I know its been a while since I wrote down what I've been doing in Aeden Aqueous, but that's because I've been having such fun there that I haven't wanted to take the time to quietly sit at at the tavern in Fairhaven and write about my experiences rather than having them! Ba'Naer Liffan finally convinced me to stop in when he saw me visiting the merchants around the bar as I was offloading some of the resources I'd gotten last night, so I'm sitting here with a pint and catching up on my correspondence, before going back to living my adventures.
The developers at Nervax are working on Ring Reward Points as a way of rewarding players who go through Ring adventures and as a way of ranking scenarios, authors, and adventure masters (like GM's in table top games). The official information we currently have was originally presented in the October 19 news article “Ring – The Scoring System” and was updated today with “Answers To Questions From The Boards - 2006-11-07 - RRP Edition”.
Something has happened to Atys, some dark force is scaring these beautiful lands. Hug your friends and family before you investigate, it could the last time you can. Some mysterious power has taken control over the green planet. How long will your world be under their control? Are you homin enough to make a difference?
This was the warning given me by the guards as I ventured out of Fairhaven during the season known colloquially as slaughter week.
There are two factions on Atys: Kami and Karavan. Both possess unique powers, both claim to be the true guardians of the planet, both come to the aid of homins as long as we obey their rules, and both are secretive about their origins and their true intentions. For centuries now, they have followed different paths, observing one another without confrontation. I first encountered the Kami and the Karavan at the Ranger camp near Silan, where I did some tasks for them, and learned a bit about them in the process.
Strange and eerie entities capable of taking on various appearances, the Kamis constitute a major influence on Atys and its habitants. They stand vigil over the plant kingdom and ensure that no one may destabilize the fragile equilibrium of the planet they cherish. They share a collective conscience and it would seem that no living species may escape their perception, and consequently, their wrath if their laws of conservation are transgressed.
The Karavan is composed of mysterious anthropoid beings in black suits and helmets that cover their entire heads. With the exception of the Prime Roots, the Karavan is present throughout Atys. Indeed, the homins have never yet explored an area where Karavan presence is not felt. The members of the Karavan live in great metallic vehicles and use weapons of technology as yet unknown to hominkind. The homins mostly hold them in awe.
Generally, the Matis and the Trykers follow the teachings of the Karavan, while the Fyros and Zoraïs follow the teachings of the Kamis. However, a homin may choose to ally with either faction, or remain neutral. However, if you remain neutral you are lacking in teleports to certain areas, primarily the highest level areas and the Prime Roots, and access to some faction traders. Neither of those are unsurmountable for a character who takes the more challenging moral high road of staying neutral in the conflict between the Kami and the Karavan.
Since the last time I set down my thoughts on parchment, I've been a busy Tryker. I've improved my melee skills and offensive magic skills a bit, vastly improved my defensive magic, left the Refugees of Istaria guild and joined Aeden Artisans, and gone exploring with my new guildmates into some very scary locations.
The last time I stopped by the scribe to record my thoughts, I had just dressed in the Ranger gear that Ranger Chiang at the refugee camp by the ruins of Silan had given me for the assistance I provided the community there. I'd also grabbed my duellist blade and dagger and emptied my packs into the storage on my stabled mektoubs and the inventory of the raw resources merchants. Thus equipped and unencumbered, I headed to the sandy plain northeast of Fairhaven to beat on cloppers. After improving my sword-and-dagger skills over several sessions, I headed back into town to empty my packs again and did some strength training, then started learning to use the double-bladed two-handed sword Fire and Ice. Once I figured out the basics with that weapon, I headed back out into the wilds to beat on cloppers some more.
I started the evening taking on the cloppers on the sandy plains north and west of Fairhaven, but felt the battles were becoming too routine. So I decided to see if I could fight the stingas by myself.
