Atlantis 3.0: Times 27 From: Geoff Dunbar <gdunbar@prankster.com> Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 00:00:00 +0000 Subject: Atlantis 3.0: Times 27 Atlantis 3.0 Times March, 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Email admin30@prankster.com with game issues. Visit http://www.prankster.com (or email atlantis@prankster.com) for information or to join. I'm planning to run the turn on December 22nd, and skip the turn on December 29th. However, I'll be doing this remotely, so in the unlikely event that some sort of problem occurs, it is possible that I might have to push this back. I'll do my best to keep everyone informed. If you wish to keep playing, please be sure to explicitly let me know, even if you paid with a Visa card before. If you are sending a check (no need to email in this case), the address is: Merry Prankster Games 15600 NE 8th St Suite B1 #351 Bellevue WA 98008-3900 USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Whoops! Missed me! Too slow! :p~ Is that why you're called the Dark Legion, always in the dark? Open your eyes and smell the coffee. You've lost and you don't even know it yet. Napoleon learned it two hundred years ago in Russia. You can't advance against an army willing to scorch the earth behind it. The further you advance, the more of your army starves. We don't even need to face you in the field, you'll starve to death before you even reach our armies. How hard can it be to mercifully release some poor Dark Legion grunt from his pathetic, starving existence. Poor babies, come all this way only to expire of hunger on our doorsteps. Welcome to OUR desert. We hope you like the barbecue sauce we've cooked up for your legions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *****THE BROTHERHOOD OF TWEE RESPONDS AGAIN***** > Golden Empire (189): > > > On behalf of the AIF, I would like to deeply and sincerely > apologise to the SEP, and in particular the BOT, for > any Times postings which might have in any way presented them > in a bad light, as warmongering thugs or as untrustworthy bandits. > > We can't think how anyone would come to such a conclusion. > > In addition, we acknowledge that it is in fact fair play for 10 or > more players who work together to form an alliance committed to the > destruction of all new factions which select Durness as their starting > point. More fun than this we cannot imagine - it's what makes Atlantis > great. > > As I'm sure you (of SEP) all know, there is nothing like the > sweet taste of victory as you slaughter the only 10 troops owned by a > startup faction, and justly reap the massive 300 or so silver pieces > that group had accumulated during its first turn taxing. Ahhhhh yes ! > > How anyone would think that the formation of pre-arranged alliance of > 10 fiends ... err ... friends vs all the single new factions of Durness > is unfair is beyond us. > > Lord K. > Supreme Ruler > Golden Empire As the great prophet P'ri C'mo said, "Weep not for me, for I am weak and will surely perish in the great chaos that is life. But the Brotherhood I have helped forge shall live for eternity." And thus have you learnt the two great lessons of the Universe. Life isn't fair. The Brotherhood of Twee is. Ric High Ambassador For The Brotherhood Of Twee ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It happens to some of us... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Aether. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Legs flailed in air and sharp claws encircled the advisor's throat as Farelf lifted him from the ground... "Our neighbor in plains before us?" he raged "How can this be?" "Mercy, Oh Great Khan" pleaded the Elf "it was Fate." "Fate? Mercy??" cursed the Khan "Bah..." As Farelf tightened his grip an all too familiar mind invaded his own.. "Put the nice elf down, brother.." ordered the voice. "But it's mine, Sis" wheedled Farelf "can't I please just cripple one more?" "Down.." ordered a will stronger than his own. Farelf hesitated a moment, but remembering lost childhood battles thought better of it and the terrified advisor scurried away. "Now say Uncle" commanded the voice "Never!" defied Farelf. "I said, say Uncle" repeated the voice, mentally twisting his arm behind his back. "Uncle..Uncle..." bleated the Great Khan. "And no more of this Evil Khan thing..." said the voice "...there's been complaints to the Ombudsman." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Will I be around next turn? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ armorer [ARMO] 3: A unit with this skill may PRODUCE plate armor from 3 units of iron. Plate armor provides a 2/3 chance of surviving a successful attack in battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Does anyone have GATE 5? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There was a spy loose in Burgundy - the Emperor had told Dwight himself. He said, "Dwight, you are a loyal subject, yes?" in that soft voice. "Yes, of course your Imperial Majesty," answered Dwight. "You would do your best to protect the Empire, and its interests?" "Yes, your Imperial Majesty." "If your best would cause your death, you would hold true to these feelings?" "Ah ... yes, your Imperial Majesty." The Emperor laughed, "Relax Dwight, my friend, I will not be asking you to give your life up today. I will instead ask you to give up life on your little boat for a while." Little boat indeed, thought Dwight. The Longshank was the only boat the Emperor had, let alone the Brethren. He should be thankful that he had ... The Emperor continued, "...is a spy loose in Burgundy, Dwight, and you know we are all busy for the invasion of the town next door. There's no one else Dwight, so I'm giving the task of finding him to you - ask him to leave pleasantly first ... " ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes, Lugh Lamfada, Arthur Pendragon and Luke Skywalker were all brought up in exile in ignorance of their parentage. Their lives were all guided by a mentor:- Manannan McLir, Merlin and Obi Wan Kenobi respectively. At the turning points of their lives (and upon discovery of their identity) they received a sword&spear/sword/lightsaber of great power and signifigance. They inspired their peoples to victory over past conquerors/enemies, or would be (and eventual) conquerors (in the case of Arthur). They fought and won against their evil nemesis, in Lugh's case his grandfather Balor of the Evil Eye (a dark giant with an eye of destructive power), in Luke's case his father Darth