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Season's Greetings from the EFU DM Team,

The holiday season is already in full swing and we know this can be a stressful time of year. We would like to say thank you for being a part of our little community in the best way that we know how. Loot!

Here is a link to a submission form for EFU Holiday Loot: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfiUaf33KDESW-o0Iu7rF61UyrUGiTqQY6Fy-t9OZjl0vtsYg/viewform?usp=sf_link. Just fill out the form, select exactly one of your PCs to receive loot, and provide us with a little bit of information about the PC to help tailor what we make for you.

Please contact me on discord if you have any questions. If you're not in the discord, you should be, as we might reach out to you with questions.

Greetings Everyone,

Quick announcement: The server will remain password-protected until the next reset. If you would like to make a character before that point, please log in using: "cuporchalice".

Good luck and welcome to EFU: Sands of Intrigue.

[healing a subdued character does not mean that they are no longer subdued.]

The situation addressed here is what happens when you, a bystander or participant in PVP, witness someone subdued in the course of that combat. You have a bag of ash and plenty of other healing trinkets available. Can you heal the subdued character? The answer depends on the context.

Healing a subdued player, if you are not the person who subdued them, is not per se against the rules. However, it should only be done in situations where it makes sense to do so—not just in-character sense for your particular character's mindset and outlook, but considering the situation more broadly. For instance, if there is a large running battle and multiple PCs are lying subdued on the ground, without the subduer standing over them, they could be healed without any issue. In another example, you should not walk up and heal characters who are being held hostage. A subdued character with a knife held to their throat should not be healed by their comrades. Remember that someone who has been subdued has been offered a courtesy, especially in hostage situations. An alternative might be BO or FD, after all.

Note that healing a subdued character does not mean that they are no longer subdued. A subdued character remains subdued until the PVP encounter ends or they are told by a DM that they are no longer subdued. If in doubt, ask a DM for clarification and remain subdued. It does not matter if you are subdued and restored to full health--you remain subdued. Roleplay that as the severity of the injuries just inflicted on you having a lasting effect, or something similarly thematic. No matter what, they remain subdued, and should mechanically cooperate with the subduer when it comes to being moved from place to place, etc.

Also note that someone healing subdued characters is essentially taking sides in the conflict. It makes the healer a fair and legitimate target for PVP.

The degree of "how far away must the subduer walk before an ally can come up and heal this person" is a standard that needs facts to actually adjudicate. There won't be a flat standard imposed there, the context will control. That standard will almost certainly favor the subduer, not the subdued character. If a subduer was standing over a trio of downed foes, waxing about the honor of the Peerage Ward or delivering a delightfully melodramatic villain speech, and someone walked up and healed one of their victims, that would be inappropriate. If the subduer was half a screen away fighting allies of the subdued character, or was similarly very distracted by something (or held by hold person, etc), it is entirely fair to heal a fallen character.

There is some additional leeway on this principle if there are hostile NPCs in the area—as they won't respect subdual status—but that's again a case-by-case situation.

It should go without saying that the subduer can always heal the character that they subdued.

Contact a DM if you have questions about specific situations in-game.

[Belated announcement:]

Belated announcement:

Hello everyone, I am back, as most of you know if you're on discord. Looking forward to all watching all of you from the client and sussing out exactly what the geology of the rings really looks like.

[Saibhon Dumein]

Saibhon Dumein

~-----~

Saibhon Dumein was my first character in EFU:CoR and my seventh or eighth overall in EFU. He was created in early January as a way to explore the server and play a character who would explore how a moral philosopher would handle the City of Rings. I wanted to portray a character who was confronted with a realistic crisis of faith, coming from a place of certainty in the absolute divinity and power of the gods, then having to rebuild an understanding of his place in the world built on reason.

He was from Athkatla in Amn, born to a family of expatriates from Calimport, who had spent several generations in the city but clung tight to their original roots. He grew up with a mix of Calishite, Amnian, and Tethyrian terms, leading to oddities like "ser'met" as an honorific. His chief character flaw, at least at creation, was pride -- his hubris at throwing himself into virtually any situation often got him and others into trouble just as it influenced his manner of speaking.

