[2008/10] Seeds of Corruption

[Ziv]

Atop one of the high cliffs overlooking Mayoi, Nithruvis the Cruel stood with arms crossed. Here in charge of a scouting party, he had left his followers and servants behind to spend a few moments in solitude, considering the land before them.

He looked over the hills, the sea, and the little valley in which the human town had been built. He let his thoughts wander to the days when all this land, the whole wartorn island of Dereth, had been ruled by his people, the watchers and witches of the Falatacot. The domains of the Falatacot had been wiped away by war, cataclysm, and climactic change thousands of years ago, the lands re-settled by their cousins and then re-settled by a seemingly endless supply of squalling, fearful, fragile humans. It was enough to make Nithruvis sick with rage at all that had been stolen from his people.

He closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander back through the ancient memory that he and other powerfully blessed Falatacot shared. Even as his eyes surveyed the sandy cliffs and sloping grassy hills of this region, he could see within his mind the verdant jungle that had once stood here. Though he gazed upon the wooden hovels of the human interlopers, he could still see the glorious stone temples that his people had once raised. When he sniffed the air, he could smell the bread and meats in the cookfires of the human settlement mixing with the heady smell of the sacred herbs and living flesh that his people had sacrificed to their dark gods, millennia ago…

He was broken from his reverie by an excited shout from the valley below, where all his followers were still searching for something… To his ears, it sounded like they'd found something, possibly the thing that he and his counterparts around had been scouring all of Dereth for. Soon enough, as expected, his chief messenger Ssissanak came dutifully trotting up the hill. Nithruvis kept his eyes closed, listening to the Sclavus's labored breath wheezing through the metal faceplate it wore over its snake-shaped head.

“Commander,” the snake hissed, “the scouts have recovered this. We think it is the stone you seek.” Bending low in reverence, the Sclavus presented him with a chunk of iridescent stone, glowing faintly in the light of dusk. It still had clumps of mud clinging to it, but the power present within the stone could not be concealed by mere dirt.

Nithruvis held the hunk of stone close to his face, examining its every feature and facet. He ran his long, elegant fingers over its oddly smooth surface, delighting in the tingle of magic he felt from it. He sniffed it and found something familiar and comforting in it. Finally comforted, he smiled softly and looked down at the Sclavus, who took a wary step back. Ssissanak was well familiar with this infamous Falatacot noble's vicious mood changes, and he could not tell if Nithruvis was genuinely pleased with the piece of stone or if he was merely taking pre-emptive pleasure in yet another outburst of sadism.

“It will serve,” Nithruvis told the messenger curtly. “Dispatch four messages for me. Tell my masters, the Patriarchs, that I have chosen this location for a base. Inform my three fellow commanders of the choice we have made. Direct the sorcerers to re-route the fortress accordingly. And tell the taskmasters that the time is upon us, and they must open the breeding pens and the dungeons to assemble a raiding party. Quickly, now.”

Ssissanak bowed quickly and hurried off to make all the necessary arrangements. As he joined the crowd below, another one of Nithruvis' retinue came trotting up the hill. This time it was the herald, Dhissikh.

“Master, is it true?” the smaller snake asked him. “We found the stones of the summoning circle?”

Nithruvis nodded. “We have found the site of one of the great temples of our lost age. As the Wheel of All Things brings destruction and renewal, so will we gather up the bones of that which was destroyed and infuse them with the blood of that which still lives. We will complete the circle once more, and so raise the temple to serve our lord once more…”

The insolent herald interrupted him. “But it is a new lord! A different lord! The Matriarchs did not speak of T'thuun with kindness or fondness! Master, I ask you again to reconsider your allegiance to these upjumped Patriarchs! They are ignorant of the Lore of Blood and Bone, and do not know the Old Ways! By turning our backs on the Matriarchs, we risk our very --”

Whatever else Dhissikh meant to say was lost when Nithruvis spun and grabbed his throat with one large, strong hand. The ancient noble lifted the small, struggling Sclavus into the air and shook him like a rag doll.

“The Old Ways are lost! The Matriarchs failed us and their hoary hidden masters failed us! It is time we turned to a new power to reclaim what is rightfully ours! Your prattling about loyalty to those who have failed us, over and over again, has grown tiring, little snake. You are a slave! A creature entirely of our creation! It is not for you or the rest of your simple-minded brood to question my judgment or the judgment of the Patriarchs. To speak as you have spoken about the Lord of the Creeping Blight is blasphemy.”


Dhissikh hissed and gurgled protest as Nithruvis tightened his grasp. Finally, there was a crack and a final long hiss, and the little herald stopped struggling. Nithruvis looked over his shoulder. Down in the valley, all his servants had seen this confrontation, and the price Dhissikh paid for his insolence and presumption. He sneered at them and flung the small, reptilian corpse into the sea. Laughing in wicked pleasure, Nithruvis wiped his hands and started walking down the hill to rejoin his newly chastened minions.

[Ziv]

Aun Hautona was stripping a Carenzi carcass on the shores of the lake above the North Fork Dam when he smelled something foul, carried to him by the wind. He dropped his skinning knife, work forgotten, and stood up straight. He pointed his long snout straight up in the air, closed his eyes, and let the information come to him.

After a few moments of deep concentration, he dropped down into a hunting stance, picked up his spear, and shuffled cautiously into the nearby brush. He allowed his hunter instincts and scout training to take over, and moved silently to stalk whatever new presence was fouling the sacred lands.

