NOTE: The Shadowdale Herald is an older issue. There is currently no new issue in development, we are hoping to change that.
=-=-=-=- Letter from the Editor -=-=-=-=
Aye, we have successfully printed another Shadowdale Herald. I have
come to the quick conclusion that telling gossip and rumors is much easier
than managing the production of a newspaper.
In the spirit of the difficulties which this job imposes, I have
increased my salary by eight times of its' previous position. To cover
this large new expense, I have begun to accept advertisements, for a large
fee of course. not all ads receive will be printed, nor will monies be
refunded.
I hope you enjoy this Special Addition of the Shadowdale Herald, and I
look forward to having another edition in print soon.
=-=-=- Immortal News -=-=-=
Shadowdale welcomes: Sunkissed, Aditi, Angelica, Corum, Verigo, Grandwolf,
and Klane
=-=-=- Advertisements -=-=-=
The best Inn and Tavern in the Dales! Even Elminster has stayed with us.
Come and see for yourself at The Old Skull. Just a bit west of the
Wishing Well in historic Shadowdale.
At the Old Skull we have the softest beds for miles, and if it's
excitement you crave, our inn has been host to everything from bardic
competitions, to wizard's duels, to flights of dragons, zhentarim raids,
and drow invasions. For tales of valor and heroism, there's no better
place to find the adventurers of the realms, who will usually gladly tell
their tales for the price of a few drinks. And did we mention our
competitive prices, attached stables, and the scenic countryside of
Shadowdale?
--Jhaele Silvermane & Stoal, Proprieters
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Holy traveler seeks new places to explore.
I am looking for areas of Faerun that I haven't explored. Will
trade for the information with details of places I have seen,
information on magical items I have paid to identify, or information on
the various creatures of the realms that I have engaged in battle. I
have no care for how dangerous a particular dungeon maybe I just want to
know where it is located. Please contact Faelith via mud mail for more
information.
--Faelith Lady Protector of the Dreaming Realms and Holy Defender of
the Goddess
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Jewel of the Desert has Rooms Available
Inn of the Jewelled Hilt
We offer a quite and comfortable resting place for your head, as long
as you are not over five feet tall. In our main lobby is a fireplace
which is always kept burning to keep you warm during the nights, and
specially crafted thick walls to keep you cool during the day. We are on
the main street with plenty of markets, street merchants, and
entertainment. A little ways to the south is Jewel of Desert, commonly
called Port Mir.
I'll give you a very competive room rate and discount if you are of
good chracter. Our Inn is out of the way from the hustle and bustle of
likes of Elf Shadow and Shadowdale, so if quite comfort, convenience, and
low rates is what you are look for - Make your way to the Jewelled Hilt
Inn, located in the The Great Desert.
--Innkeeper of the Jewelled Hilt Inn
=-=-=- News from Afar, by Volothamp Geddarm -=-=-=
I hope this letter finds you readers in excellent health and spirits.
I have been travelling the Realms in search of a mystical portal to
Evermeet, the golden land of Elves. In the short span of time that I have
been searching for this gateway, I have come across many wonderful and
dangerous people and places. My most recent adventure is detailed herein:
While visiting with my old friend Isela, she informed me that there has
been a great increase in travel in the area. She went on to tell me that
adventures, merchants, and thieves from near and afar have been coming
from and heading to a high road east of here. She figured there must be
some sort of new trade route or port. Alas my dear Isela was very correct.
Finally, after a month of working my way through the Daggerford and up
the High road, my eyes were taken by the magnificent jewel of the north.
Waterdeep, or the City of Splendors as most call it, has become the most
influential city in the north and with little argument, the most important
city of all Faerun. An incredible harbor encompasses this city, filled
the darkest blue water your eyes will ever see.
The city itself is complex. It is divided into what they call "Wards".
There is a Sea Ward, North Ward, Castle Ward, Dock Ward, Southern Ward,
and Trades Ward. It also has a portion called the "City of the Dead", but
it was at night when I had made it to that location and I was quickly told
by a passerby not to venture into the City of the Dead at night, for the
sake of my life.