Vader, in Arthur's case the situation is reversed, and he is killed by his son (and nephew) Mordred. SkyWalker is closer to the Q Celt* tradition of Lugh than the P Celt* tradition of Arthur, and in fact the Death Star directly corresponds to Balor's Eye [and of course Balor killed Lugh's father, while Luke is informed Vader 'killed' his, whilst Lugh finds out from Balor of their relation during confrontation, in a similar manner to Luke and Vader]. Other connections include the Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny, proclaiming the high kingship of the tribes of Danu (The Goddess) in the story of Lugh corresponding to The Stone in which was set The Sword of Britain (Excalibur), the drawing of which proclaims Arthur to be the High King; and of course The Cauldron of Plenty, with which the tribes of Danu are nourished to strength to face the Fomor led by Balor corresponding to The Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. The Fisher King (again an older tradition attatched to the Arthur story) corresponds to the old king, Nuada, of the DeDaanan(tribes of Danu) who is revitalised (from drunken depression and dotage) by Lugh (here more Galahad than Arthur). Yet another link (they keep coming to me) is Nuada's silver hand, replacing one he lost in the conquest of Ireland, corresponding of course to the one Luke lost to Vader being replaced by a mechanical one (and we won't even mention The Red Hand of Ulster). I could go on..... (and on :) Who was it who said there were only seven real stories, and all the rest were variants on them? Myrddin Emrys of The Old Ones(252), currently hanging out in Azthar's spleen museum. * Ok, I got my P's and Q's mixed up last week, The Goidelic Celts (Irish, Scots and Manx) are the Q Celts and the Brythonic Celts (Welsh, Cornish, Breton) are the P Celts. As a matter of interest, the word Celt derives from the Greek "Keltoi" meaning essentially a barbarian (and since there is no soft c in Greek, Celt should be pronounced Kelt not Selt (the Boston Celtics and Glasgow Celtic owe their pronounciation to The British Empire's descision to change the pronounciation of 'British' Latin (including a soft c) in one of its ego trips). The Romans called the Celts the Galli, from which such terms as Gaul, Gael etc, are derived. (The Gauls sacked Rome in 400 BC, but were eventually conquered by Julius Ceaser). The Celtic 'mother tonque' from which all Celtic languages are derived, is in fact the closest Indo-European relation to Italic, the precursor of Latin. The Celts (arriving in Britain around 1200 BC, and in Ireland, possibly 1000 years earlier) were the predominant people in Europe, until Roman conquest, and were mostly pushed into oblivion (apart from the British Isles, where the Anglo-Saxons pushed them to the extremities such as Scotland, Cornwall and Wales [Ireland, until British Conquest, was the last bastion of the true Celtic culture, with its fierce independance(!!) etc. The British Celts on the other hand were Romanised to a large extent]) by the inrush of Germanic peoples into Europe in the first millenia AD (which also of course put paid to the Roman Empire). The Celts (despite the barbarian nomenclature) had a far more highly developed and sophiticated culture to that of the Gemanic peoples, and valued the Bard, poet and crafstman as highly as the warrior. A highly developed system of laws (in which women were equal in status to men) revealed the Celts to be far more sophisticated people than the Romans (and thus history) gave them credit for. The Roman and then Germanic conquest of Europe put paid to women's rights for millenia, for instance :) - ------------------------------------------- Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon the little dog laughed to see such fun and the dish ran away with the spoon Police have issued identikit pictures of the cat and the cow, and a dish is being held for questioning. Police are appealing for any little dogs in the area, who may have seen something to come forward to give evidence.... ---------------------------------------- Now for the sports news, we go straight over to our man at the Games..... -He's psyching himself up for the jump now..... Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack JUMP over that candlestick..... -Oh dear...... Jack was nimble, Jack was quick, but from now on, Jill will prefer a candlestick....... [A break from serious(!??!) writing from someone who has nothing whatsoever to do with The Old Ones(252)] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Perhaps, perhaps... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ So da orky boyz is fixin' a WAAAGH! I figger every 'alf wit nob on da rock is gonna be fixin' ta raid fer teeth an' spittledung. Ya unnerstanz dat ther kin be only one Warboss. Soz as the orky vibes git 'eavy and the weirdboyziz 'eadz start to pop, alla the boyz git inna 'UGE mob and brawl til alla da nobz figger who is da meanest git and he's da Boss. Den alla 'umeez an da stunteez an da panzeez better run cuz when alla da orky boyz decide ta stop bashin' each other fer teeth, there's no stoppin' da Mega WAAAGH! My boyz gotta sekret wepon, we call him Wurrbark Dreggslag. You 'umies need ta git a Orky runebook ta know wot dat meanz. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- I don't understand it, Mr. Christian. The sails are up, the wind is blowing, yet here this fine vessel sits, unmoving. -- Well, if you'd get the SAIL syntax right for once, we would move, you blithering incompetent. -- What did you say? -- <Cough> Nothing Sir. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dragonriders! There are Dragonriders in the awwcckkk!!!!........... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Happy Holidays .. (I figured I'd beat the rush) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Commander looked over the men of his young inner circle and marveled at the progress they seemed to be making. Just a single month ago he had first gathered the group together. The past month had been busy indeed. As he recalled that first meeting in his small apartment room he looked over that same group sitting in front of him now. The two asassins and one scout of the bunch had managed to perfect some rudimentary skills in the art of deception. Now they could scout about the city without fear of being discovered. They could keep track of the various powers here in the city. The general had finaly managed to finish several basic strategy texts, and could be depended on to lead men into battle with some chance of success and survival. The mage still could not perform any magical acts, but had finaly learned to channel some small amount of mana into a magical flow. Soon, he would learn to direct these flows into more useful designs. Yes, the group was beginning to take shape. But there was still much to do. Soon his scout would begin to train in the observational skills, hopefully venturing into the sorrounding countryside to gain in that much needed skill. His asassins would learn their trade one way or another, perhaps by killing some poor wretches in the alleys. One way or another, they would learn. His general would need to learn some basic self defense skills in order to protect himself from harm on the battlefield and within the city. Lastly, he would begin to train his apprentice mage in the arts of true magic. The coming months would be busy indeed. And, of course, he could not forget himself. Reaching for his tome of magic, he dismissed his group with a simple hand gesture. As they left the tiny dwelling he set about reading the tome, determined to gain it's full understanding by the end of the next month. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Black Hawk Society ------------------------------------------------------------------------ vous commencez a m'echauffer les oreilles messieurs les 70's !!!!!! SNESS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello happy AT3 players ! In the next times you will discover the way of becoming rich without pain. Be patient ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ et alors : Alina c'etait bien hier ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now I think we will soon find wars. When some people have say HORS-5 and find out that their neighbor has pegasi, but doesn't know that, and the same neighbor has COMB-5 instead, and finds out he's been fooled... Of cause, I have HORS-5, COMB-5 and TACT-5 The last two have "no skill report" :-) Moi, Me, Io ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Winter has finally broken! The grey skys have parted, and the biting winds have slackened. Regiments of men are being recruited and trained for combat. We shall take the town. And, my new adept seems diabolically interested in the necromantic arts. Yes, we shall take the town. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The trap has been carefully laid. All that remains is for our foolish enemies to stumble across it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Sire, the winter is over" "YIPIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Right then lads. Lets show these city gaurds how we do things downtown!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Redswift Scouting and Trading Company is now Greystar's Royal Troops. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ All this talk of advanced trade items and I don't even have any villages let alone a city! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Efficient Empire (119): Trade Anyone? I control some territory near the region bounded by 170<x<190, 65<y<85. I am starting ship construction and am = interested in trading with nearby cities. I can also supply = large amounts of herbs and small quantities of any other = item for the right price. Is anyone nearby interested? Wanted: 14 caviar [CAVI] at $159. 2 silk [SILK] at $147. 7 figurines [FIGU] at $131. For Sale: 15 wine [WINE] at $87 8 perfume[PERF] at $89 12 silk [SILK] at $73 mink [MINK] at $87 cotton [COTT] at $77, 2 wool[WOOL] at $89, = 7 roses [ROSE] at $85 5 cashmere [CASH] at $73 7 cotton [COTT] at $66 Bill , Efficient Empire (WLarson730@aol.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I recently found an artifact, and it came with an owners manual..... "Thou SHALT pulleth the pin from the holy hand-grenade, and thou SHALT counteth to three. Three shall be the number of the counting, and the number of the counting shall be three. Neither SHALT thou stoppeth at two, nor SHALT thou proceedeth on to four..but three and three only SHALT thou counteth. Then SHALT thou chucketh the holy handgrenade at thy foe, who, being naughty in my eyes, shall snuff it." (Monty Python) Now let's see how well it works..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Never heard about the Camelot? I've a casttle in Camelot, And the knights of the round table, Should come and visit me. Oh, Pleaase, cmon... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Maw, We sent out from Stackforth. Ain't seen nothin' intrestin' yet. Paw ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The west shall be ours! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > When a faction is reduced to a handful of grunts, and has no > > unclaimed silver left, that faction should issue the restart > > command. That's what the restart command is for! THIS IS NOT > > CHEATING! > > > > If you have such a problem with factions that are restarting, > > don't attack them! > > I don't have a problem with these losers. > > AS LONG AS THEY STAY AWAY FROM MY LAND!!! You have no land, chump. You have only what I have decided to give you. Beware, little boy, lest you anger me further. And stay out of your daddy's liquor cabinet. General Tigh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chronicles of The Tribe Halkirk is starting to get crowded. What can we do to keep growing if we are limited in our expansion capability? Gate jump? Sail? Those are the two ideas that come to mind as the continent seems pretty much mapped out - and pretty much occupied already. Are there any boats for sale in Halkirk? Please contact The Tribe if you have one. Paulo, Parrot-man of The Tribe (123) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Why can't we all just get along? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The winds of war are growing stronger ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ants! Ants everywhere! One bit me. Now I have the hives. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Behold a pale horse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACME Spleenmongers (117): Announcements from the Grand Assembly of Learned Elders and the office of the Grand Elder: TRWitis strikes again, we are back to 54. http://www.wolfe.net/~azthar/GALE/members.htm will tell you who we are. New factions interested coming to Helsicke and joining GALE are encouraged to contact any GALE member or the GALE Grand Elder at azthar@wolfenet.