News for 8

Although we only had minimal turnout because of the last minute change of plans [HML/LoY battle postponed], the first attempt at a regular TRC gathering was a successful one. In the future, it was decided, Queen Ruby will "hold court" in a different town each time. From an RP point of view, she will be visiting the people; from a practical point of view, this will increase our visibility for recruiting, etc. Everyone should put the TRC website on their paperdoll [makes it easier to dole out when people ask] and point people to the "Join" pages for more information. Please read the joining information if you haven't already, and keep your eye out for potential recruits. Finally, I want to say thank you to everyone who showed up last night. If you didn't, you missed the royal sisters beating each other up; Jad getting his butt kicked by Merc; Marlena trying to clean the dirt off....the ground; and me bribing my Sissy for large cash payments not to print a certain picture I sketched at a particularly opportune moment *sorry can't print it don't even ask well ok maybe if the price is right bidding starts at 50k* *giggle*

Am I done talking yet? No not quite: don't forget that the Allied guild hunt is tonight [6pm Pacific time, Magincia Parliament Building, Trammel]. The RP summary has also been updated.

Due to illness and recent leadership changes the HML/LoY Battle has been postponed. Tonight will therefore be the first TRC-only guild night. Members of TRC will be holding court beginning at 6pm Pacific; for tonight, meet at the Magincia bank, Trammel. A permanent meeting place will be determined for future meetings.

The Elder Council is also pleased to announce that the TRC Recruiting/Membership guidelines are now complete. By following the "Join" button, you will find two documents. The first is the basic outline of requirements for membership. Candidates for membership really only *need* to read this page. The second document contains 1) what the sponsor needs to know; and 2) the criteria the Council of Elders will use in determining membership. Guild members should be familiar with the sponsorship guidelines so that they can assist their candidates for membership. Further questions or comments about the Recruiting/Membership guidelines should be addressed to the Council of Elders for future consideration. Thanks!

That's right: after almost exactly a year and a half of faithful service...and after right around 60,200 posts [give or take a few, I was too heart-broken to remember the exact count =P]...our beloved board kicked the bucket, went belly up, DIED. We're all pretty sure it's Jad's fault. Um, yeah *tries not to look guilty.*

I looked up the start date in my old news files and I found the exact day's news when the board started. As a sort of "On that date in history" thing, here's the news from the day the message board started [A Sunday, of all things, and TWO updates, lol; I must have been nuts, ha!]:

Sunday, March 21, 1999

11:45AM

Ruby sent around an ICQ to let everyone know that the Questing is beginning again today:

We will begin the main plots again this afternoon (Jad KOS, S'karlett banished but NOT KOS [yes, please don't kill me :P --ed.], Ruby's insanity, the potion of clarity, and the quest for the items needed for the ritual of cleansing)I would like to get up a group of people to 'hunt' for the items late this afternoon or early evening. Please let me know when you can be on today, or if you can Thanks! Ruby

10:30AM

The new SitePowerUP message board is now fully set up and ready to go. Duvall, Sklar and Ruby: to set up your subadmin spots, I need you to go to SitePowerUP.com and register for a
User ID [under "apply"] if you don't already have one. Then I need you to e-mail me those numbers so I can set up your subadmin profiles. Thanks :)

Angie caught 8 treasures maps last night, so we have some treasure hunts coming up. Also, I now have well over 1000 cooked fish steaks, so if anyone needs some food let me know!

Ah....Message Board....I know you've been reincarnated with a new message count, but it's just not the same. *boo hoo* Rest in Peace.

And now *rubs hands together* let's see how quickly we can get back to 60k posts =P

In other, slightly less solemn news, *still sniffling*: I believe there is an HML/LoY battle tomorrow night; however, there has been some reshuffling among the ranks, so keep your eyes here for the latest info [and the battle rules] when I get it.

The Council of Elders is pleased to announce that The Royal Court will be instituting a weekly TRC guild-night on Tuesdays. The emphasis of TRC's guild-night will be roleplaying and to that end Queen Ruby Flash will be holding Court [Time and Place to be announced]. At times the Queen may order individual quests or group hunts for treasure; other times we may simply hold court to allow our characters to interact. At all times, however, the goal of guild-night will be to roleplay rather than "go somewhere." We will not automatically be going hunting or to a dungeon every week; instead, the emphasis will be on roleplaying in the court of Queen Ruby, with other events following as appropriate to the roleplay. On HML/LoY war nights, the court will necessarily turn it's attention to the battle for the throne instead. NOTE: All members of TRC are welcome and must use a TRC character on guild night [no HML or LoY characters unless it is war-night or a particular story-driven plot it being played out; we want the "TRC" name as visible as possible]. This is a TRC-only guild-night [for members and possible non-TRC recruits], although exceptions can be made if other characters are involved in a particular storyline or RP scenario with a member of the court. We would like to emphasize that our goal is not to exclude anyone, but rather to ensure that TRC be given a chance to focus on roleplay and increase TRC visibility and cohesiveness in game.