Let me continue to tell you of these interesting Wards. The Government
of Waterdeep, which is a simply a secret council of Lords, most of whom
names are not known to anyone, is located in the Castle Ward. The Castle
Ward is the central ward and it encompasses Mount Waterdeep.
The Dock Ward is situated northeast of the Harbor. This Ward is not
thief friendly at all. Merman looking Guards patrol this Ward with
vengeance. While on the Dock Ward, I got the strange feeling that there
was something very evil and sadistic going on.
The North Ward is tucked in the northwestern portion of the city. Here
you will find the upper echelon of nobility, with their villas and such.
The Sea Ward contains many of the temples of Waterdeep. There is not
short stock of nobility who also make this Ward their home. You might
notice that Waterdeep has a couple of their own Gods they worship.
The Southern Ward is a place of caravan masters and traders, because it
is close to the South Gate, the opening tot he Trade Way. You can find
stables, iron mongers, and a goodly variety of inns and taverns.
The Trades Ward, which is north and connected to both the Dock and
South Ward is the hub for trade. You will find many craftsmen, artisans
and the headquarters to many of the powerful guilds of Waterdeep.
I have been told of a Skull Port and Undermountain, but was again
warned not to venture, into those areas without good company. I will
report back once I discover more about these places.
I will stay in Waterdeep for an undetermined amount of time, but until
we talk again. Farewell, and God Speed.
=-=-=- Shadowdale Herald Humor Section -=-=-=
A young Goblin Cleric is wandering through an elven orchard complaining
that he cant kill anything on his own. He comes upon an Elf carving a
piece of wood. Now he knows that the Elven Woodcutters are very fine
craftsmen. They have been known to make very nice weapons out of
seemingly worthless sticks. The elf takes pity on him and gives him a
crooked stick explaining that it is one of the most helpful weapons that
any class can have at his level.
Later the goblin returns to the orchard looking drastically beaten. The
woodcutter asks what went wrong. The goblin cleric said that he attacked a
small chipmunk on his way back to Shadowdale and it took forever to kill
it. The woodcutter pointed his crooked stick at a tree and a magic bolt
slammed into it. The goblin jumped and said "what's that?"
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A mage, a cleric and a warrior were trapped on a desert island. One day
they were wrestling for some food out on the beach and a lamp got kicked
up out of the sand. A genie popped out of course but no one could figure
out exactly who it was that had found the lamp. So the genie says "I will
grant one of the three wishes to each one of you. One wish apiece, that's
fair."
So the genie asked the mage what he wished for. The mage looked around the
island and said "I starve for knowledge. Send me to the Ancient Libraries
of Far Sea" and POOF he was gone.
The genie then asked the cleric what he wished for. The cleric looked
around the island and said "I seek more wisdom. Send me to the Temples of
Universal Philosophy in Lost Padagonia" and POOF he was gone.
Lastly the genie asked the fighter what he wished for. The fighter looked
around the island and said "I'm feeling lonely. I sure wish my buddies were
back." POOF POOF
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
One hot day in Port Mir a gnome cleric who had just walked a great
distance sat down at the gate to rest. Soon after that an ogre traveler
approached.
The ogre asked the gnome, "C-c-ca-can yo-you t-t-t-t-tell me wh-where the
inn is h-he-he-here?"
The gnome just turned away and said nothing.
The ogre said alittle louder. "C-C-CAN y-you t-t-T-TELL ME wh-where the
INN is h-HE-HERE?!?"
The gnome scooted away a little bit and still didnt answer.
Now the ogre was obviously getting really ticked off. He said, "I
S-S-S-SA-SAID... C-CAN Y-YOU T-T-T-T-T-TE-TELL M-M-ME WH-WH-WHERE"
The guards at the gate had noticed the ruckus and began sliding closer
with their hands on their weapons. Seeing this the ogre thought it was
better just to find someone else to ask. Kicking dirt at the gnome he held
his hands out in plain sight to the guards and proceeded through the gate.
