THE GOOD and AOO is THE BAD, then who is THE UGLY?"
Soothsayer in the IC of course! One and only spokesman for the Council of the Euminides.
We're still watching MaRat... but not for long.
"How come no one will answer about breeding oxen?"
The few attempts I made at crossbreeding them produced no offspring.
A few additions and corrections to a previous article.
"ATTENTION ALL NEWBIES ! A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOME OF THE ALLIANCES AND PERSONALITIES IN OLYMPIA.
> Would somebody please post to the times some > info on the political history of Olympia to > aid a confused newbie in working out how the > big alliances fit together. > Who are AOO, BtA, MAFOC? > Any others? > What are their general dispositions?
Very well, here is what I've gleaned from the OT as well as some more confidential sources over the years.
The AOO is the self-declared Ancient Order of Olympians. It is an alliance of a dozen or so factions which was formed some time in the early history of Olympia."
Actually the AOO consisted of 22 factions at my last count. They are a long standing "power-gamer" alliance consisting of "core" members that often participate in games as a "meta-faction." The only other alliance of note call themselves the Council of the Euminides. Though many believe them to be no more than a "front" for the Olegites or others. There is also the Alliance of the New Moon and the Iron Nation, but not much is heard from either anymore, and there is also the Liberty Confederacy. All are opposed to the AOO for various reasons. Usually due to an attack on them by one of the more homicidal maniacs in the AOO. In addition there are also many smaller "local" alliances usually restricted to a particular geographical area and comprised of a small number of factions.
"Which brings us to MAFOC. What the acronym stands for is unclear, but threats to eliminate the AOO within short order signed by that name appeared for about sixty months in the OT. In the end BtA got tired of waiting and attacked them instead, apparently without help from any of his AOO "friends". Within two months they were shattered and BtA got himself a larder full of fresh brain food."
Not exactly true. BtA "attacked" MAFOC by slipping a stealth-concealed noble into their castle and then "teleporting" a couple hundred Dragons to him. He received large amounts of assistance from his AOO friends in the form of scrys/visions and materials. The same is true, in regards to aid received, of his "farcasted-aurablast" attacks against any of the magi that could of challenged him. BTW, MAFOC = Mighty Armed Forces of Chaos.
Courtsey of your always lovable orcish undead... Soothsayer
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt
- Abraham Lincoln
Neither Rich nor Atnerks have ever been part of the AOO. We asked him to join, but he quoted Groucho Marx and took off.
Me olde friend Cruncher would be proud; I've taken up his old profession, and quite a profitable profession it is. Just as long as me friend in the black robes don't take a liking to me, me life should be grand...
If one quits, and starts over, is it cheating to attack your old faction?
Quoth the sage, "Vu Je De - The feeling you never, ever experienced that before"
" We are comming, but we are to afraid to place our names to our posts"
Give it all away?????? Yup! Better off with no possessions. They just wear you out.
From the sounds of it, it would seem that the Orc Oil market may be about to get a little tight. That is unless the nobles against whom they are rising take swift action, in which case there could be a glut on the market. -Sir Myron Kauffman at the Financial Desk reporting
A warning to you Olympians:
Land controlled: 1 87th
First one province; next, the world!!! Muahahahah! (Followed by minutes of insane and quite annoying laughter)
Is there a market for mithril and gate crystal?
Practical Exploration Advice to newbies
There's no good way around the barriers in the Atnos Channel, but it's clear beyond. (Okay, there's probably a route through, but it's not likely that anybody will tell you about it.) Buy up a unit of pitch and one peasant for retraining as a worker. After you hit clear water, you can repair your ship, and continue your travels. Don't forget that as your ship is damaged, it's capacity will decrease, so leave some margin for it when loading.
-A slightly-less-than newbie
This space intentionally left blank.
Do fish ever go bad?
Coming in next months Olympia times: "Raising Wyrms for fun and profit".
So why _doesn't_ the AOO give its stats?
> What is the deal with the "clan with no name" and its "mindless > slaves"? Is there a spell that produces "mindless slaves", and > if not, how do I get some?
Use 666
Your target is immediately chained to their keyboard while a cron job sends them messages telling them to type "Row, Row, Row"
Let me see if I've got this.
How to avoid the syphon of noble points into the AOO vortex?
Lesson 1: don't wander about central Provinia with less then 1,000 troops & absorb aura blast.
Become a major power and a sorcerer of note, two ways to draw the notice of the AOO, while enhancing your plunder value. Right?
Lesson 2: leave the Imperial City with friends & allies: there is safety in numbers.
Form a large target. Right?
Lesson 3: build lots of troops & aim them at the nearest evil AOO Stronghold.
Hurl yourself at the enemy's strength. Right?
Right, I'll get back to you on this.
Guardians of the Light say: suicide is your best bet...
Are all rumors worthless, except to get the 25 Gold? All opinions welcome.
Which branch of magic does aura blast (and absorb same) come under?
Excerpt from my rules to live by: Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.
An evil presence has fallen over provinia; raised from the blood and spirits of the young and naive.
At the seasons come to a close, the world sympathizes with the plight of the many, casting long cold shadows through out the land.
As the new year dawns, and the land warms, these evil presence will see the fruits of their evil past grow into an undefeatable fury of revenge.
Regarding the cookies you bought, Selina, maybe there's a cookie monster out there someplace.
May this humble one beg to be listened to by those older and wiser than him ?
Olympia now has lasted many a year and I fear it will not last as many more, and even if it did, modern men seem to be strangely diminished compared to those who went before them. So let's write histories, or at least short biographies, recounting the exploits of those nobles of yore who have become legend ? The hope that they will inspire their readers to endeavor to become as great may be faint, but that they will entertain there can be no doubt.
Who wouldn't want to read an account of how Marat, Soothsayer, Dogmatix, Oleg, BTA climbed to their dizzying fame, or infamy as the case may be ? How about the less famous, but doubtlessly equally deserving other leaders of the great alliances like the AOO, MAFOC, the IN, the Guardians of the Light, the Krussos Konfederacy, the Liberty Confederacy, the West Camaris Defense League, or those secretive alliances the names of which I dare not whisper ? Or other nobles whose fame does not match their acts of heroism or villany ?
If you can tell such a story, in a paragraph or many pages, please RUMOR it to this fine publication under a title like the "THE LIFE OF ...". Both hostile and authorized biographies are welcome and will be collected.
In the third month, at sunrise, the Boar and the Leopard meet on the battlefield. The fatigued Leopard looks up to heaven and sees an eagle playing around the sun.
At the New City he is thoughtful to condemn, the bird of prey offers himself to the gods. After victory he pardons his captives. At Baelraeth great hardships will be suffered.
The lost thing is discovered, hidden for many centuries. Marat will be celebrated almost as a god-like figure. This is when the moon completes her great cycle, but by other rumours he shall be dishonoured.
The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt. An evil deed, foretold by the bearer of a petition. According to the prediction another falls at night time. Conflict at Anarth, Trion, and pestilence in Aethelarn.
Looking for Undead Cookies? Just try a little research:
Raise Undead Cookie [9666] -------------------------- Usage: COLLECT 273 [days]
Required aura: none Time to cast: as given
Undead Cookies [273] are evil confections animated with foul magic, summoned from the ovens of Hades. They fight with the same combat effectiveness as Blessed Cupcakes: att-1, def-1, 50% survive milk.
One undead cookie may be summoned per day from an oven. Infernal ovens furnish up to 2 dozen undead cookies each month.
One or two undead cookies may crumble at the end of each month.