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[Maribeh 1st, IY 7788. A time where the great Caliph is honoured.]

Maribeh 1st, IY 7788. A time where the great Caliph is honoured.

Koji visited me again today, I drank to rid myself of his presence.

Blessed drink, beloved drink. My cure. My caress. My companion. My Sight.

I have tried to convince them that I am doing good, that I am on the destined path but I feel myself growing more hollowed by the day. The harsh words of Aubrey stain my heart, they make me bitter. They make me so cold. Please Mother, I pray make her a sister to me for once rather than an enemy cowled.

Why is it that so few believe in me beyond the sisters and even then, is it a lie? Selsi, Selsi, Selsi you are so twisted in your political webs that you've forgotten your purpose. Or have I forgotten my purpose? Am I not meant for something more?

Colmes. If I were a vicious man, your eyes I would damn, but I am my mother's child and so I am above such thoughts. You know so little of what we are facing, but you have convinced the world you are some great saviour, sent to lead them to victory! I was making my name killing orcs whilst you were enjoying the frivolities of Baz'eel. I've spilt more blood in the sands than any in the Well. Saviour.. why you?

Why not me?

[Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon]

Beloved Legate,

The Balladeers are currently engaged in a vote for who we shall nominate forward for the position of Warmaster, please expect the name by the end of the day.

Yours faithfully,
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon

[Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon]

Gamemaster Hamzir Atazid,

The Cinquefoil Rose would like to rent the use of the stadium to conduct a joint training event between the Banda Rossa and Balladeers. During this time people will be allowed to come and spectate should they wish.

We would require a set of bedrolls prepared, our beloved Sisterhood shall cater to any other needs we require.

How much would it cost to rent the stadium for a few hours in the coming weeks?

Yours faithfully,
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon

[All wrongs shall be righted.]

Beloved Syclya,

There was an issue with your immediate enrolement into the College. Voiced by some people I hold in high regard, as such I must ask for your rose close to be returned but your ban on the Krak des Roses will be lifted.

I will then undertake mentorship with you to make you ready for the Cinquefoil Rose. Our first lesson shall begin later this week, as we engage in the act of humility.

All wrongs shall be righted.

Yours faithfully,
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon
Cupseeker

[Aurelio]

Beloved Alejandro,

I need your help, please come back to the Balladeers.

Come back home.

Aurelio

[Balladeer Aurelio d'LyonCupseeker]

Legate,

I am sending you a writ for your permission to begin my delving.

Yours faithfully,
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon
Cupseeker

I give permission from the seat of the Legate for Aurelio d'Lyon and his companions to conduct expeditions into the depths of Ephia's Well.

Signed:

[Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon]

Honoured Janissaries,

It was Sergeant Robert Fauchard's vision to see the threat of Iakmes thwarted by a cross-Accord initiative. I await your appointment of Al-Sayaadin's second, to fill Robert's place in it's structure.

Yours faithfully,
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon

[The Balladeers of the Lost Hearth]

The Banda Rossa,

We would like to know the price for regular patrols to Old Formoria and along the Nusrum Rampart. The intention is to see the horde of Iakmes punished and slimmed down in number through regular combat.

Respond with your price.

The Balladeers of the Lost Hearth

[Balladeer Aurelio d'LyonThe Cupseeker]

Our Astronomers,

I have been informed by the Legates that you have not put forward an idea for assisting with our war with Iakmes.

I find that odd. Something has been lost in communication. Whilst we do not see eye to eye on nearly any internal political subject, it makes no sense for you to want to leave a very real threat to the Well unaddressed.

As the leading force driving our defence and authority on Iakmes' hordes, I invite you to respond with how you plan to aid the Accord and what you will need from us to make it work.

If you lack ideas or there is another problem, we will meet to discuss it. Otherwise I look forward to reading a list of things you need and what you plan on doing with it.

Yours faithfully
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon
The Cupseeker

[Balladeer Aurelio d'LyonThe Cupseeker]

Honoured Legate,

We of the Balladeers would like to know what happened during the Il Modo entreatments.

Yours faithfully,
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon
The Cupseeker

[KYT]

Qari,

I heard over the bellows that Pyke got in trouble with the Misfortune.