Questions or comments regarding guild-night should be addressed to the Council of Elders via the e-mail link under "Quick Links." Also, look for more announcements in the coming weeks as the Council is working hard for the future of TRC.

Thanks, and have a great day!

Just a reminder that the Allied Guild Hunt is tonight at 6pm Pacific. Meet at the Magincia Parliament Building, Trammel. Also, the RP Summary Page has been updated with Arakthor's visit and capture as well as some other stuff: Read all about it Here!

The HML/LoY Battle planned for this evening has been postponed for a week [due to RL priorities for some of the players involved]. In the meantime, catch up on the latest RP regarding the battle which can be found in today's RP update on the RP Board Daily Summary.

As some of you may have gathered by now, the TRC Elder Council met last Thursday to begin discussing the guild and its future. To that end we have also put up a Elder-only messageboard to help us hash out the issues that need discussing as we move towards our goals [once we decide what those goals are gonna be, hehe]. If you have any suggestions/concerns/ideas that you wish to put before the council please feel free to e-mail the Elder Council using the link under Quick Links to your right. Also, keep your eyes here for more information as it develops.

Quite a lot of RP happened over the end of last week [so much so that I had a hard time keeping track of it all, so if you think I missed something significant let me know]. If you missed what happened the first time, or want to re-cap, check out the RP Summary.

Also, for those of you new to RP or feeling a little unsure about jumping into our board RP, here's a link that might be of interest. I found it on another site, and while it's a little more rigid [in terms of 'thee' and 'thou'] than we've ever been, it still has some helpful hints and information the hesitant might find useful. Read it for interest only and take it with a grain of salt; it's not the only way to RP, but it does have some things that may help the unsure get started. Enjoy: "What is Roleplaying?"

We were honored to have a large group of ES join us for our weekly allied guild hunt. There was quite a turnout overall. Lord Phoenix announced that there is a special event planned for this Saturday [along the lines of a quest] and that next Wednesday there will be a specially planned assault on the Terathan keep. Stay tuned to KS/TRC messageboards [and here] for details later in the week.

We then divided up into four teams lead by Orion of TRC; Zoe of VK; Merria of KS; and Dori of ES; and headed out to the mountains and forest around Shame. Goal? to hunt and collect bottles of ale and liquor. The group returning with the most bottles would win 50k. At the end of two hours, everyone gathered for Queen Ruby to tally the results. Dori's team had 9 bottles; Zoe's team, 11 bottles; Orion's team finished second with 16 bottles; and Merria's team gathered first place with a grand total of 24 bottles. Congratulations to Merria and her team!!

Finally, a reminder to all HML and LoY that the second battle for Mondain's Skull is being planned for next Tuesday. Please see your respective leaders for more information and details. Thanks!

Queen Ruby posted this announcement on the message board yesterday regarding the future of TRC:

As you know, last week was a week of battles and heartache. We fought through them, and came out alive.

This week I hope to start out on the right foot, and keep that foot forward from hence forth.

I would like to introduce to the members of The Royal Court, and our allies, the new face of TRC. The following people have agreed to become Elders within the court, and together we shall progress the guild in a positive direction, along with the help of the rest of the court.

Kevlar, Sorcerer Elder
Palamon, Knight Elder
Ruby Flash, Queen Elder
S'karlett, Princess Elder
Zircon, Monk Elder
(and no, these titles aren't real, they are there for show.. unless the Elders like them of course)

The members of TRC, if you have concerns you would like voiced to the Council of Elders, do not hesitate to approach any one of us. We shall take all concerns and comments to council meetings.

What does this mean for the guild? Hopefully a fresh start and a happy future, with promotions and titles and new members. What does this mean to the Elders? Hard work and dedication at first, and a continuation of duty after that. What does this mean to our allies? Hopefully a less dependant group of people, and a larger presence in the world.

Thank you everyone for the time and *loyalty* you have shown TRC. Working together, we can make it a group to be proud of!

~ Queen Ruby Flash

Eventually I will be putting up a "Mail the Elders" link [once I get Elders' permission to use their e-mail addy's]. For the time being, if you have a concern or issue you would like to make the Elders aware of, feel free to use the "E-mail the Web-Goddess" button to the right and I'll forward your mail along to the other elders. Thanks!

Think you missed some RP on the board yesterday? then click the "RP Board Daily Summary" link over under Quick Links to catch up.

Allied guild hunt tonight, 6pm Pacific time, Magincia Parliament Building, Trammel.

Not too much to report today, just some things to pass along. Remember to check the RP Board Daily Summary, which will always be the top link under "Quick Links." I've updated it with yesterday's RP and will do so every day (so long as there's something to report).

For those of you new to the court and/or wishing to meet the guilds that make up the joint village of Newcastle, reminder that there is an allied guild hunt tomorrow night at 6pm Pacific time, Magincia Parliament Building, Trammel.

Finally, Ruby put up a *very* funny TRC/D&D parody over at the Newcastle site. Check it out here: A Dungeon Adventure.

Many of us were rather stunned when he dropped the news, since he asserted he'd be a bachelor forever, but on Sunday Jad, nephew to Queen Ruby Flash, announced that he is to be married to Mistress Vik. Congratulations to the happy couple!

