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Sol Auk
Title: Legate
Status: Retired



One of the stonefolk originally from the Kulkund Tablet, Sol Auk was drawn to Ephia's Well through the tales that reached his people speaking of it as a place of great growth. Through deeply immersing himself in the culture and community of the Well, he rose to promimence as an entrepreneur renown for his Gilded Groknak and water selling enterprise, proceeding swiftly into other ventures with his sights set upon creating relations between Ephia's Well and the rest of the Great Ash Desert. Entering the realm of politics, Sol Auk managed the remarkable accomplishment of gaining a Voice through convincing others of his worth, and through their charity raising the required sum. Though courting each of the political leagues - Gold, Purple, & White - he would settle upon the former, finding a personal sponsor in the form of the late-Legate John Syter, rising up as a Senior Magistrate. Even before arising to the post of Magistrate, Sol Auk received invitation from the Princess Shaimela to an exlusive tour of her airship. Only to later receive invitation from the Crown Princess herself to attend discourse on matters stately and profound. Now, with all accolades in tow, serving as Legate of Ephia's Well, he lends his wisdom to the judicious works of the Well and offers his expertise to any who would seek accomplishment through labour, just as he has.


Royal Invitations
"As I now dwell in Residence above I look forward to speaking on more pleasantries soon, not tonight, but soon."  - Crown Princess Faziima to Sol Auk from atop the Overlook of the Palatial Pyramid.

"You're a man after my own Heart, Sol Auk! Goodness. I shall have to take you aboard my boat one of these days." - Princess Shaimela to Sol Auk at the Palette Games Tournament.



Full Disclosure Statement: No charity was received for Legate Sol Auk's entry into the Prominent Figure Record and this entry has been fully compiled and arranged by the Scribes of the Sublime Garden with the exception of the quotations and mention of the Princesses' invitations which were advised and provided by the Legate himself.

[- Scribe Theradur]

Dear Legate Sol Auk,

I spoke to you approximately a tenday prior to your the election regarding the Prominent Figure Record. It so happens that we have had a new development in administration and my labours of which I advised you can at last be realised. What this means is this:

I am ready to finalise your own entry into the record but if it is at all possible I should like to hold a final and assuredly brief interview with you in order to take into account your new status and to possibly adjust my final wording.

Should this be amenable, let us arrange a time, soon.

- Scribe Theradur
The Sublime Garden
Palatial Pyramid, Ephia's Well

// I saw your leaving & returning post. So if it's not something you're up for right now that's perfectly fine. Just let me know in an IC manner if possible.

[1st Edition]

The Vernacular of Ephia's Wake & The Great Ring

1st Edition

by T.A.
Magus of the Celestial Disc
Scribe of the Sublime Garden

Reflections of a Dying World

by T.A.
Magus of the Celestial Disc

The King is dead. The King is dead.

Long live the...

It matters not. The world did not end when the King died. Did he even die? Who said he died? He who all myths and legends spoke of as the great saviour, who cast down the lawlessness of ages beyond comprehension with a sense of order, of structure, and, eventually, the Rings.

But what were those Rings? And were they even crucial to keeping at bay the black tide? The machinations of men, and perhaps above all, that singular "man?" Though by all accounts, he was more than mortal man - nonetheless, his work, that contraption of profane design, or as they might have called it 'dark design,' has played a great role in bringing about this new age.

An age is an age though. It is not timeless. Though few will understand, for few have the capacity to, and fewer still the wherewithal to see beyond their base needs and wants. They say that timekeeping was forbidden in the last age, but it was never truly so. For most it simply lost meaning, and not all beings count time in the same way. So many of my brothers and sisters decided to exit this timeline entirely after all, and others sought to become ageless in their own way. Ageless, yes - ageless. Without age.

But I have chosen another path. Sometimes I am left to wonder, what path it is exactly. Seeing the black tides' thirst pour forth, grasping and clawing, then that great flicker of light from the centre sprung forth - fulfilling its destiny - but granting no salvation. No salvation. Only ASH. How long have I wondered amidst ash and ruin and an absence that is beyond life or death. An unspeakable absence, an emptiness, and yet ash and ruin. The Wastes.