By the end, Saibhon  was a cleric of a heretical variant of the Renunciation that he called the "True Renunciation", a moral philosophy that emphasizes the Endurance of Suffering as a necessary part of sapience. In reality, its final form bore little resemblance to the Renunciation proper.

In Saibhon's view, the only moral acts in this world are those that inflict no Suffering and that the actor understands will not inflict Suffering at any point in the future. This requires, effectively, omniscience -- or transcendence of the Razor Web -- to achieve. The end goal would be to reject the world on his terms, achieving transcendence from the flesh either by undertaking no act of will (inflicting no active, direct Suffering) or by achieving a consciousness that is greater than a mortal one. The full details are in his annotated Twenty-Five Theses.

The progression of his belief system went something like this:

1) Ilmateri Do-Goodery and a Crisis of Faith; to
2) Renunciation with Ilmateri Views; to
3) Renunciation as a pseudo-Kantian categorial imperative with Ilmateri influences; to
4) Renunciation as a pseudo-Kantian categorial imperative with elements of Schopenhauer that increasingly conflict with his old Ilmateri roots; to
5) Withdrawal from traditional Renunciation doctrines and expansion of a heretical Renunciation with elements of humanism as a foundation for the later Schopenhauerite renunciations; to
6) Loss of memory due to the Feast leading to a loss of his a sense of self, placing emphasis on the Schopenhauerite elements of the heretical Renunciation, existing as a Boddhivista-esque vessel for the enlightenment of others; to
7) Regaining his sense of self with the death of the pig-dwarf and the end of the Feast's Curse, continuing as less of a Boddhivista-esque vessel but with vastly improved perspective on the nature of his existence.

tl;dr -- he had a lot to say and used larger words than he needed to in saying it.

I think it's an open question whether or not I was successful at portraying these shifts. It was a radical jump early on from Ilmater into a crisis of faith, then into the Renunciation of Want, but the jump from that to what became his "True Renunciation" was a subtler thing, even if by the end his moral philosophy looked very different from the source.

I think it came out best in the massive number of absolutely wonderful interactions I had with other characters. I maintain that interesting characters can't exist in a vaccuum. The fun of Saibhon wasn't so much in writing up pages and pages of bastardized moral philosophy (though that was fun), it was in all of his relationships and little interactions throughout his life in the rings, including the players of:

Acathos Nascira, Drusilla Peake, Cole Wakefield, Camilla Fairbrace, Domina Lucretia, Eleleth Embersol, Akechi, Arnbjorn, Beauxregard Winespill, Mandy Mank, Miriam Fontaine and all of the Lancers, Hoglund Korlay, Maerdelain Felgotrim, Kethryl Arishaul, Cornelia Minivah, Enfiro, Lykaon, Gathias, Galen Drenn, the indomitable Chester Chuff, Brighde, Elsbeth, Willhelm of Rivers, Jeor Layman and the Hive of Akaxxes, Jarl Steingrim Rathstone, Angvald, Solveiga Nygaard, Dorian Raventree, Padernig de Gaulle, Saint Outis, Valatina Felton, Paps Stone, Ormund Crowley, Thesputin Bobbynock, Petronela Ardelean, Peter Beirwood, Ilian, the Wayward, William Thorne (of the Eryngium Flame), Aethelwine Silver, Nazia ibnat Javad, Camille Fairbrace, Narkus Brogan, Maxwell Artfall, Bandit Dweeb, Aiseth Corvus, Istadae, Jouvander don Viscandas, Ailis Weaver, Horgan Bukkit (swim left), and naturally Eupraxia Pherenekoulou.

If your name isn't there and it should be, that is my error -- message me and I'll edit it in. Thank you, everyone, you made this a wonderful story. :)

~-----~

Screenshots can be found here! Over one-hundred in total!

~-----~

I'm creating a set of robes to complement the current set that Saibhon has for non-religious ritual/combat/travelling circumstances, like walking around the Peerage.

The skill enhancements don't include Heal, however, among the list of knowledge-esque skills. Not certain if this is intended or an oversight, but it would be a helpful addition!

