+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Olympia Times issue g1-65 | | September 20, 1995 | | | | turn 65 177 players "Unix is the 'U' in Netware" | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+Questions, comments, to play: info@pbm.com
Olympia PBEM
* * *
Player-contributed press
The Sen Clan Is breaking up
The Sen Clan has decided to break up. Olympia is a great game, and I have had lot of fun helping to civilize the world. Things are so civilized at the moment, the the Clan's wild spirit needs some other uncivilized realms to roam.
The Sen Clan is a founding member of AOO, and that memebership has been a constant source of entertainment. AOO is a very different type of alliance, and I guess that is why it has been misunderstood in the past. As a founding member I am proud of the fact that I have never been a participant in any battle involving player characters or NPCs. The only aggressive actions done by me in the game is capturing a couple of beasts ( maybee more than a couple :-). In doing so I, became the king of Drucartan. This should disprove the roumors that the only effective way of playing in Olympia is to attack and attack and attack and attack.
A little bit of early AOO history. AOO was formed by a group of players that knew each other from previous games. Some of us went all the way back to the first Olympia. It was an alliance formed to share information (the most valuable thing in the game), and for mustual PROTECTION (i.e. if someone ganged up on you without cause, you have allies that would be more than happy to help). Appart from that there was no common goals, and the factions soon spread in all directions. That is why you seem to run in to AOO wherever you go. The AOO factions are very independent, to the point where two of the factions started the building at the castle on Mount Olympia on the same turn.
Since there has been so many requests, here is what you needed for top spot on turn 60:
Characters: 54 1st Men: 1,962 1st Gold: 71,560 1st Land controlled: 200 1st Skills known: 62/70 1st Spells known: 45/80 1st Provinces visited: 1,566/9,995 1st
Any requets about the political situation in Drucarton should be directed to Wieder Sen [c2d].
-- The Sen Clan [di4]
TEMPLE Visit Permit Requested (200 gold) Friar Dodge would like to visit a temple to learn his trade. If you have a temple near the Imperial City to the northwest of it, you can earn 200 gold just by letting me visit to study. Friar Dodge (x5p)
-- The day of Rest [ju3]
We're looking for a few good nobles...
The Liberty Confederacy is accepting applications for new members! Confederates gain the invaluable benefits of collective action in return for same. The Liberty Confederacy is a loose defencive alliance of nobles who wish to pursue their happiness with their freedoms intact. We are not engaged in any debilitating wars! Newbies especially welcome.
So come to Ossicus & make your fortune with the LC!
(applications to this id#).
-- Circle of Hope [lp3]
advertisementadvertisementadvertisement
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]
The Saturators are planning on visiting the port cities Mysa and Calldwr (provided our maping info is ok) in the near future. We would like to hear from any nobles already in those regions, especially any ruling bodies. We are interested in trade goods and possibly ferrying goods or passengers if they are travelling in the right direction.
-- The Saturators [qd2]
---------------------- S. CAMARIS Update ----------------------
Monthly notice: any new visitors to our fair isle should notify us in advance.
-- The Crazy Quilters [vn7]
Guardians of Light - HELP! Provinia seems to be engulfed by an Invasion of the Body Snatchers! Not many are safe to leave the Safe Haven. Newbies seem to be the one-stop shopping source for evil alliance needs. Escape by sea has been offered as an escape route to friendlier climes, but rumor now has it that the sea lanes are impassable. Help us with some advice (or sea courses) so we all can enjoy playing this game!
-- The Shadow Masters [xe5]
If you're a stranger thinking of visiting Tollus, do get in touch before it's too late.
-- Erik the Well Read [l4o]
I'm handing on the role of IC master trader to the next generation. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
-- 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]
___ ___ ___ / / ) / ) /___ /___/ /___/ / . _ _ /_ / )_ __ / / _ _ . __ . _ / / / _> / /___/(_>/ //< 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]
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]
Rumors
What is farenstone used for anyway?
The Sun wanes tragic, As mortal contests transpire.
*** Seen in last turn's TIMES: *** "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." (followed by:) "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt"
Coincidence? I think not...!
The fate of the winds is nothing to sneer at
How difficult it is to move a ship in an area never explored before! I really hate it.
Garrisoning is fun, but how to ungarrison?
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 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.)
To mail to the list send to olympia@candy.co.uk
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.
There is One who names everyOne with a One. Who is this One? The Goofy One?
> There's got to be a better way to make 25 gold! Sorry Folks! There is.
Nothing to contribute this month but still short of cash :-)
Ow! I thought we would trounce them rather easily. Instead, although we did in fact triumph, they smote us rather wickedly. Drat!
Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.
Torba Bacor Vacations, Ltd invites *YOU* to enjoy the vacation of your life on _beautiful_ Torba Bacor. Come, visit the eerie wetlands, towering mountains, vast plains, and trackless (er... is that trackless or tractless? Both? Oh. Never mind) forests! See the ancient cities!