A client patch 2.00f is being released today to "address crash issues related to mage hats." If you have trouble receiving the patch, Stratics has more information to help you.

Not much to report today, except to tell you that I've put a new feature on the website: a daily [well, mostly, heh] re-cap of any character-driven RP that takes place on our often swift-moving board. The point of this feature is to summarize all those little threads and posts that, over a day's time, can add up to something to note because it affects larger storylines, character status, or appears to be a storyline in the works. When I say that it will be primarily for "character-driven RP" I mean that I will be using my discretion to decide if something is really part of a character and/or storyline...or is just "playing around." I will always try to err on the side of inclusion. However, if, at any time, I leave off a thread you've been a part of the previous day, and you think it's important to note, please don't stew about it thinking I'm ignoring you. I could have a) just plain forgotten about the thread; or b) missed its relevance. So if I do miss something, e-mail me and I'll include it asap :) You can find the temporary link to this summary under "Quick Links" until I make a permanent button or link to it. The page *is* updated with yesterday's RP; however, I didn't read yesterday's board with this in mind, so I probably missed something. Consider today just a trial run.

Last night while Princess S'karlett was at the bank of Magincia preparing for the allied guild hunt, a female bard came by and seemed to be looking for help. Read more about the visit from Meredith here: A Bard's Tale.

Also last night was the weekly allied guild hunt. Although I was unable to attend and have no pictures of the event, I understand that those attending divided into teams in a contest to see who could gather the most gems in the Dungeon Shame. Here are the details on the winners, as taken [ok, blatantly stolen, hehe] from Lord Phoenix's post on the KS board:

First prize in the gem hunt went to Lach's team, who walked away with 25k gold between them. And that... with something like 168 gems??

That is a lotta gems. Course Merria's 2nd place team had something around 140, with Woton coming in 3rd with something over 80. Of course my own team, who spent a lot of time, rescuing the other teams... heh... came in dead last with 78ish. ;)

I also heard that for a change Foghorn wasn't on the winning team. Has his good luck run out? Stay tuned.... :)

Finally, I'm looking for one or two reporters who are willing to take on the job of....sending me an e-mail. Yes, yes, I know...it's a tough job, and only the most...uh...well, anyway, I need a reporter or two. You'd just have to send me an e-mail to report whatever's going on in the world in-game. Nothing fancy, no pictures required [unless you want to]...just a sentence or two so I can keep up with stuff when I'm not in-game. This would be a tremendous help to me, since while I make most large events, I'm not often able to attend more casual gatherings, hunts, or outings...but would still like to report on them. Any news reported will carry your byline; also, this is open to anyone from TRC or KS who is willing to take on the job, since while I am mostly looking for news with TRC members in it, TRC and KS generally go hand-in-hand nowadays :) Anyway, if you are interested, please e-mail me at the link over to the right and let me know. Thanks!

Last night saw the first battle between HML and LoY for the Skull of Mondain. To read a full account of the battle and its outcome, follow this link: The Battle for Mondain's Skull: Part I.

Also a reminder that tonight is the weekly allied guild hunt. Meet at 6pm Pacific [8pm Central; 9pm Eastern] at the Magincia Parliament Building, Trammel, to go along.

The first battle between HML and LoY for Mondain's Skull will take place on Tuesday, August 22, at 10pm EST [9pm Central; 7pm Pacific]. If you need the background story for this battle, please follow the Exodus link under "Quick Links" to your right. On Friday Yallum posted this on the Message Board:

A bolt of green lightening strikes the entrance to the keep and a dark figure materializes holding a glowing green skull.

"Oh, sister dear... Father is a bit upset at you for banishing him... He sent me here to bid you farewell... You see he cares for you as much as you care for him... Yoran will now become the harvesting grounds for chaos and necromancy... Even as I speak father is opening the gates to Yoran and soon it will be flooded with blood and littered with bones. By the way sister, have you ever met your uncle? *raises brow and turns his gaze toward the green glowing skull...*

There has been no official word from the Village of Newcastle in reply to Yallum's information. However, a battle between Yallum's LoY and the Queen's HML is planned for tomorrow evening. The following rules will be in effect for the event:

1) The "skull of Mondain" cannot be moved by magical means. You cannot Recall or Gate the skull.

2) The Chest cannot be "DRAGGED" like miner's do with ore.

3) The chest MUST be carried by a player. It CANNOT be transported by a packhorse or any other animal/monster.

4) No rezzing and returning to battle for either side. Once either side is completely defeated the battle is over. If HML secures the chest and sets sail the battle is over.

5) No looting each other's corpses. [You can rez at the nearby shrine and return to claim your belongings, but you cannot re-enter battle].

Before the beginning of the battle I will need to friend the leaders of HML to the tower. The chest will be contained in a secure container. The chest must then be move out of the tower and onto a ship for transport over to the opposing faction's tower.

Please direct questions about this event to Zircon via icq or the MB; I will be on hand tomorrow night to take pictures of the event and to field questions if necessary :)