EDIT: restated for extreme clarity:

Ultravision gives +2/4 Spot with SF/GSF: Div respectively
True Seeing grants Ultravision now, but doesn't give the spot bonus.

When posting a note on a public board, the apostrophe character is substituted for a tilde.

Thus: "Mendicant Physician's Services Available" becomes "Mendicant Physician~s Services Available". The only time this seems to occur is when the messages are listed on the "Messages are located below. Select one to read" prompt after clicking on "[Look at the messages]". Screenshots can be provided! The apostrophes appear correct in all other contexts.

Character is Saibhon Dumein, a cleric, but it appears to affect others as well.

Thank you again for the noticeboard system! :)

The item "The Purifier's Grasp" gloves, part of an item set found in [REDACTED], can be equipped in place of the "Alley Surgeon Patch Gloves" that are part of the Alley Surgeon Item Set. The gloves can also be equipped alone, without any other items of the set. This occurs in all areas. The character is Saibhon Dumein, a cleric.

This could be a feature, not a bug, if the items are permitted to be swapped out as sufficiently healing-related. Though I don't know if such "cross-set" items exist. Can they be used together, or is this in fact a bug?

I suggest reducing the price of travel on the Ring Ninety-Seven raft to a sum that's befitting the location you're headed. The Renunciation, for example, won't always have the 100gp there-and-back charge that the Muckboys assess. Could a price of 10gp be considered instead, given that it isn't terribly far? It would make lives easier and impoverished NPCs come and go all the time from that area.

I had a problem earlier today. I thought that the Renunciation item "Suffering Sole," purchased with 200 Generic Favor Points, cannot be equipped. Moving it to the boots slot creates a "shadow" of the item in that slot, which does nothing and cannot be interacted with barring relogging. Relogging moves the item into the boots slot, but it has none of its stated advantages or disadvantages. Resting does not solve the issue.

However, I figured out the cause! This item is a relic, it just doesn't say so in the text. It and all the other Renunciation items that are flagged as relics need to have their descriptions updated to include the domain of the relic, which is neither Knowledge nor Healing.

[But, oddly enough, I retain the ability to cast spells in line with my initial Broken Relic item that I was last attuned to, despite not having any relics in my inventory.]

I recently lost my Relic because I threw it into the Pyre of the Renunciation for Exciting Roleplay Reasons. Bad idea? Yes. I expected to become a less-useful cleric with no spells until such time as I found a new one.

But, oddly enough, I retain the ability to cast spells in line with my initial Broken Relic item that I was last attuned to, despite not having any relics in my inventory.

I am not clear if this is a feature or a bug. If it's the latter, I'll clear my spellcasting period and refrain from casting anything until I acquire a new relic.

GSID: LiAlH4
Character: Saibhon Dumein

[The Scions of Imasakar -]

[INDENT]The Scions of Imasakar -

[/INDENT]
- were the brainchild of Divine_Intervention, who put together our little band and sent us off into the Underdark in search of knowledge and in the possession of a grand and ancient heritage. Our first thanks must go to him for the context in which our little band would ply the underworld!

We forged alliances, developed theories, kept journals, wrote treatises, engaged in covert warfare, made enemies, and lost many of our own. Somehow, we endured to the last, with an ending I will not spoil here.

Screenshot threads have always been a personal favorite of mine as a medium for telling the story of a character. Unlike previous, this screenshot thread does not represent a PC, or two, but an entire plot, with many actors, of which I was but one. We encourage anyone at all with relevant screenshots to post them.

I was immensely pleased with our group's dynamics, our interactions internally, and the characterization of that ancient bloodline - without question, my favorite moments on the server were always interactions with other PCs. I hope that everyone enjoyed just as much as we enjoyed interacting with you primitives!


Represented are: Issachar Zakur (Ironside), Chausiqu Asaya (Blue41), Zaneros Vastag (LiAlH4), Ephaeldiim (DapperSkariMask), Hadassah Zhashmon 'im (Abala), Naram-sin Rho, and many others! The introductions of my fellow comrades-in-Art will follow below and throughout the thread. Keep an eye out for more screenshots as it develops! Most of these are specific to Zaneros Vastag, but insight into all the other Imaskari shall follow! :)


[Hide=Prelude] Within the grand Hall of Murals, we received a premonition:



Though we did have some trouble moving about.