It's to die for!
Times Vol G1, Issue 64:
"Which branch of magic does aura blast (and absorb same) come under?"
Necromancy. Perceptive readers of the rules will note that the common Necromantic spells listed therein include the first spell referred to, a subtle clue, perhaps, to the form of magic to which the latter belongs.
-- Robert Emmet, sorceror --
"Oh where are you going," said Reader to Rider, "The Valley is fatal where furnaces burn"
The old man gazed off into the night sky, his body swaying slowly, his milky white eyes seeing far more than the stars which he hadn't seen in years. In a dry, rasping voice he slowly spoke.
"I see an island, and on that island are many beasts. Most of the beasts are hiding from one large, carnivorous creature. This creature is terrible to behold. It has over a score of heads, and one of the heads sends out bolts of power that can kill it's victims at a distance. This many-headed hydra is hungry, hungry for the flesh and blood of living creatures."
"Now the hydra has consumed most of the other creatures near it. It looks around, seeking more food, it's twenty-some heads searching all about, but all it sees are either puny, newborn creatures, or else creatures that are off at a distance. In it's hunger it howls AOOOOOOOO!! AOOOOOOOO!"
"Now I see that one of it's heads, one of the larger heads, in it's searching for food, notices that one of the other heads is looking the other way, and has plenty of meat on it. The first head lunges at the other head's throat and rips it out, then quickly consumes it."
"Many other heads now turn gainst the first head, and attack it, but some of the heads come to the help of the first head, and now the hydra is locked in a fierce battle against itself, head against head. The fight rages for days, and the hydra rolls about, crushing a number of other creatures that happened to be too close. "
"In the end the first head and it's followers manage to consume the heads that came to the aid if the second head, but the hydra is a damaged and far weaker being, and now, even while hunting for new food, each head is careful to keep a close watch on all of the other heads."
The old blind man then sat down and drank from a mug at his side, and said "This, I have seen, and so shall it be."
Cooking with the AOO Menu planning tip - broccoli flowerettes, lightly sauted in extra virgin olive oil with a clove of garlic is the perfect side dish to accompany that roasted newbie.
Clifford is back from vacation! Get those market report requests in. If your are not part of the database clan, send in a city market report for a city not in the database and get a report each week on the commodity of your choice: what cities buy and sell that commodity. Contact w4t@g1.pbm.com for information.
Is there an Official list of Alliances and their leaders?
Movie Quote : (can you identify the film) "There should've only been one"
It's spelt EumEnides you OT fraud! See Times #7 for the astonishing origins of yours truly. Times #8 contains an excerpt from Bullfinch explaining the power of the Furies and a song in Times #29 hints at the forces they exerted to make me what I am today.
-- The Soothsayer
Goodby and good riddance!
Some appropriate quotes from THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY by Ambrose Bierce
HATRED, n. A sentiment appropriate to the occassion of another's superiority.
HEAVEN, n. A place where the wicked cease from troubling you with talk of their personal affairs, and the good listen with attention while you expound your own.
HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.
HOSPITALITY, n. The virtue which induces us to feed and lodge certain persons who are not in need of food and lodging.
HYPOCRITE, n. One who, professing virtues that he does not respect, secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises.
more next time. . .
"The AOO are all a bunch of wimps. LC"
Please post me to rec.games.pbm!!! Maybe I can earn a degree with honours!!!
What do you breed to get nazgul?
Raising gorgons requires winged horses and giant lizards.
Is there a market for gate crystals?
I think I prefered it when people who had nothing to say to earn their 25 gold wrote nasty rumors about newbies; all this "space left intentionally blank" is just boring.
A stroke of luck or a gift from God? The hand of fate or devil's claws? From below or saints above? You come to me now.
Life sucks when you make a typo on a very important order... Oh well...
The AOO is full of sin. They roam the land making din. We always try to make them die. That way, the'll never win.
Advice to New Arrivals
You will see a lot of advice to newbies in the Times, ranging from "hurl yourself on the foe, victory will soon be ours" to "all hope is lost, melt swiftly into the ground" (melting into the ground appears to be how the game responds to the QUIT command). I can't claim any special wisdom, but I've got a pretty clear idea about how the wind blows here in central Provinia, although your milage may vary.
You have only one real option, here in IC, and that is leaving. The question is, how. A boat is a good idea, but plan for a long voyage, since many have set forth before you. The unexplored world is getting smaller every turn. The Atnos Channel has many barriers in it, but you can make it out with about 15-30% damage if you just blunder through. If you go this route, take along the means to fix your boat. Don't forget, every man you take will cost maintenance until they vanish. Keep the crew small and travel fast. Your gold runs out very soon.