Have I regretted not joining my brothers and sisters, or even those who chose to /change?/ I do not know. I think an anomaly of my own existence has been to never know regret. Even now, I regret nothing. As the locals would have it, I live and drink. How quaint, yet as much as it is so, it is amusing and uplifting - I quite like it. Live and Drink.

The truth is, it is not about regret, it is not about life, it is not about the King or this world. It is about the journey. So here I am, from ash and dust to ash and sand. Here I am, in the only place I can be, for now, at Ephia's Well. And I have come here, ever under the guidance of Her light. The Light of the Moon.

The Dispensary should have a system like the crosssroads portals so everyone can join in at any time

Taking inspiration from the above, I think there is merit in, for those who enjoy such things (a good chunk of the playerbase), a new style of the King's Dispensary that brings people together in the clash of bloodshed regardless of where they might be in the Rings.

This could either be implemented by introducing a Consortium version (with all the flavourful thematic differences it would demand) of the King's Dispensary in the Crossroads that gets announced by the Purple Jester, actually held in the Crossroads itself, which might be the easiest to implement. Or it could be a new system that keeps the King's Dispensary in the City but perhaps lets people enter a mystical In-between Ring (think Grand Tourney grounds) which they may enter via certain Rings/locations throughout the City, but that they may not leave until the Dispensary is over/claimed. Upon leaving, they'd similarly to the Crossroads portal return to whence they came.

With ash refining beakers mostly changed to serve as a convenience/quality of life thing, I suggest making them more accessible by adding them to other claimable strongholds. This should encourage more PC interactions with these strongholds and also slightly improve accessibility to these QOL improving creations.

PCs in Ticker Square have been offering ash refining in the past, so one of those strongholds to support that at the very least. Probably the Apothecary.

Please consider adding some kind of resting place to Trash Island. Its popularity is on the rise with the rise of the Tyrant of Trash and my PC has been stranded there once, while apparently another PC was stranded there five times. Having somewhere to rest there would be nice as it's actually a fun little area of the server that I think would benefit from it.

[EVIDENCE:]

Rose of the Wheel in the Spinning Groat Casino (Ring 99) likes to spam. Make her messages localised to the individual PC talking to her. She is exceedingly disruptive and immersion breaking.

EVIDENCE:

Despite the following change:

Ash refiners require only two pouches of ash. Yellow, Orange, and Purple ash can be combined up to 36 charges. Dirty Yellow ash can be combined, for up to 30 charges, into 12 charges of yellow ash as usual.

The Ash Refining Beakers seem to still only accept Dirty Yellow Ash. This needs to be updated to permit it to combine Yellow, Orange, and Purple ash pouches.

[close]

Regroup, a substantially weakened (limited to summoned creatures in 'close' proximity - something that can barely properly teleport summoned creatures from the other side of a doorway due to the requirement of caster proximity) version of the Recall command whose only real use for a conjurer is that it functions in combat, is even now as a 1st circle spell not worth the spell slot. It's so much worse for a sorcerer summoner to waste one of their precious 'spells known' on this spell, that I think has potential if it is put in its proper place: as a cantrip.

The spell description already has a warning as to how it should not be used to balance out/counteract overuse of its novelty if it were a cantrip. The risk of it being occasionally used for shenanigans in return for making it worthwhile for those spellcasters who may draw strategic value from it seems worth it. Although I'm sure the temptation of it as an unlimited cantrip might be too much to not become a meme, I have the hope and dream that such things might be curbed so that we can have good things.

Alternatively: could several uses per day of Regroup be added to the sorcerer's Cultist perk and dedicated Conjurer wizards be given a player tool to the same effect?

Edit: *functions IN COMBAT.

[hide=Regroup][/hide]

I suggest that Ash Refining Beakers combine the charges of pouches of healing Ash, now that they no longer permit the conversion of yellow to orange, or orange to purple. This would at least help manage inventory clutter and be a massive quality of life change where only one pouch needs to be bound to the quickslot for healing.