We saw a great deal...





[/Hide]



[Hide=A Diabolical Affair] One of our first interactions with extra-planar entities was in nothing less than a grand party hosted by a terrible imp. We had knowledge to gain, you see, from those who were in attendance! But to gain our place, we had to be part of a bargain...





...we were to play a grand game of chess, with our host! Zaneros tried to sound out his gamesmanship with an underling...



...but it was not long until he revealed himself.



We played our game, Zaneros' soul on the line, in exchange for an object of some great use to us!



However, the devil had something in store. Each piece lost was a soul lost, the greater the value of the piece, the more virtuous the soul in life. We tried to resolve the game swiftly.







Devil's rules!






[/Hide]



[Hide=Ikramal]A site that caused us to turn upon one another wholesale, for fear and hope of what could be done with the power at our fingertips. We saw some weird things first.











Whoops.




[/Hide]


[Hide=An Expedition to a Petrified Forest] We review what we know.



We entered the tower.



Within, we found a tome.



And several tombs - within one, a key, of unusual make.



[/Hide]

[Hide=The Society of the Ordered Mind]Our relationship with the Ordinants developed from one of deep-set suspicion and wariness into one of mixed love and loathing. We negotiated with their leadership...



Delved through ancient ruins, meeting strange and unusual individuals...





...who did not always think the highest of we of Auld Imaskar.



We debated our course and the meaning of our struggles...



... granting them many insights into the ancient history of the region.




[/Hide]


[Hide=The Silver Brands]Among the foes we faced were a large group of dangerous men from the surface, led by one Don Vigglioni. There was more to them, much more, than met the eye, however, as we interrupted a digsite of theirs!



We learn the name of one of our greatest foes!





Gathering allies.





Confronting the Walker and the Don.





[/Hide]


[Hide=Character Development]

Zaneros, after a grand failure on a certain quest, was dragged to the heights of the room, having his intelligence drained directly into the Lich's terrible phylactery.



[/URL]

The man believed himself to be responsible, in this moment, for the loss of every secret possessed by the Imaskari. Though he could not put it directly into words, he translated his shame into action, in what was easily my favorite scene:



Chausiqu, and Chausiqu alone, kept him alive.



The quest to restore it was long and arduous.





[/Hide]


[Hide=Djinni Insight]





[/Hide]


[Hide=Sanctuary]

One of the first interactions I had with an authority of Sanctuary...



...which eventually morphed into something much more. Little did we know that betrayal was on the horizon!





A battle with an Auxiliary, one Abigale Ashendale, resulted after several encounters where Zaneros refused to submit to interrogation unless he could speak mage-to-mage. Ashendale had other ideas, but a timely intervention turned the tide! Zaneros liked to believe that he won this by himself... though for level 4, he held on for quite a long time!



Though we had our differences, we always kept it classy.



[/Hide]



[Hide=Archaeology]Zaneros himself was something of an experienced Archaeologist, making his knowledge available in the true spirit of a generous scholar to almost any who would require it. He also made it his habit to keep notes - in game, on paper. I had almost 8 pounds of notes, by the end! They came in handy.



I had another full pack of these!



Leading a group into a flaming pit of spiders, after burning out all their webs!



Seeking after a lost cache of surface relics!



Delving into Saurian mysteries!



I hate the Fey. HERR KLAUSS and his terrible Reindeer.





Mycanoid follies.





Rubin provides the answers.



Investigating the unknowable...



Rune-sketching!



Nyth-clearing! Do you see the problem here? How many warriors are there? Now, how many warriors are there with full AB?



I was here a lot.



But more often, I was talking ad nauseum about all of Zaneros' little theories!





Not everything I saw made sense.



But I tried to give context to that which was lacking!



[/Hide]



[Hide=Exploring the depths]
























Whoops! How did this get in here? Fitting, perhaps, that I should have the hurting-murder done on me.