I want that new law thats banning the House of Baharu overturned and quick.

Whats the cost?

KYT

Sol,

You cut and ran? After running me out of 10,000?

That's not smart. Qadira's only so big.

K.

Nothing to break in a new chapter than being brutally torn apart by lions... Right?

Right - Well, lets take a quick look back through some memories from the short (not a dwarven pun, or is it?) life of Skaldorr Merizad.

Who was Skaldorr Merizad?




Skaldorr was a grieving, heart broken dwarven illusionist who lost his entire clan save his brother during the Ringfall, where they were destroyed by the consequences of the catastrophic event. The motivation to restore his 'family' is what drove him deep into his plots.

Some other undeniable points about the little gnarled mage:

• Skaldorr Merizad was scum of the highest order. He did not truly care about people not associated with him and used his high bluff to swindle everyone not 'Merizad'.
• Skaldorr was a powerful djinn brooker, who even had a djinn -inside- of him!
• He planned to create a drug epidemic by flooding the market with his own brand of narcotics
• The Merizad 'Familia' was a reincarnation of the Merizad Clan, Skaldorrs true family who he lost during the ringfall and was trying to ensure lived again.
• He was deeply afraid of the creatures that he brooked with and was as much a master as he was a toy.

[hide=Memories of Family]

Skaldorr was trying desperately to bring his clan, the Merizad, back from the dead. Not literally but by welcoming fresh blood into his family, his core motivation was wealth and restoration of his lost family. To this end he went to any lengths to achieve it.

He swore many people into the Merizad, a tithe and a kiss was all it took. He didn't care about race, station or religion - you could have been a murderous lunatic and he would have welcomed you. He just wanted his family back.





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[hide=Memories of Crimes and Friends]
Whilst I can't talk about all the things I got up to, here are a few teasers of the nacessent birth that could have been a thriving drug empire. Also shout out to WitchOfTheWastes for such an amazing character and helping me thrive in the role of scummy drug dealing dwarf.






Friends of the Merizad were a special role that didn't afford you Skaldorr's 'love' so to speak but it meant you were protected by the familia - mostly because you provided a service, were a legitimate/illegitimate business partner or owed favours. There were so many 'Friends' that covered a broad range of reasons (a lot of them were actually just political allies!), I can only post a very very small amount of them, but I hope it gives you the idea of the sort of stuff that happened in the shady places!






Also who says crime doesn't pay?


[/hide]

[hide=Memories of Rituals]

Skaldorr was actually a somewhat powerful wizard. He performed dark magic which has/had lasting consequences on the game world, if you find any remnants of his evil magics, please reach out! I'd be curious to learn who discovers what he got up to.

Here is a snippet of the time that he hijacked a giant djinn summoning ritual and -ATE- a djinn. Yes thats right! Skaldorr actually had a djinn inside of him for the majority of his life.




It starts how it ends, with death.



[/hide]

[hide=???][/hide]

Thank you to everyone who played with Skaldorr! Special shout out to Grix for being a great duo partner and enthusiastic bolt dwarf brother!

Time for me to Go Next! See you all IG soon.

[ARTWRIGHT EDHA]

ARTWRIGHT EDHA

THE MERIZAD FAMILIA DESIRES A RIGHT AND PROPER PORTRAIT OF PATRIARCH SKALDORR MERIZAD.

ADDITIONAL ART IS DESIRED OF THE MERIZAD. UNITY AMONGST BROTHERS WITH COMMON CAUSE.

FIND US FOR YOUR FEE.

THE MERIZAD

[SCRIBE GALLOWS]

SCRIBE GALLOWS

THE MERIZAD FAMILIA NOMINATES ITS PATRIARCH SKALDORR MERIZAD.

THE SIZE OF THE BRIBE SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE ELOQUENCY AND IMPRESSIVE NATURE OF WHAT YOU WRITE.

THE MERIZAD

Please revert this back to min party of 2. It was a staple for outcasts and other pariahs in the low levels.

[A big thank you to all DMs and players I interacted with over his long life!]

Yictanaghz was a long lived character by my standards. I tried to make him a villain that you could always oppose in some way, his schemes were always there to be thwarted and I tried my best to take risks so others could get in on the action too.