By land you can travel three ways. North lies Marat, who enjoys a poor reputation in these pages. To the east is the Sheriff, who is said to be honest, by himself and others, but REQUIRES that you gain his consent before traveling in his lands. I'd believe it, were I you. To the west is Duke Hobbes, who is tolerant of newbies, but I doubt that he will be happy if you enter his lands with a large military force. This brings us to the matter of followers.
The general reaction of new players in Olympia is to begin building a military force. I strongly advise against gathering up large numbers of troops, because they are expensive, and likely to bring some power, possibly the AOO, down on you like a 16 ton weight. All of central Provinia is garrisoned, and large stacks of troops await bold heros. There are very few monsters about, since these can be captured and used for combat by people with the proper Beastmastery skills. The hidden locations are explored, and the choice trade routes largely in use. Pillaging, see large numbers of troops, above. You will find any troops you have to be a constant drain on your funds, but a few are not bad to have, and will protect you from other newbies. You can walk about quite defenseless, and be as safe, if not safer than the noble with 50 swordsmen, who is almost certain to be attacked. Keep your troops down to about ten or less per stack, and pay attention to land claims, it could save you some grief.
When walking about, avoid keeping all your nobles in one stack, with followers in some multiple of five under each noble. This fairly screams "fresh meat". Break your nobles into ones and twos, give the stack leader the pikemen, ect. and the second stacker the bowmen, and feel free to sell your peasants in the market if you don't have a use for them. More can be aquired in any province, local powers willing.
Keep in mind that you are going to need money soon, the unclaimed gold will run out pretty fast. Forestry is a good skill, mining useful if you have a place to mine and a place to sell, shipcraft is useful if you are going somewhere, magic overrated, combat a waste of time when you've got pikemen and they've got dragons, beastmastery better in the long term, construction good when you settle down, stealth amusing but useful only to thieves and fools. You can make pin money cutting wood and such, but without a steady buyer, you're going to find it a pain. My advice is to spawn a few nobles, make a few soldiers, get a few workers, maybe an ox, hike out to the west coast, build a couple of ships and hit the sea. There are also existing alliances that would love to have you join them, that is up to you. Either way, this isn't a video game, the easy monsters don't come first and the tough ones later. The toughest monsters in the world are right here, and you're not ready for them. March or die.
Rumors are clearly worthless! Otherwise, why would they be called rumors?
Does anyone claim the province ce24 as their own? If so, an interested party wishes to apply for a visa.
This space intentionally left blank.
Sally Gone round and round! Heading home at last. When do we sail?
We claim the area urfd to we8u and want everyone that plans on entering our claim to tell us before hand - after all we are civilized out here and think diner should be announced.
>So why _doesn't_ the AOO give its stats?
Dear child, the AOO is an alliance, which is composed of factions. Only factions have stats. Generally speaking, alliances are held togather by gentlemen's agreements, which leads one to wonder what holds the AOO togather.
The Helpful Stranger
The landscape is desolate. Monsters are scarce, and seem to be found only by Exploration. Exploration is a chancy thing, however, since there seems no way to tell if the area has already been explored until you find a hidden location that has been cleared.
I cannot read the fiery letters, said Frodo in a quavering voice.
No, said Gandalf, but I can. The letters are Elvish, of course, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here. They are lines of a verse long known in Elven-lore:
This Ring, no other, is made by the elves, Who'd pawn their own mother to grab it themselves. Ruler of creeper, mortal, and scallop, This is a sleeper that packs quite a wallop. The Power almighty rests in this Lone Ring. The Power, alrighty, for doing your Own Thing. If broken or busted, it cannot be remade. If found, send to Sorhed (with postage prepaid).
--National Lampoon [Bored of the Rings]
Of all the fishes in the sea the mermaid is the one for me.....come to me oh mermaid....
//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\ \\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\// //\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\ \\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\// //\\ //\\ \\// Beneath the oak tree of Gienne, struck by lightning, \\// //\\ the treasure is hidden not far from there. //\\ \\// That which for many centuries had been gathered, \\// //\\ when found, a man will die, his eye pierced by a spring.//\\ \\//\\ \\// //\\// Petelinus will fear the barbarian fleet for a time, //\\ \\// then much later the Western fleet. \\// //\\ Cattle, people, possessions, all will be quite lost. //\\ \\// What a deadly combat in Newleaf and Gentlewind. \\// //\\ //\\ \\// When the fish that travels over both land and sea \\// //\\ is cast up on to the shore by a great wave, //\\ \\// its shape foreign, smooth and frightful. \\// //\\ From the sea the enemies soon reach the walls. //\\ \\//\\ \\// //\\// Because of the storm at sea the foreign ship //\\ \\// will approach an unknown port. \\// //\\ Notwithstanding the signs of the palm branches, //\\ \\// afterwards there is death and pillage. \\// //\\ Good advice comes too late. //\\ \\// \\// //\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\ \\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\// //\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\ \\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//