Technically, credit for this idea goes to Waffles.

Given the existence of automatic spawn point checks throughout the Rings, and the overall relevance of knowing where your spawn point is, it would be good to see a command in place that would tell the player where their PC's check point is presently set.

Perhaps added as a query onto the the /c checkup command?

I was considering making this a suggestion, but I think the level of issue it causes for the setting of spawn points (especially for those who have long since visited each of these locations and are making their way back from deeper in, are simply moving through, or otherwise have no place in the Ponds) is more akin to it being a bug.

Exiting Ring 97 to get to Ring 98 or otherwise moving to the Ring Door of Ring 97 by Demond's headless statue forces the PC's spawn point to be set to that spot in the Pauper Ponds without consent or good cause!

The same goes for exiting Ring 93 to get to Ring 94 or otherwise reaching the Ring Door to Ring 93 automatically sets the PC's spawn point to the camp there.

I suggest fixing this issue by adding a 'set spawn point' option at the respective locations in Ring 94 and Ring 98 so that PCs can choose to set their spawn rather than be forced, and or alternatively, whatever fix was in place before that sets the spawn point only for those who are visiting for the first time could be reapplied.

The /c use_portal command was a great way for familiars to enact their role as a second pair of eyes and ears for their master and also something so simple as being a herald to bring message from across wards is not viable anymore due to inability of crossing certain transitions. It would be great to see '/c use_portal' back just for familiars (as I understand it was removed due to some unrelated bug exploit).

The majority of EfU transitions won't allow possessed familiars through now
They used to be useable when possessing a familiar by using the /c use_portal command
However, there was an exploit involved where you could bypass climb/tumble checks using that command.
Since it was removed, familiar based exploration has become virtually nonexistent.

We should fix that, it's probably pretty easy to prevent the exploits without blocking familiars completely

It would be great to see a return of those shrines that used to appear from time to time in rare locations or in the place of explorables that would allow spellcasters to alter their permanent summoning theme.

I feel like a pilgrimage to the heart of each of the planar rifts to acquire a specific elemental attunement at a shrine deep within would be great and would also be an enabler of some great RP for example, but some rarer themes popping up from time to time, or maybe randomly in the Wizard Warrens would be great to see too. And as usual, the number of times one might alter their permanent summoning theme in this way may be restricted.

To help distinguish tolerable/moderate/safe/wise wizards from those who go down the path of power/madness/planar instability beyond their choice of arcane foci or lack thereof and with the added benefit of being a fun but optional and dangerous (may lead to being  kill-on-sight like monster races) mechanic, I suggest that:

Planes sickness / planar instability empower wizards and their magic, depending on the stages of affliction:

1-2500 Infected by the Planes
Merely touched by the planes, the Wizard receives a minor boost to their magic: +1 Spellcraft

2501 - 5000 Afflicted by the Planes
As the planar energy begins to infuse more readily into the Wizard, their spells come easier, but they grow forgetful of things outside of their magic: +4 Spellcraft, -2 Lore, -2 Heal

5001 - 7000 Moderate Affliction by the Planes
The Wizard becomes attuned with the planar instability within themselves, reaching the threshold of acceptability as they begin to glow, their spellcasting becoming even more unstable, their wholesome knowledge of the world in their otherwise gifted minds giving way to raw power. Going beyond this point is to willingly embrace power regardless of the price: +1 INT, +6 Spellcraft, -6 Lore, -6 Heal, -6 Concentration

7001 - 8000 Heavy Affliction by the Planes
Giving in to planar instability, the Wizard has become a conduit of magic, they see the mysteries of reality in a new light, beautiful, chaotic, so full of possibility, their destiny is oneness with their source of power but their form is warping, as is their mind, they have begun to leave their mundane and Prime Material origins: +2 INT, -2 CHA, -2 WIS, +10 Spellcraft,  +10 Lore (planar insights), -5 to all other skills. The Wizard now counts as a monster and will be kill-on-sight, or otherwise shunned by all of society. Bad luck falls upon those around them, and no arcane focus can ever prevent the wizard's magic from doing harm to others.