He was also my first earnt Pale Master and generally I tried to just be a supporting figure to as many shady pcs as possible. From his time as a drug dealing scrag lad, to the height of his career as the hand of Blacksmile, I always made time to support crooked pcs trying to get one up on the world.

A big thank you to all DMs and players I interacted with over his long life! I'd also like to offer a special thanks to Bearic for his help in overseeing the Blacksmile goals and letting me be a spooky necromancer.




Look at that perma xp, it's mostly from risking my life in permadeath situations. So let that be a rough indicator of the amount of stuff I got up to.

I have so, so, so many screenshots. Enough that I really can't go through them all, however I've cherry picked the best ones I could. Maybe I'll upload the rest as a bundle somewhere but for now, here are some moments and screenshots from Yic's life.

Lets get started shall we?

[hide=Young Sticky Yicky]
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[hide=Early Days as a Drug Dealer/Extortionist]


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[hide=The first of many undead hordes]
I would make these types of encounters and leave them all over the server for players, often leaving potions/groat in containers dropped by DMs or on the bodies of the undead themselves. It took AGES to make them and was quite expensive, but I had fun doing it and really made me feel like a necromancer.





[/hide]
[hide=The first of many permadeath rituals. Whats going on here?]


[/hide]
[hide=Undead horde no.2]

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[hide=Yic posing with some real thugs]
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[hide=Dodgy dealings trying to cause some chaos]
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[hide=The Necromancer's New Clothes]




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[hide=Blacksmile's Legion no.3]






[/hide]
[hide=Dark Rituals]
This ritual was where I actually stitched Eumir's soul together with that of a Yaun-Ti's which was pretty metal. During this event, I would actually perform a true miracle and raise him back from the dead with powerful /healing/ magic.




Some spirits didn't take kindly to abusing her second scale eggs...
[/hide]
[hide=Necromancy 101 classes]
As a Pale Master one of my major goals was to promote a sense of learning for players, like they were actually learning dark arts. I even got the chance to run an event where everyone got to duke it out and learn how to make some powerful reagents for necromancy. It was really fun.


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797708069328125962/848742861129121832/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797708069328125962/848743038503223296/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797708069328125962/848743163039580171/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797708069328125962/849051490554740757/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797708069328125962/849394650270924840/unknown.png
[/hide]
[hide=Becoming a real blacktongue]
After the events of 94 Yictanaghz took advantage of the mass death to literally consume hundreds of souls of the recently deceased to further his own powers. There was a chance it all could have ended here, yet somehow... He survived yet again.




[/hide]

[hide=Marching on Khoral'duun after the ash had settled.]

[/hide]
[hide=Creating the allies and winning battles for the Countsmen]




[/hide]
[hide=People chilling on the floor in my guild, where they belong]






Though sometimes people on the floor got back up as monsters, which I would release on the world. Such as dear Reginald here...



[/hide]
[hide=Undead Boneforce no.4]



[/hide]
[hide=Performing a 'Wizard Burial']

I literally walked off with her corpse into the crypts and made this very angry spirit. Thank you unobservant or apathetic onlookers, it was the first and last time I'd ever mess around with Banshees again.



[/hide]
[hide=Burying a merchant in the shadow of commerces grave. Also undead horde no.5]



[/hide]

[hide=Anti-Druid Litter Squad no.6]




[/hide]
[hide=Our protagonist visits T'Chun's prison for a beech episode special]


[/hide]

[hide=Blacksmile's Return!]

After months of working towards this goal, I finally was able to put together ten powerful soul gems, four ritualists and seventy thousand gold to resurrect my master. Wake up Blacksmile, you've got a job to do!

Something that probably wasn't public knowledge is that I actually spent around 2-3 hours prior to the event setting up undead in the waterways to slow down anticipated attacking pcs. I hope you had fun fighting those!






[/hide]
[hide=I now pronounce you husband and wife!]
I got the chance to turn Lissandra undead and I couldn't have been happier to make another messed up abomination!



[/hide]

I know you're after them. The loot shots. Well don't worry, I got you covered:

[hide=The Pile]
My Captain's Compass which let me open seams and escape planes. (I used this a lot in DM events to nope out of places in the planes)




My planar ring which my left hand found one day!