One of the guards asked the gnome cleric
What in the world made you not answer that ogre?
The cleric quietly replied, "W-W-W-Wi-Wisdom."
=-=-=- Interview with Uma -=-=-=
Uma Ravenclaw's Humble Abode
This is the Home of Uma Ravenclaw. The room is huge to accommodate a
woman of Uma's Girth. There is an enormous feather bed in the south-east
corner of the room and a dining area on the opposite side of the room.
Many items have been left scattered around the room. They seem to be the
various souvenirs of Uma's adventurous youth. Some of these items seem to
stand out amongst the others. On the mantelpiece, rest three wondrous
objects: A Hug from Tamara, A Smile from Ash, and A Wink from Ganymede.
These seem to be Uma's most valuable and prized possessions. Exits: North
East South West Up Down
Uma Ravenclaw the Goddess of Girth, Barbarians, and Coding is standing
here.
The floor of Uma's Abode moves and transforms itself into a rich black
soil, which rises from its' lay position and molds itself into the essence
of Bathsheba Zulu, the Goddess of Nature.
Bathsheba curtseys before Uma.
Uma giggles at Bathsheba's flashy and over dramatized entrance.
Bathsheba grins.
Bathsheba says, 'We thank you Goddess Uma, for taking a little time out of
your busy schedule to enlighten us about what is going on in the realm.'
[Uma] says, 'It is my pleasure, Lady Bathsheba. I am always glad to offer
enlightenment, as I am able.'
Bathsheba says, 'You have had brief meetings with mortals on certain
occasions about a possible change in the Realm. What can you tell me about
this shift of the realm?'
[Uma] says, 'Well, this idea began a couple years ago and was undertaken
by Lady Jacinth and myself. The idea was to sift through the fabrics of
our reality and reshape it into a more suitable Realm.'
[Uma] says, 'The central focus of our quest was to redefine the magic's
and skills of the Realms.'
[Uma] says, 'As they exist now, there are many imperfections to their
existence.'
Bathsheba says, 'What occurrence or problems brought about this idea to
redefine magic and skills as they were then, if any.'
[Uma] says, 'Well, for instance there is no continuity in the workings of
similar magic's. For instance the psionic power of levitation, while
similar to the spell for magical flight, they share very few working
similarities...'
Bathsheba nods solemnly.
[Uma] says, 'This makes for a great deal of problems as more and more
powers are researched and given life.'
[Uma] says, 'Therefore we have sought to reshape everything. Including
spells of both Wizards and Clerics, Psionic Powers, as well as skills and
proficiencies of each class.'
[Uma] says, 'By shaping them to be consistent with one another, we are
able to make not only the final result (the spell or the skill) more
consistent and efficient, but also allow the resources of our Realms to be
utilized more effectively.'
Bathsheba says, 'I, along with my readers, must appreciate what an arduous
task this must be at your hands to reshape what you have already cast.'
Uma nods solemnly.
Bathsheba says, 'How long has this been in the works, and do you have
other Gods and Immortals assisting you?'
[Uma] says, 'Aye, there is a Tribunal of Immortals that has been convened
to assist me with this task.'
[Uma] says, 'We began 2 years ago but the project became lost in the folds
of time.'
[Uma] says, 'So just prior to the last winter solstice we re-opened the
endeavor.'
[Uma] says, 'We laid out the facets of our reality and divided them by
type.'
Bathsheba listens attentively.
[Uma] says, 'Then each group of Immortals assembled to reform but a single
layer of the Realm's reality.'
[Uma] says, 'I dipped my hands into the essence of Psionic's and swirled
the chaos a bit.'
[Uma] says, 'When I was finished I took the some 35 powers our Psionicists
currently possess and produced more than 125 powers for them.'
Bathsheba blinks her eyes in wonder.