Aun Hautona was one of the most accomplished scouts of the Aun tribe. He knew every tree and rock on Marae Lassel and could navigate from the Deru stand to the lower falls of the dam with his eyes closed, just by touch and smell… And yet all his familiarity with the land and his finely honed senses did not keep him from being ambushed by a pack of hissing, chattering snake-men. He'd barely come within sight of the trees before the Blight-tainted marauders surprised him. These were not like any Sclavus he'd seen before. These Sclavus walked about in suits of armor with terrifying steel masks that covered their scaly faces and magnified every hiss and snort into a disorienting metallic cacophony.

He hardly had any time to react before their weapons found his flesh. He saw the madness in the cold serpent eyes of one of these snakes, and then felt a dozen cuts and stabs as they closed around him, weapons rising and falling in a strangely harmonious motion. All he remembered when he awoke at the lifestone was the terror, the pain, and the awful stink of the Blight that the Sclavus carried with them.

His kinsmen found him there, prostrate before the Timaru lifestone, shivering in horror.

“What has happened, cousin?” asked one who bore the markings of a warrior.

“The Blight has come to our land,” Aun Hautona croaked through a parched throat. “Snakemen at the Deru trees, stinking of corruption.”

The shaman Aun Kimintari came to stand over him. “We will gather warriors to drive them off. You will lead us to them, and we will purge them from our lands before they can set root.” She spoke in a firm, commanding voice that left no room for him to question orders. She helped him up and started quizzing him about what he'd seen and how many snakes there were. Messengers went forth to summon warriors to fight.

Soon enough, a dozen strong warriors had converged by the lifestone, placing themselves at Aun Kimintari's service to drive the blight from the sacred Deru. Hautona took the lead as they marched overland towards the sacred copse.

Again, they came just within sight of the trees before a chittering snake in leather armor jumped from cover and charged Hautona, who was walking twenty paces ahead of the warrior party. He readied his spear to meet the charge when a dozen thrown javelins came whistling through the air from behind him. Each of the javelins found its mark on the body of the charging snake. Impaled a dozen times over, the Sclavus hissed and rattled as it fell over, leaking dark blood onto the dirt. In the distance, a horde of other Sclavus, armored in leather, scalemail, and splint mail, turned and took notice of the war party. As one, they brandished their weapons and charged forward. With a bloodcurdling war cry, the warriors of Timaru village charged to meet them.

Hautona moved to charge with them, when he felt a strong, warm hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw that Kimintari had not charged, either. She kept her staff high in the air and muttered an ancient song, weaving magic into a spell. Hautona tried his best to watch both the shaman next to him and the fight in front of him. He could feel the immense power that Kimintari was channeling, could feel the land responding to the song. He felt the spirits of the air and earth swirling about the shaman, then felt the ecstatic release of the shaman's magic as she unleashed the spirits to attack the Blight that the Sclavus had brought with them…

And then he felt the shock and terror as Kimintari's magical assault was rebuffed. He heard the cry of the spirits as they ran into some vile magical aura around the Deru copse, and could feel their pain as they were ensnared and devoured by an evil spirit of vast and malevolent power. Kimintari sunk to her knees, keening in agony, and Hautona suddenly felt a chill go through him as he thought of his warrior kin who had charged into the evil spirit's power.

Sure enough, the ground shook all around the battling Aun and their snake-headed foes. Massive black tentacles erupted out of the ground and wrapped around the warriors. One by one, each of the brave Aun warriors was disarmed, engulfed, and crushed by the demon tentacles.


“Help,” he heard Aun Kimintari whisper. “Take me to the village, Hautona… We must find help…”

[Ziv]

Hello there and welcome to the October 2008 Release Notes! The Festival season is upon us once again and with it comes some of our favorite traditions here in Dereth. Masks and Guises return as well as the decorations that mark the season. Lets see what else is new and exciting this month in Dereth!

• Level 8 vulns are now in the game and can be crafted In addition level 8 protections have been adjusted to be in line with where they should have been.
• Society Recall Gems are now stackable
• The Pyre Skeleton Jaws now stack
• Dark Isle Black Coral and Dark Isle Reports now stack and have no restriction on pickup however the npc's will take all that you have when you complete the quest.
• The mana blight crystals from the Corrupted Pyramids quest now stack
• Fall Monster spawns are now showing up
• Mask and Guise body parts have started to appear again
• The pumpkin Buffers and access to the Disco will be returning this month
• The cooler weather has affected the landscape. Butterfly's and baby creatures should no longer be out.
• Town faction guards should properly attack neutral players that go into the pvp towns now and sadly all the bunnies that get too close to the fort as well.
• The drop rate on Pristine Mana Shards has been increased.
• The spell Zongo's Fist should now surpass Strength of Diemos.
• The towns of Arwic, Ayan Baqur and Mayoi have been reporting some strange activity lately.
• It appears that T'thuun is still trying to gain control of the Deru.
• On November 2nd, Asheron's Call will celebrate its 9th anniversary. Make sure you are around that day for some special fun!
• Turning in pristine mana shards now gets you a key that can be used on any of the chests in the mana foundries
• The Sclavus using the Tthuun Dagger have been adjusted
• The Lord Gateway quest has been fixed to let you repeat the quest if you pick up the wrong item, the riddle that was bugged on this quest has also been fixed

So there are just some of the things we have in store for Asheron's Call in October. Please remember that along with everything listed here, there are several new quests and exciting things going into the game for the October event.