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hey! We got a whole mess of "Dragon guard" spleens the grill today, come on in and help yourself! It's time for: Azthar's Smoking Wing. So, I had 54 allies for about 24 hours. That hardly counts. I know I'm not a good riddler, I hate riddles. I hate locks too. Let's just say I've been preoccupied the last couple weeks. The damnest thing is that I'm sure I've heard that one before too. Noooooo! Not the Key! Keep it away! hSSSSSS! For all I know ol' Peter Brown brought some Celtic genes over for me! Ocelot spleens? Hmm. Sounds yummy. My dear Pendragonette, I am pleased and not suprised to see that you have tackled the paradox of what I call "perceptual relativism" and the observer's role in the creation of subjective interpretations of reality. A good friend of mine is a devout physicist who insists Einstein was wrong, AND doesn't accept Quantum Mechanics. He and I have many long discussions on the nature of perception and observation. It's right brain/left brain arguement. Guess who's in their "right" mind for a change? ;) Quantum Mechanics is really a misleading name and that is definitely not a subject for the Times. It will have to be the next installment in "Azthar's Semantic Insurrection." Of course I'm bonkers, why else would I drop my pants in the Times and practice ritualized public self-mutilation to ensure good harvests and maintain stabilty in the empire? There's a prophesy for you, the return of the Inca. I'm suprised I hadn't thought of it before... I've been saving this one for a special occasion: Spell of Anti-Magic [SPAM]: This shield spell protects against all magical attack spells with effectiveness reduced by one level. The use of the spell in combat will also cause all further spells cast in the hex that turn to have their effectiveness reduced by one level. To use this spell in combat the mage should issue the order: COMBAT SPAM Just say no to SPAM! GIMME THE SPLEEN! You can prevent splenetic verbicide! Just give me your signed vote for the "Best Use of the Word Spleen Award" and I promise to keep all my times posts to less than 2k and I will abstain from the use of the word spleen and its derivatives. Hell! (sicky) I'll even change my faction name. Or maybe you all actually like spleens? Considering the lack of votes, I have to assume so. Which is cool cuz I like spleens too. :) I like them very much. I like them so much, I'm going out looking for them. Hey, unless I get kidnapped by aliens, chances are I'll see you next time! As always, thanks for joining. You know where to find me! VISA/MC/AMEX cheerfully accepted, cash preferred. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ War is approaching. Can we outrun it? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ His hope for reinforcements arriving dwindled to nothing, as the hordes overran the city. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To all factions stumbling around in 'no-mans-land': Reveal faction! Otherwise you may end up dead... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please help someone... What are the stats of underground city and town guards please? Rumour has it that they are tough!(er) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The leader in the bubble didn't know whether to be amused or infuriated. Finally, he decided on amusement. He winked and smiled across the table at the comely technician who'd been occupying his free time lately, and said, "It's been years since I've been maligned in the Times. I didn't realize how much I missed it. Look at this: called me a 'barmy ghoul,' and says I sleep with a dead woman. You aren't dead, are you? If you are, you put on an awfully good act of being very, very alive." Then, more softly and more seriously, he whispered, almost to himself, "But this implication of the dark arts - that's something to think about. We've nothing but basic old-fashioned magitech up here, but maybe there's something more going on down on the surface. Tell me, Jeanine, which of the other technicians is most talented in magic? Maybe we've focused too much on the physical aspects of settling this new world, and maybe we've neglected something important." Of course, the leader didn't say anything of his own experiences with returning from the dead, nor anything of the hidden vault where his former beloved still resided in a cryogenic sleep. In polite society, one doesn't discuss past lovers with the current one, and if the leader is anything, he certainly is polite. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last night, I hear, they at Northampton lay; And at Stony-Startford will they be tonight: To-morrow or next day they will be here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Atlantical Geographic Society Wildlife Report The life of a Bog Thing. The marshes of Grisbygd are teeming with life. It is a complex ecosystem that enables this habitat to fluorish with thousands of species, most of which are not catalogued. It is early January and the monsoon rains are at their peak. The marshes are inundated with water. What is, for most of the year, a scattering of hundreds of small ponds, becomes an interconnected network of large but shallow pools. We have chosen a typical network of monsoon pools to follow the life of a rare creature, the Bog Thing. The life of a bog thing (or Bogus thingeri) has no real begining. The immature bog thing merely buds off from its mother. Bog buds are typically 1-5 cm diameter globular plasms. At this stage they will typically affix themselves to the roots of marsh plants during the monsoons when the normally exposed portions of the roots are covered with flood waters. Its diet consists primarily of microorganisms which fluorish in the nutrient- rich flood waters. It is also supplemented with occasional snacks of insects that happen to become stuck to the external slime layer of the bog thing which is rich in stick carbohydrate residues as well as numerous digestive enzymes. During the early stages of it's life, the bog thing rapidly grows and may double in size every other day. More importantly, it also ingests an uncommon species of cyanobacterium (Jermansus bogii) which later plays a role in its survival and growth during the drier months. During this early stage, the immature bog thing is a favorite meal of the diving bat. It is also harvested by various clans of tribesmen who consider it a delicacy. After the monsoon rains subside, the waters recede and the roots of many marsh plants become partially exposed. The immature bog thing begins