8001 - 9000 Intense Affliction by the Planes
There is no chance for redemption for a Wizard so glutted upon chaotic planar energies, theirs is a new reality, beyond anything that could ever be considered mundane, new visions manifest before their eyes as they see unseen arcane trails and residues like a bloodhound upon a trail. Seams open up around them when their most potent spells manifest, and wild magic is at their beck and call. They are a master of terrible, insane power, a force to be feared, yet with strange insights no mere mortal could comprehend: Same pros and cons as Heavy Affliction with the addition of +1 Spell DC to all spells, spell resistance 10, +1 Universal Saves, and an additional -1 CHA, -1 WIS, and -2 to all skills besides Lore and Spellcraft. Seams open up with their magic regularly (if implemented)

9001 - 9999 Planar Madness
Teetering on the edge of mortal capacity so swelled up with planar chaos, the Wizard walks the razor's edge between bursting into a super-localised magical mini-nova and spewing out chaos magic all about them: Same pros and cons as Intense Affliction with the addition of On-Hit Chaos Shield and +2/5 Damage Resistance

10000
Death, Endlude (if earned/appropriate) or ? ? ?


The numbers will need tweaking and are more of illustrative of what could be done rather than specifically something I'd suggest be implemented. I really like the idea of distinguishable dark wizards, which also allows the converse of wizards of good repute. These pros and cons could also apply to some sorcerer perks as well, with slight tweaks to be more suited to them, especially Unpredictable sorcerers.

Other possibilities: increase planes sickness generation from their spells when reaching the monster/KOS stage.

This comes with so many new possibilities to portray wizards from making it easier to demonstrate those who are wise and careful and those who pursue the path of power and dark wizardry, while making it stylish to go either way.

I suggest the addition of wands as arcane foci for wizard spellcasting, perhaps sold at Alice's Bookshop & Magus Naoli's Shop, as this would be an excellent way of also distinguishing wizards and perhaps even wizard wanna-be's who pick up a wand trying to learn magic.

Additionally, introducing a line of crafting in tinkering (safe magic) and alchemy (more power but less stable, with a chance of something incredibly powerful and stable at the top end/high risk & difficulty) to produce arcane foci and wands would be an excellent flavour boost and also make it so wizards can craft their own foci which I believe would generate some more attention to the crafting systems and seeking out special reagents in the game world (which would then involve the whole server through trade value, not just wizards).

This could even be a whole line of crafting of its own (but may not be worth the difficulty?) called Wandmaking, which would be all about finding special materials to create personalised wands/arcane foci: oak, crystal, gold, silver, trashgull feather, horsehair, amber etc all sourced from unique areas/NPC enemies to encourage exploration. It becomes less about spamming different combinations of playing cards, and more about focusing on acquiring rare materials, so all recipes have a chance to produce something, but not necessarily of the same calibre.

This suggestion is to have a label upon the workshop (alchemy) explorables to clearly separate it from other explorables. It can be flavourful such as "a grate exuding the telltale stench of alchemical experimentation", or just very clearly "an abandoned alchemical laboratory". As long as it's very easy to distinguish it from other explorables.

Even though there is a not-safe transition warning, these explorable hatches containing an alchemy laboratory carry a greater risk than the ordinary explorable due to the potential presence of an abyssal slag or other nightmarishly potent spawn of planar chaos. This can become a huge disappointment for exploring PCs who aware of the risks, make their full preparations but still might die simply due to the powers of these terrors borne of alchemical catastrophe.

The following testimony inspired this suggestion:

the issue is that not knowing the server well i have no idea of the variety of stuff there is the other side of these things, so have had several really shitty deaths as i transitioned
so even fully buffed and able to face everything else i have seen in the drips etc these things kill me before i can actually do anything
it just results in a not going anywhere to explore mindset, which in turn means i dont learn about the server

This feels incredibly thematic and appropriate, just look at this attached image for proof of how marvelous it would be to pull out a pelt as a makeshift camp for the purposes of resting:

Please make it so?