[/Hide]

[Hide=Our Finest Hour] All of the terrible dangers set aside, we transited space and time. I will avoid further spoilers, attempting to depict some of what we saw in images alone.

















[/Hide]

[Hide=The End]


For all the trials, terrors, and losses we suffered - in the end, the Imaskari brothers and sister were left with this:




[/Hide]

You made this a heck of a ride, everyone. Thank you to all!

[Greetings Everyone,]

Greetings Everyone,  

I have had a wonderful time participating and contributing to the saga  of EFU, starting in Archipelago, playing and DMing through Mistlocke,  and now playing and DMing into Uncertainty. Unfortunately I think it is  about time that my service to this community as a DM came to an end. Time is the limiting factor for me, as I simply do not have the amount of free time that is needed to make a meaningful impact on the server as a DM. I part with the team amicably, having made some contributions that I am very proud of. Our DM staff is made up of an excellent bunch of individuals; I cannot wait to see what is in store for the future.

If all goes well, some additional contributions may well be implemented once I've gotten them finished, in the form of neat names and descriptions for all the cool rocks you see around you in the underworld.

You suffered through my ridiculous climbing challenges, Duergar murderbanditry, surface exploration/expeditions, and dozens of other little events and spice that usually involved some references to interesting geology and the weird geomorphology of the Underdark. My contributions will be as a player now. I am proud to say I've had a solid impact thusfar on the player-side, but you haven't seen anything yet. I look forward to seeing you all as a player! :)


Thanks all,

-LiAlH4

[prelude run tomorrow at approximately 2:00 PM CST (GMT -6)]

There will be a prelude run tomorrow at approximately 2:00 PM CST (GMT -6), for anyone who is interested.


Survivalist/Ranger/Rogue/Fighter types are favored, but any concept could work in theory. I can be contacted on IRC in #efu for details.

Characters will be given a modicum of general equipment and may endure for some time without aid or support. They may die (permadeath event) and there is no guarantee of ever reaching or even hearing about Sanctuary.

Nevertheless, it should be a grand old time.

[some]

There have been significant changes made to the alchemy and herbalism pathways of late, to bring experimental results that were appropriate for EFU:A and EFU:M into line with what we are hoping to achieve with EFU:R. Due to the nature of the crafting system, this means that some alchemical recipes are now defunct!

With the new system comes new items, new possibilities, and a host of planned expansions in the future. Good luck and may your work exploiting the Weave be fruitful!

Greetings EFU:M! I am pleased to announce that all future puzzle quests will now involve organic chemistry reaction mechanisms and synthesis pathways.

I can recommend one of the editions of Solomons and Fryhle as an introduction for those of you who wish to avoid brutal full deaths in otherwise unavoidable situations. Good luck in your preparations and remember that you will be graded on a strict curve.


Your newest member of the team,

LiAlH4

[Sir Amalrith Tremarus the Stalwart; Bulwark of Mistlocke]

Amalrith Tremarus was born the son of one of the Red Plumes of Hillsfar. Dragged from what was a promising career that could one day lead him to a position of power within that town, he was deposited on Ymph in the latter days of Duke Trenada's Dominion. Recognizing that defending Nebezzdos was at best a fool's errand, he sought out refuge in the town of Vortgyn's Rest. He was present for many of the major battles (though he did not always play an active role in them) and was the standard-bearer for Knight-Champion Jacques de Villiers when the Order sent a relief force to Trenada's doomed siege of H'bala's tower.

He knew the indefatigable Micheal Tommas from this day and age - having seen him at two out of three of the major battles. He was irked to have seen the man join not only the Wyrm Watchers but Mororn's Brotherhood of Mercy.

In the subsequent three years, Amalrith was selected to serve under the Knight-Champion, becoming his aide-de-camp and squire. Eventually assigned to Mistlocke, he held the rank of Footman upon his arrival at the Priory.

Amalrith considered it his personal mission to drill discipline and a respect for the authority of his command into the Footmen and Supplicants at the Priory of the Order Numinous. He developed conflicts with many major players across the server quickly, throwing himself with varying degrees of success against the Wildlings, Stewards, Gadyw Aberdenn, and of course H'bala. He fought the Agony more times than I can count on one hand, gathered more PCs from Mistlocke for oft-embattled patrols through the Withered Lands, and tried to make a significant impact on the actual war effort against the Lichess.