[Uma] says, 'Our basis, as you are well aware, is that of the otherworldly
entity known as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Therefore we are working
to move "in line with" that.'
Bathsheba nods solemnly.
[Uma] says, 'But that should not be interpreted as moving "to" AD&D...'
[Uma] says, 'We do not wish to "be" AD&D, but rather to be compatible with
it and to utilize the balances that it possesses.'
[Uma] says, 'Our worlds are far too dissimilar to be precisely as it is.'
Bathsheba says, 'Simply Amazing!'
Bathsheba says, 'You speak of changes in skills and spells, but what of
races. What if anything will be change with them?'
[Uma] says, 'Well, as the essence of mortal talents was altered, the need
arose to locate and rectify the paralleling problems that plague our races
and classes of the Realms.'
[Uma] says, 'Just as one of *many* examples we have Magic Users.'
[Uma] says, 'Currently our Magic Users all exist as Mages. That is, they
have no particular specialty, nor weakness.'
Bathsheba nods solemnly.
[Uma] says, 'This makes for a very static and somewhat boring existence.'
[Uma] says, 'Therefore I have smote them and fractured them into wizards
of specialty.'
[Uma] says, 'By shaping the shards of Magic, I have been able to create
Specialist Wizards that are focused on a particular school of magic.'
[Uma] says, 'By the way, in the reshaping of Magic, it has gained the
clarity of schools and spheres to help guide the powers.'
[Uma] says, 'Therefore, in the end a student of the arcane sciences might
choose to devote special effort into the study of, perhaps, alteration
magic and become a Transmuter.'
Bathsheba says, 'Incredible!'
[Uma] says, 'Or he or she might simply choose to be a Mage and study them
all with comparable effort.'
Bathsheba says, 'These schools of magic you speak of for mages. Will there
be something similar for non-high-magic classes?'
Bathsheba says, 'Non-High-Magic including classes such as Ranger, Paladin
as well as Thief and Warrior.'
[Uma] says, 'Aye, how astute you are indeed! With this fracturing of the
talents of that class, came the similar fracturing of other classes. Some
have referred to these differences as "Kits".'
[Uma] says, 'Therefore we will be adopting class-based Kits for all
classes.'
Bathsheba says, 'Please explain further if you will.'
[Uma] says, 'For instance a cleric can choose to specialize his/her powers
by devoting to a single Deity (Of the Forgotten Realms). Therefore
gaining special powers and restrictions based on the will of the Deity.'
[Uma] says, 'Likewise, a thief might choose to focus on a particular skill
that he/she values. Such as an assassin, or a burglar.'
Bathsheba says, 'Ah I see.'
[Uma] says, 'With such focus comes many benefits and penalties.'
[Uma] says, 'But the essence of those are yet to be untangled.'
Bathsheba says, 'Levels.....What if anything will change about the current
way a mortal gains levels through experience points earning by killing and
producing spells.'
Uma cringes in terror!
Uma giggles.
You chuckle politely.
[Uma] says, 'Well, currently it is unsettled as to how the progression of
mortals will be altered.'
[Uma] says, 'There are many ideas, but nothing that is unanimous yet.'
[Uma] says, 'However I can hint to the direction it will most likely
take.. but understand that nothing is settled as of yet.'
Bathsheba says, 'Understood!'
[Uma] says, 'I would like to remedy the "ease" of re-leveling. By
re-leveling I mean that once a mortal experiences the world in one form,
the duplication of that life becomes progressively easier.'
[Uma] says, '(OOC - it is currently too easy for a mortal to level to 50,
then help their newbie with equipment or directly with friends to
power-level the newbie up. We want to try and maintain the challenges of
the game so that it will not lose its ent
ertainment and become trivial or boring).'
[Uma] says, 'This is what we would like to alter.'
Bathsheba nods solemnly.
[Uma] says, 'One method is to remove the kill-list penalty and implement a
"trivial" cap.'