My funeral suit, which I fought for in the arena because I wanted to look good when I died. (Also 60 second arena battle is a record for me!)



My staff! A gift from the balor lord Xuggoth!



My special pale master book which GREATLY empowered undead. I'll leave out specifically /what/ it did but it was a massive help whenever I was walking around with animations.


My left hand is redacted but you can oogle its name!


My shovel that I got for surviving a permadeath event where we were trapped in a sibilant complex, fighting medusas with DC 18 petrification gazes and minotaurs. So many minotaurs.
It was actually a +1 illusion theme, not spirits, as I had spirits already and it was changed later by the DM to be the +1 theme. It was for a /VERY/ short time, the withered maggot theme but that was just too powerful to be in player hands. It also could summon me a kobold corpse 1/day! (I used them in my kobold vs kobold zombie fight club)


Myrdain before I fixed him.


Myrdain after I fixed him.


My Ghost Needle. This item let me sew spirits and interact with ghosts, which I used to great and terrible effect during DM encounters. I'm so sorry to the many people who I prodded with this thing.


My other ring, which I got for defeating a lesser ogre necromancer. I actually had two of these because my faithful companion Duckwall gave me his as well.


I apped for this book, to give to my favoured student pc. Sadly when I actually apped for this book and was given this, the PC left the server so it sort of became the defacto 'sleeves' of the Bonecollectors to represent who was my second in command. This book was IC written and made by Yic, which I acted on when teaching PCs.




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See you on the next one EFU, go forth and be awesome!


[hide=?][/hide]
[hide=??][/hide]
[hide=???][/hide]

[The Game :]

Hey everyone!

So I just finished my master's degree in game development and I've got a demo of a game that my team has made.

If you've got a spare moment and you're into 2d pixelart or narrative focused games, I'd appreciate it if you had a play through of the demo and filled out a feedback form!

Introducing...

The Game : https://knights-of-borria.github.io/Leximan-Playtest/

The Form : https://forms.gle/ACVLZTtXjxM8S6Kb9

Also our team/company twitter incase you wanted to follow us for updates : https://twitter.com/borria

[Link to our team page & game:]

Hey everyone,

So as a lot of you may already know, I have been working in a government games competition for the past few months called Tranzfuser.

Tranzfuser is designed to help find UK games talent and provide support to those who are trying to form their own game development companies.

All of the teams who participated are having their work shown off in a digital event called ProtoPlay, where the public can vote on which games they want to support/think are great.

If you want to help support me and you think my team deserves it, I'd really appreciate any votes. We're the Knights of Borria and our game is Rustbreaker

Link to our team page & game: https://protoplay.co.uk/teams/knights-of-borria/

Link to voting page: https://protoplay.co.uk/protoplay-audience-award-vote/



Thank you for any support you want to show and I hope you like our game.

Thank you to everyone I interacted with on Eliphas, a true pleasure to play him and interact with everyone. He went through quite a lot of changes in his life(I would be interested in knowing what alignment you thought he was!), I'm not sure what I can post so I will share a few choice shots from his life and times.

A little backstory first - Eliphas was a sufferer of the condition known as Wizard Madness, something I often tried to stimulate within others of the community. To this end he would lean heavily into the role of mentor to anyone who asked. It was his belief that with creative chaos that wizards would evolve the political scene of the city to become more mago-cratic. This also led him to be the shadowy figure in the corner of the room, whose machinations had far influencing affects but little trace back to him. There are other things, but they are best left out... For now.

[hide=Early days as a prospector. When he was just recovering his memories.]







[/hide]

[hide=Eliphas was a resident of a much, much deeper ring than any really knew. Only a rare few people saw what remained of his home, when he showed them visions of what -he- had done. Maybe someone will one day find his tower and learn a truth about the dead wizard.]





That is his home dear Marcille... What a terrible thing wizards are.

[/hide]

[hide=Towards the end of the character he saw many strange and wonderful things. Sadly, I cannot share them due to currently living players and deep secrets. Here are some assorted pictures from his travels.]



[/hide]

[hide=But who was Eliphas really?]



[hide=Perhaps better asked is - what was he?][/hide]
[/hide]


You will see more pictures of his workings when they are finished playing out, I am sure. I will see you on the next.