to spread, indeed appearing vinelike. Several appendages appear which bear the chloroplasts of the ingested cyano- bacterium and thus appear leaf-like. These appendages not only provide the bog thing with photosynthetic energy, but also play a key role in attracting more nutritious meals. Quite often small herbivorous waterfowl or mammals will mistakenly chew on the leaf-like appendages of the bog thing only to become stuck to it. Such victims are engulfed and digested by the immature bog thing and are necessary for the bog thing to mature. Immature vine-stage bog things are themselves potential prey to certain species of lungfish which will climb out of the water just to obtain meals of bog thing appendages. Lizardmen will also seek out vine-stage bog things to supplement their diet. It has been hypothesized that lizard men require vine-stage bog things to develop their highly energy-resistant skins. When a mass of approximately 70 kg is attained, the bog thing can no longer support itself in the air. The bog thing becomes, once again, amorphous and a creature of the water. Small "mouths" form on its skin. The skin itself becomes a patchwork of hardened plates formed from chitin, cellulose, and carbonaceous materials derived from the shells and bone of its victims. The crude circulatory system becomes more differentiated. The "mouths" now become the main instrument of the bog thing. Chemosensors surround the inner lining allowing the bog thing to smell and hunt its prey. Specialized glands also line the mouths which produce high concentrations of digestive enzymes. The mouths are directly connected to the circulation system. When necessary these vessels can harden into stalks that can help mobility or help attack prey. Mature bog things generally hunt successively larger prey, but are not choosy. They will eat almost anything. They are also masters of camouflage. In their native environment, they will appear as part of the scum that is usually found in marsh ponds. Occasionally, they will wander out of marsh areas. In these areas, they may appear as turbid puddles or ponds or even piles of decaying matter. Mature bog things frequently bud immature bog things particularly when they have had a large meal. Luckily, only one in a thousand buds will reach maturity. Most buds succumb to dehydration or predation. Because of their scarcity, we encourage people to tag bog things to facilitate our ongoing studies of their migratory and social patterns. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Seekers (40): Opening narrations to Babylon 5 because it such a cool show. Monologue from Season One spoken by Jeffrey Sinclair It was the dawn of the third age of mankind -- ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream, given form. Its goal: to prevent another war, by creating a place where humans and aliens can work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call -- home away from home -- for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens, wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal . . . all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5. Monologue from Season Two spoken by John Sheridan The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. A self-contained world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space . . . all alone in the night. It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind -- the year the Great War came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5. Monologue from Season Three spoken by Susan Ivanova The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But in the year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope -- for victory. The year is 2260. The place: Babylon 5. Monologue from Season Four spoken by just about everybody Lennier: It was the year of fire, Zack Allen: the year of destruction, G'Kar: the year we took back what was ours. Lyta Alexander: It was the year of rebirth, Vir Cotto: the year of great sadness, Marcus Cole: the year of pain, Delenn: and the year of joy. Londo Mollari: It was a new age. Stephen Franklin: It was the end of history. Susan Ivanova: It was the year everything changed. Michael Garibaldi: The year is 2261. John Sheridan: The place: Babylon 5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There's nothing like a dragon and a roc in the mountains to slow the expansion of your empire. Oh well, they will not be bothering me again, and the feathers and scales look quite nice on my castle walls. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A hunting we will go! A hunting we will go!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This glow stone I found in the caverns should come in very handy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ nameless, prepare to die... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ When will my team be at it's best? Well, around July Year 3. See you then. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The town is ours! Muahahaha! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The miners have done it! Steel blades at last! The front lines of wars will never be the same... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The jungle beats no more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shove your spleens! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The dwarf strolled into the Orc Village singing off key. All the Orcs stopped what they were doing as the stranger walked toward the town square. It was not everyday that a dwarf just walked in. Mostly, their dead bodies were dragged into the town, for the victorious Orc raiders to display. But today, the dwarf just walked. What would the stranger do next? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Happy Christmas to Merry Prankster and to all Atlantis Factions. See you all in the new year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ lumberjack [LUMB] 3: A unit with this skill may use the PRODUCE order to produce ironwood in designated regions (Note that Lumberjack skill of 3 is required to even determine that ironwood may be produced). Ironwood is the strongest wood known to Atlantis, and may be used by high level Shipbuilders to build armored ships. One unit of ironwood weighs 10 weight units. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the first time that I have written some thing like this. I really need the 50 silver this turn. I hope that I don't upset too many people with this. But then again perhaps I will spend a bit of time to get this out. Faction number 7 perhaps you would kindly move back from wence you came. I am friendly and have no desire to have it out with you. I can, however, defend myself. This is all probably moot by the time that you read this. You probably advanced last turn and were surprised to not find yourself in combat in turn 26. Well don't count on not being in combat in turn 28. I have sat here out of everyone's way for quite some time. I wish that you would respond to my emails. Please don't let our first contact be on the wrong foot. Regards MMB ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Shadow Circle (6): >From the Office of the GALE Grand Marshall: For the love of Geoff man!!! Please donate either silver or stone to the CDD Headquarters project. Even 10 silver will go a long way, so please give what you can to the Shadow Builders (14096). The Grand Marshall thanks you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unclaimed silver: 500. Hail ACME! Long live the BOHA! Azthar can keep my spleen as long as I keep gettin' the 50! [quack! quack!] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'll have the orcs orcs orcs orcs orcs orcs baked beans orcs orcs and orcs. Can I have that without the baked beans, then? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Glorious Organization of Divineship, Monthly News ------------------------------------------------- GOD is a peaceful alliance located around Jotel. The members are Roses On White Lace (91) & Elves of Essedail (93) BATTLE IN SINES! People ran for cover last month, as GOD mages launched fireballs at the Village Guards. Before the smoke raising from the corpses had vanished, a small but highly skilled group of men attacked the remaining guards. Some of them escaped but was caught up by the main GOD lynch army. Spectators confirmed: 'an easy victory!' THEFT IN ABRENTON? As the mean GOD warriors, led by Lord Smygelfh, took care of the blood-thirsty imps who broke free from The High King a couple of months ago, they looted a couple of longbows and crossbows. Lord Smygelfh encouraged the GOD people to come forward if they had lost anything lately. @@@ WE WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR @@@ WWW: Afraid of the unknown? Don't be, Check out GOD HQ at http://www.student.tdb.uu.se/~m96thd/GOD *Contains THE BEST MONSTERGUIDE in Atlantis* --------------------------------------------------------------------- GOD can be reached at m96thd@student.tdb.uu.se <except 961218-970105> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dunster: Life in the burbs was rather mundane despite the beautiful weather this month. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Fellowship of Starfox claims the following cities: Banlar (city) Benlech (village) Kovel (city) Eskerfan (town) This document proves the authentity of the claim. The Fellowship is now officially controlling the cities mentioned above! All rights reserved. Lord Starfox, Grandmaster of the Fellowship of Starfox ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome, brother! Grab hold of that line, and we'll set sail immediately. (Or at least as soon as your captain can tear himself away from Master of Orion II. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The end is near. Only ruins in ashes. Battles everywhere. ...and the mages are useless! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dragor rested wearily against one of the few trees he could see. He smiled to himself. Using the gate took a lot of effort, but it was well worth it. Looking around all he saw were plains. From here, he would quickly conquer the savages roaming these lands and turn them into an army. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Merry Christmas to all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dunster News Report: Today we intercepted more of the War Criminals trying to flee from Dunster via Longboat. They will be dealt with accordingly. The State of Martial Law is still in effect outside of Dunster. Again you are advised to not leave the city by any means other than the Gate Spell. Failure to do so will result in the forfeiture of you units. Grayson, The Dark Legion (7) kgrindst@inlink.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here we go again, Same old s*%& again, Marching down the avenue, One more turn and we'll be through. I hope so They just keep running. Will they ever stop fleeing from their Doom? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Money short, going out to find my fortune. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Glass Chompers (65): I would like to thank our neighbors for their cooperation and acknowledgement of the Bordeaux Brethren homeland. Looking forward to working with you all in the future. Although I have been able to update some areas on my page, the holiday season is proving busy for me (shopping all day today, have a party to go to tomorrow, so this weekend had just enough free time to do my turn) so the going has been slow. Note that I haven't updated the main page so you'll need to go to the individual pages to see if they have been updated. (when I get caught up then I will change the main page). http://www.kraby.pair.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Out of the West comes a storm. Not a GALE, but the death to a GALE. And from within the GALE, the winds are falling apart. The factions are plotting to eliminate their leader. Be careful Grand PooPah, do not turn your back on too many people. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just curious but is there a nonsmoking area to Azthar's Smoking Wing? It's tough enough to survive against bog things and dragons much less worry about second hand smoke... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This turn marks the first time where my Atl3 orders have grown larger than my Atl2 orders. Interestingly enough, this turn is also when I should be studying for final examinations, and not Atl3. Oh well, the price of the age we live in. New and faster ways to do work, new and better ways to procrastinate. 15 turns until the end of Atl2. There's really nothing left for me to accomplish that I can do in 15 turns. I could study up one magic foundation, maybe two if taught, but "armegeddon" magic is beyond my reach. I'll probably be quitting out of Atl2 very soon. More time and energy to spend focusing on Atl3. More time to grow and prosper. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATELY SCAN YOUR COMPUTER FOR THE FOLLOWING VIRUSES: --------------------------------------------------------- PAT BUCHANAN VIRUS: Your system works fine, but it complains loudly about foreign software. COLIN POWELL VIRUS: Makes its presence known, but doesn't do anything. Secretly, you wish it would. HILARY CLINTON VIRUS: Files disappear, only to reappear mysteriously a year later, in another directory. O.J. SIMPSON VIRUS: You know it's guilty of trashing your system, but you just can't prove it. BOB DOLE VIRUS: Could be virulent, but it's been around too long to be much of a threat. STEVE FORBES VIRUS: All files are reported as the same size. PAUL REVERE VIRUS: This revolutionary virus does not horse around. It warns you of an impending hard disk attack: Once if by LAN; twice if by C. POLITICALLY CORRECT VIRUS: Never identifies itself as a "virus", but instead refers to itself as an "electronic micro-organism". ROSS PEROT VIRUS: Activates every component in your system, just before the whole thing quits. TED TURNER VIRUS: Colorizes your monochrome monitor. DAN QUAYLE VIRUS #2: Their is sumthing rong with your komputer, but ewe cant figyour outt watt! GOVERNMENT ECONOMIST VIRUS: Nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine. NEW WORLD ORDER VIRUS: Probably harmless, but it makes a lot of people really mad just thinking about it. GALLUP VIRUS: Sixty percent of the PCs infected will lose 30 percent of their data 14 percent of the time (plus or minus a 3.5 percent margin of error). TEXAS VIRUS: Makes sure that it's bigger than any other file. ADAM AND EVE VIRUS: Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple. CONGRESSIONAL VIRUS: The computer locks up, and the screen splits in half with the same message appearing on each side of the screen. The message says that the blame for the gridlock is caused by the other side. AIRLINE VIRUS: You're in Dallas, but your data is in Singapore. FREUDIAN VIRUS: Your computer becomes obsessed with marrying its own motherboard. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ mithril here I come ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Big Jim looked over the war map. It felt wierd, not being involved in the fighting except as an observer. Nevertheless, the old instincts returned. He smelled a trap, just like the last time. Hopefully, his allies would listen this time around... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the eye of madness, is the knowing of what has been and what is yet to come. Seek thee then the insane whos mind has been touched with this madness and learn the secerts to the future. Blood flows freely ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Accord Ltd. (191): "Three smiles that are worse than griefs: the smile of snow melting, the smile of your wife when another man has been with her, the smile of a mastiff about to spring. "Three times when speech is better than silence: when urging a king to battle, when reciting a well turned line of poetry, when giving due praise. "Three scarcities that are better than abundance: a scarcity of fancy talk, a scarcity of cows in a small pasture, a scarcity of friends around the beer." -- the Triads (c. 9th Century) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As the general ordered the attack on the small village, he suddenly wondered if the neighboring town would send reinforcements to help the defenders. That would make a big difference. Oh well. "Charge!!!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In darker times this used to be some sacramonial place. Now some medium sized animal had made it its den. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The news is good sire, the ship full of our allies has left the city and may be able to pass through the blockade without to many casualties. They should be here by the next month. Barring any unforeseen trouble there will be no trouble with this as the enemy appears to still be some distance away. May I ask sire, who you intend to send with them when they arrive and how much aid will be supplied for the expedition? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Golden Empire (189): Who'd have thouht it? A signed article posted for the cash alone. S'pose that's what comes of a lull in the war : bordom. War is Hell !?! Heck, so is peace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ tactics [TACT] 5: No skill report. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Could the owner of the Raider units in Porthcawl swamp and the owner of TreeCutter and Merlin's Guards in Corran swamp please contact me? I would like to cooperate if you're interested. We can trade training and map-info. I'm looking for a place to set up business that isn't already used or claimed. If you do not answer I'll assume you're unfriendly and take precautions. I only want peace and quite to develop my units and the land. Faction 224, The Loremasters ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm giddy with anticipation. It's not often you get to see fireworks in March. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blood and Spleens for my Lord Arioch. Especially Azthar's. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Diastrophism (83): Economies are made by trade. Taxation only redistributes wealth. However, in Atlantis, taxation is the dominant form of income. Currently trade is only being used for producing tools. A trade faction typically depends on a war faction for tax income. A trade faction should be able to get some income early in the game and the benefits of advanced trade should be significant. Self funded trade factions should be viable and fairly common. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anyone got Gate 4? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well so much for the armored galleon. I hear a nasty rumor that there's no ironwood in the swamp. I guess my ships will have to be made out of regular wood until I can find some forrest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LEGENDS of COBRA (118): gimme 50 silver ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My Allies, 't seems, have been perverted by de works of Grobill Babtou, da Corruption, everyting dat should not be... Dem lost all dem sense fi reality, praying fi tings dat cannot be to mek dem Powers in dis world... Forgive dem, Jajah, fi dem not know what dem doin'!!! No morality can go wid politics, what a shame 't is... But 't is not widout bitterness nor broken soul, dat I-man is going to tek dem decisions now...and I-man know no Redemption can follow. I-man know what I-man is doin'; how can you forgive, Jajah? Irie Kaya(73). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sim Nation (253): I claim everything I can find before sombody stops me! (he he he, it's nice being alone out here.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Clan McCloud (166): NOW ENROLLING! If you are a new faction joining Atlantis, and want to be magic 5, then Syndic8 wants you! Come study at the Rantlu Magic University. Syndic8, the predominant alliance of the Rantlu area, will provide a monthly stipend to cover your costs while you study at our University. Contact pep@frii.com for details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OK so its nearly Crimble in the real world but has anyone figured out a festival we can celebrate annually in Atlantis? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thou shalt not Embrace the Moon-Beasts, for these should be outcast and called Abomination. Neither should you taste of their blood, for they are forbidden, they bring Death to our door. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Another perspective on avians transiting throughfares, from Ludwig Wittgenstien. "The possibility of crossing was encoded into the objects chicken and road, and circumstances came into being which caused the actualization of this potential occurance." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Studying is thirsty work.... Gimme 50 silver for a free round at the bar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Garry Corpin is dead, Sarabian will carry on where he left us. Let the gods speed his jurney, as he searches for a place to form his empire to come. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let the Underground Wars begin a new saga in Atlantis! Those who venture to the dark side should bring plenty of bright blades to guide their way lest they fall prey to the dark hordes awaiting them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ War or peace? Now we'll know! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Priests of Muldoon (79): I hearby declare myself at war with the SEP for wanton attacks against my men and from now on consider any men I see belonging to the SEP fair targets for destruction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You're young and you got your health. What do you want with a job? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The mugwumps are coming to get you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BioPhreaks (172): Billowing smoke emitted from the darkened lair, as it had for the last four days. At night, brief plumes of flame had been observed by scouts brave enough to climb up rocky crags and to the mouth of the cave. The Dragon was awaking. The barbarian peasants locked their doors and bolted their windows at night. The simple folk did not hope that their wood and stone dwellings would not resist an assault from the great reptile, but rather, that the Dragon would not be attracted to the light of fire and candle. This was how it had always been in this reigon. Eleven months of glorious mining, building, and herding, then one month of arbitrary death. It could have been worse, some reckoned, but it was always made better by not sharing knowledge of the Dragon with strangers. Above the perfectly square hole that served as the BioPhreak quarry, the clone known as Stonegrinder stoked his campfire with dry twigs. "Yep, sure was nice for them barbarian folk to give us all this firewood. They tell me that this winter has been warm by their standards, but Geof-Darn I'm freezing my dingdang fingers off!" The dour troop of desert dwarf quarriers huddled closer to the flame, obviously unaccustomed to living away from their ocean of sun baked sand. Their stunted hands threw more kindling into the blaze, making the bonfire grow. Stonegrinder smiled, "Good idea, boys. Yeah, throw a couple more logs in there. I can't believe it's this cold. Do you think those big logs are going to catch? They're practically frozen through. Here, let me pour some of this stuff on there." The desert dwarves made room for Stonegrinder as he strode forward and upended a flask of lantern oil on the fire. Practically exploding with the libation, the logs sent flames up to thirty feet in the air. Everyone huddled around the huge conflagration, yet they still shivered as the night air blew through their thin clothing. After a few minutes, the dwarves were practically throwing themselves on the burning timber to stay warm. Their leader noticed their plight and devised another solution. "Okay quarriers, we're going to have to put oil on this fire all night to keep the blaze up. A couple of you dwarves come over here and help me lift this drum." The stout workers slowly pulled themselves away from the campfire and followed Stonegrinder to the provisions shed. After a minute, they carried out a large iron drum filled with oil and started trudging to the campsite. As the approached the campfire, their progress slowed to a crawl as the short legs of the dwarves began to lock up under the cold conditions. "Just a few more feet," encouraged Stonegrinder, "and we'll have all the heat we need." As they moved forward, Stonegrinder heard a terrifying reptilian roar above him. It was unlike anything he had ever heard. Quickly turning his head up to discover what had created that sound, he kicked a rock and fell sprawling. The frozen-legged desert dwarves immediately followed their leader's example and dropped under the weight of the oil drum. On his back, Stonegrinder saw the Dragon sihlouetted against the half moon, flying directly toward the quarry. He would have felt fear and perhaps attempted to rally his workers toward an open shaft or stone encosure, had not the oil drum rolled directly on top of the campfire. The explosion was terrific. The next day, barbarian scouts surveyed the area, finding charred skeletons and the remains of what must have been an incredible fire. They had seen this kind of foolishness before, and recorded the doomed quarriers as yet another casualty of The Dragon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Coutet opened his purse, how quickly the funds had dwindled since he began his study, & the little he received for his correspondence went a very small way toward furthering his education. #endtimes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm finding it difficult to sleep these days - good to know some things never change. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Up