[Uma] says, 'That might be that if you are a level 50 Warrior, you would
not learn anything at all from slaying a level 20 fiend.'
Bathsheba chuckles politely.
[Uma] says, 'An example in our realms might be the occasional Adept
Paladin you see in Khmer vanquishing the thieves there. While noble,
there is little challenge in it for them and thus would not be a learning
experience for them.'
[Uma] says, 'This idea is that you must seek out appropriate challenges in
order to learn and grow.'
Bathsheba says, 'That makes a lot of sense.'
[Uma] says, 'You cannot simply locate sacred creatures of low level (OOC -
exact experience MOBs) and learn from them.'
[Uma] says, 'This might help to promote exploration of all the Realms.'
[Uma] says, 'Much like the kill-list system attempted to do.'
[Uma] says, 'However in the new system it is much more difficult to
circumvent.'
Bathsheba says, 'When you spoke of the more than triple spells that
Psionicists will be granted - Will that be the typical case? Or will some
classes get a decrease in available spells?'
[Uma] says, 'I can say that no class's total abilities will decrease in
number. Actually, I have a feeling that most will change in a similar
manner to the Psionicists. I have also taken the wizardry magic under my
wing....'
[Uma] says, 'Thus far the wizards have grown from their maybe 50 spells,
to more than 400 spells.'
Bathsheba blinks her eyes in amazement.
[Uma] says, 'The idea is that we will have many more spells that will be
quite focused. And therefore you might have to seek out a specialist if
and when you need a certain spell.'
[Uma] says, 'But with the large number of options, it expands the
possibilities dramatically.'
[Uma] says, 'Therefore each time I play as a particular class, I am able
to be almost an entirely different experience.'
Bathsheba says, 'I see.'
[Uma] says, 'For example, playing an Evoker will be VERY different from
playing an Enchanter.'
[Uma] says, 'Each will need to learn entirely separate tactics to advance
and prosper.'
Bathsheba says, 'With so many new spells, it seems to me that either there
must be more experience gained to earn a new level than the current system
or there should be more levels than 50. Please correct me if I am wrong.'
[Uma] says, 'We will be looking at how experience is gained and how it is
divided among a group. But you are correct, this is definitely something
that we wish to improve. We do not want it to be a trivial matter to
start a character and have them at full power anytime soon thereafter.'
[Uma] says, 'While we do not want it to be impossible to become Adept, we
want to ensure that if you are Adept.. you are ADEPT. =)'
Bathsheba smiles in agreement.
[Uma] says, 'You must truly know the Realms to work up that far.'
[Uma] says, 'Many gods have offered bountiful areas that are blessed with
high adventure to offer great experiences.. that is great, but if every
God does this, we have a swamp of experiences rather than a world.'
[Uma] says, 'Does that make any sense?'
Uma giggles.
Bathsheba says, 'Makes perfect sense to me now.'
You smile happily.
[Uma] says, 'There is a great deal that will change... but it all follows
one central idea.'
[Uma] says, 'We want to create endless options. Therefore the Realms will
hold interest indefinitely.'
Bathsheba says, 'So... about how long would to estimate this great
undertaking being ready for implementation?'
[Uma] says, 'Well, we are working as best we can, but there is *such* a
great volume of tasks to accomplish that it is taking a great deal of
time. Also, when we complete the work we will have a least 1 to 2 months
of play testing before we open it up for "real". We will give more info
on this as we know it.
Bathsheba says, 'A project such as this with so much Girth, deserves no
less than your attention Uma.'
Bathsheba says, 'I thank you for your time once again. I know the mortals
will enjoy what you have said, and take due and timely notice of the
same.'
============================================================================
Ifyou see anything worthy to print or would like to write a story for the
Herald, please submit your article via mudmail or email to Bathsheba.
Herald Manager: Unicus
Herald Editor: Bathsheba
Herald Writers: Jelindra & Snowhawk
This Edition Contributors: Uma and Nyght, Jokes by Unicus
HTM Coder: Lillith