So I headed west off the sandy plains past the outpost, and swam southeast to the watchtower and the sandbar I've taken to calling Wandaxia's Island, almost due east of Fairhaven. There I spent the evening using my rot spell on the intelligent plants and trying to avoid their shocking counter-attacks. I could attack three or four plants before needing to rest to allow my sap reserves to replenish, and quickly progressed to level 40 in offensive magic. I also gathered quite a few bits and pieces from the defeated plants that Nutsi will be able to craft into jewelry.
Speaking of crafting, after fighting for a while on Wandaxia's Island, I headed back to Fairhaven and spent some time by my packers at the stables crafting armor. I've been making regular trips back to the stables when I started to get encumbered with salvaged shells, hides, tails, and secretions, and leaving those crafting materials on my packers. Working through the goods, and purchasing a bit more moss from Ba'Laupsey Lixie, I managed to attain level XX as an armor crafter.
After that, it was time to go visit the trainers, where I picked up a new life aura for when I'm hunting with Nutsi, the next tier of intelligence and wisdom to let me manage more sap and help me recover sap more quickly, and the Tryker light gloves plan.
Then, back to the stables to grab my Ranger armor instead of the light armor I wear when crafting, my duelist blade and fine dagger, and back to hunting cloppers. This time I was using melee instead of casting, trying to get some physical exercise and training. That's where I called it quits for the evening and where I'll pick up again next time.
Goari and cloppers infest the sandy plain on the island that boasts Fairhaven, the Tryker city. I've been taking time to periodically cull their numbers with my cold spells, and crafting some medium armor from their shells and secretions. I've also been hunting the messab at the northern part of that plain, and making light armor from their skins. Its hard to find good, usable, messab skins though, so I've also been foraging for fine shu fiber on the rise just north east of Fairhaven with which to craft more armor. All of this has been giving me a slow, but steady, progression in my skills. I've still got more desires for training than I have points for at this point though.
Nevrax, announced today the released of the Ryzom Ring, its first ground breaking expansion for the massively-multiplayer online science fantasy role playing game (MMORPG) Ryzom. Be among the first in online role playing history to create, play and share your own adventures in a persistent online world!
"After two years of challenging development, we are very proud to be the first MMORPG studio in the world to launch integrated Adventure creation tools”, declared Daniel Miller, CTO and Executive Producer of the Ring. “Ryzom Ring offers a whole new dimension of massive online gaming, empowering players to add their own adventures for the first time within a persistent online world. We are now looking forward to seeing quite how ingenious our players will be and admiring the scenarios they dream up”.
The Ryzom Ring delivers unrivalled power to the players.
Now you can not only play challenging adventures created by others but you can also play GOD as the Adventure Master (AM). The only limit now to the player’s power is their own imagination!
The Ryzom Ring Editor is both powerful and extremely easy to use. Within a few minutes one can whip up a great looking scenario in one of many magnificent settings, filled out with the magical creatures and characters that make Ryzom's world unique. The editor offers complete systems for scripting dialogs, laying out routes and zones for NPCs and setting up events of all kinds, offering almost limitless power to create...
Ryzom Ring offers a wealth of possibilities… All Ryzom subscribers have access to the Ring. Players under free trial will also be able to discover the power of the Ryzom Ring with full access to the adventure creation tools and a basic set of creatures and scenery to play with. They will not however be able to participate in player-created scenarios, being restricted to the supplied examples.
To try out Ryzom Ring and Ryzom for free, with unlimited playing time, follow the free trial link on ryzom.com (no credit card is required).
I know its been a while since I wrote down what I've been doing in Aeden Aqueous, but that's because I've been having such fun there that I haven't wanted to take the time to quietly sit at at the tavern in Fairhaven and write about my experiences rather than having them! Ba'Naer Liffan finally convinced me to stop in when he saw me visiting the merchants around the bar as I was offloading some of the resources I'd gotten last night, so I'm sitting here with a pint and catching up on my correspondence, before going back to living my adventures.
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