He was eventually knighted, christened "Sir Amalrith Tremarus the Stalwart; Bulwark of Mistlocke" by Lord Blackhearth himself.

Thank you to all the PCs who were involved with his tale. Amalrith had a number of grating flaws, the most notable of them being pride, overconfidence, and a bad temper which I tried to roleplay consistently (the second in sequence resulted in his death)! Whatever your interaction with the Knight-Templar, I hope that you enjoyed it.

Screenshots to follow. :)



Amalrith's first execution! De Villier's squire was all grown up!



He absolutely detested Mistlocke, though he was canny enough not to let it show! 16 Charisma helps with such matters, despite the lack of bluff as a class-skill.



The arrival of Sir Percy Roderick did not go over well with Amalrith, who believed it was a usurpation of his command. Here he is lecturing the two men he believed responsible for the mess! Talking about temper, no less. :)



A placeable added to the Priory of the Order Numinous. I referenced Amalrith's caved-in helmet in an internal report at one point, this followed.



Amalrith used a mace as a fighter. It took him months to get a weapon that wasn't inferior to an unmodified 1d8 longsword. Core lured me into the trap of 'it will be a lovely flavor weapon'. Never again, you bastard. :p



Robert Laurente, you were a public relations disaster. He did end up getting beaten publicly by Tremarus!





Inquisitor Herostrat arrives and soon after... Auto da Fe!



Rastin Yepenen created a great deal of intrigue at the Priory! Tremarus did not trust him, informing him without too much subtlety of Rastin's need to repair that deficit.



Oh dear.



Traveling through a rainstorm on one of the patrols, a not-so-subtle joke about druids and empowered lightning storm!



Another placeable in the Priory that I had to share.



Another picture, also from the Priory!



Dang it Halfbrood, spicing a wholly-inadequate group on Lizardfolk? This thing was a menace. :)



So save us the Three. Herostrat's ritual, mind!



Traveling the mists, a separate encounter.



Another patrol! I did my very best to clear the Mistlocke Square Crusade Brigade out of its natural habitat and get it into the parts of the server where it is actually needed. :)



An excerpt from the in-game correspondence of Sir Amalrith Tremarus with Jacques de Villiers. In his personal character notes portion of the forum, there are five letters to the Knight-Champion! Use that section of the forums!

I hope these are left ingame, I encourage everyone to join the Order Numinous that you might one day get to read the rest of them.



For those who have not tried a PC in the Order Numinous, coming from  someone who played a heterodox Ilmateri and repeatedly banged my head against the wall of the fanatics in black, it is a fantastic experience.  :)

That is it for now! All of my screenshots from his appointment to the position and rank of Knight-Templar are on another computer, inaccessible for the present moment. Thank you to everyone who interacted with him and all those who help make the server come alive, DMs and players alike!

My favor with the Order Numinous recently jumped from 30 points to 830 points. While I would like to consider this a feature, it may very well be a bug.

This occurred between resets. I had 30 points logging off, 830 later that evening.


Character: Amalrith Tremarus

GSID: Osmium Tetroxide

[Bugged XPs to Date: ~460]

GSID: Osmium Tetroxide
PC: Amalrith Tremarus


At present, my character has been receiving full exploration XPs for entering new locations. Mistlocke has been the greatest offender thusfar, each time I enter or exit a building the experience is applied and the following is displayed:

(Exploration XP) You have recieved a 100 xp bonus for entering (Area) for the first time!

While I do appreciate the XPs and have kept track of how many I have accumulated in this manner, I feel as though this bug should be addressed so I do not it 15th level after a rather robust trading session between the market hall and main square. :)

EDIT: This first occured after a true resurrection applied during a DM event, in the Lake of Mists. BigOrcMan was the DM.


Bugged XPs to Date: ~460


(One from the Crossroads, one from the Lake of Mists, the rest from entering Mistlocke. I did not notice anything applied on entering the Order Priory or the Tower of the Gods.)