 | 12/97 Edition |  |
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EDITORIAL by Ul'Jabbuk Zaknefeinn Isher Lylyl Well, that time is upon us once again when rivvin frolick in the snow and pay homage to an evergreen tree decorated with gaudy baubles and food, singing about some Tide or another and worshipping a fat rivvil in a red suit. For those young among us, this could be the most confusing time of the year to deal with surface dwellers, so I've come up with some tips to follow until sanity returns, if it ever existed, to them.
DROW OF THE MONTH - Innelda Isher Lylyl: NOTE: This was written a while ago, so take the present tense in context. Innelda Isher Lylyl is the Matron Ilharess of Qu'ellar Lylyl, the 3rd Drow House of the NeverWinter TOL. Information about her origins remains scarce and difficult to come by, but rumours abound, largely because of the somewhat "unique" approach she has taken to spreading Lloth's agenda in the surface Realms. Innelda seems to believe that more can be accomplished by subverting others to the joys of Lloth's evil path than by wiping out everone who opposes it. "Lloth is patient, Hon, and she's not stupid," Innelda told us, "in the end, she'd rather have live sympathysers than dead enemies." Innelda is know to be somewhat more friendly and easy-going than many Matrons, especially where males and non-Drow are concerned. When we asked about that, she told us "Hon, business is business, and ego is ego. Business is better profit." We called for a home interview, but the House Lylyl staff refused, citing "Vel'kyorlin xundus" ["security measures"]. We met at her notorious "House of Underground Pleasures" adjacent to NeverWinter Square. [editor's note: it was widely taken as fact that there was secret entrance to the House via Mataga's] The best appointment we could arrange was for shortly after sunruse, when she usually gets off from "work". When we arrived, we were shown into a sumptious waiting room, where the 3rd Ilharess was reclined on an inviting couch, sipping an exotic beverage, and garbed in a flimsy garment which left little of herself -- or her current profession -- to the imagination. Rising with the flowing skill of a trained daner, she offered us some refreshment and a private chat. "Hon, it must be late for you. Grab yourself a glass, and let's go somewhere more discrete." Without another word, she led us to her back office, accompanied by a charming lady bearing a freshly filled ice bucket; her form was scarcely less easy to follow than Innelda's. Dismissing her 'assistant" and pouring a sample of exquisite vintage, Innelda whispered, leaning over close to our reporter, fixing him with a very inviting smile and eyes of steel "Hon, let me understand this. You write for a paper that only gets distributed to Drow here?" Somewhat overwhelmed by the magick of Innelda's fragrance, all our reporter could manage was a breathless nod. "Ok, Hon, " she purred, "if it's only for Drow, you ask me anything you want to know. I'll either tell you the truth, or refuse to answer. Fair enough?" With that, Lady Lylyl sat with her feet crossed up on her large blackglass desk, seemingly unaware of her gown falling away to reveal long, shapely legs in the process. Once our reporter recovered his wits, after some additionaly pleasantries, we were able to get to the facts. Innelda comes from the Drow city of Baereghel, far to the Southeast of Neverwinter, near the Storm Horn Mountains and the Sea of Fallen Stars. Baereghel is noted for it's active merchant guilds and long history of extensive commerce with other races and the surface Realms. In addition to the normal three schools found in every Drow city, Baereghel is also home to infamous Valsharen Drow Vel'xundussa Magthere - The Royal Drow Security Institute - which specializes in dealings with the non-Drow Realms. "What's the 'Royal'?", we asked. Innelda explained, "Well, Hon, I think they gave up a long time ago trying to explain the intricacies of our society to rivvin and others who couldn't understand it. So, long as anyone remembers, the First Matron of Baerghel has been calling herself valsharess -- queen -- that seems to make it easier." Chuckling softly, Innelda confided, "I guess that makes me the first Drow 'princess' in these parts." Noting our raised eyebrow, she contuned with a shrug, "Oh. The House of Isher has been First in Baereghel forever. My mother, Greyanna VI, has been warming the Royal Seat for something over 400 years now." "We had to ask what a "princess" was doing so far from home. "Easy Hon," Innelda smiled, "typical fate of a third daughter. I've got one sister in line for the Seat, the next heads the Arach-Tinilith, and a younger brother heads the Sorcere. Not much left for me to do there." Consulting our notes, we asked, "What about the err ...'Security Institute'?" Innelda favored us with a professionally warm smile. "The VDVM? I ran that some for a short while, but Lloth made it clear to Mother and me that she preferred me doing field work among the out-races. And that was fine with me. I've always enjoyed wandering about the Realms. A lot more interesting than just hanging round home doing the same thing every day. 'Working' here in NW is a job for the Vel'xudussa Z'ress, for that matter." "Always?", we asked. "This isn't your first time on the surface?" With a chuckle she said, "Hardly, Hon. I've had my share of wanderings so far -- Zhentil Keep, Calimport, Suzail, Waterdeep -- a few other places." Innelda claims to have helped Waterdeep "deal with an unwelcome Drow problem." Pressed for details, all we could get is, "Hon, suffice it to say that some overly amitious brethren of ours are no longer a threat to Waterdeep, Baereghel, or the TOL here. The Lords of Waterdeep have done me a few favours since, and we both agree they still owe me a few more." When we said, "May we ask about Calimport?", Innelda winked and replied, "Of course, Hon, you can always ask," the settled back to sip her glass and stare at the ceiiling. Taking the hint, we went on to enquire about Zhentil Keep and Suzail. "Pretty much the same as here, Hon. As activity in the Realms draws me -- and Lloth. It's amazing how much one can learn, and accomplish, with people who are enjoying the pleasures of professional evil." We had to ask how a self styled princess came to be in her current 'business". Innelda was delightfuly candid once again: "Look, Hon, all that being a princess, or a yathrin, or anyone, really means in the end is doing the best you can with the best talents you have. Lloth tries as best she can to tap those resources to her purposes. Me, I enjoy this work, and I'm good at it. I should be, the VDVM invested a lot of time and effort making me the best." Noting the interested look in our reporter's eyes, Innelda continued, "Hon, perhaps that's enough of dry chat. You look like you could use a touch of Lloth's more delightful evils yourself." With that, our ever-diligent reporter went for some more direct, eye-witness, reporting, which may be exposed in a later issue." HOUSE/GROUP OF THE MONTH by Zaknefeinn Isher Lylyl Valsharen Drow Vel'Xundussa Magthere (Royal Drow Security Institute) NOTE: Text set off by brackets was taken from the interview above. The oldest VDVM school was started in the [Drow city of Baereghel, far to the Southeast of Neverwinter, near the Storm Horn Mountains and the Sea of Fallen Stars. Baereghel is noted for it's active merchant guilds and long history of extensive commerce with other races and the surface Realms. In addition to the normal three schools found in every Drow city, Baereghel was also home to first infamous Valsharen Drow Vel'xundussa Magthere - The Royal Drow Security Institute.] The VDVM in Baereghel was started to fill a requirement of the Valsharess that there be certain drow, well trained in the clandestine arts, that were skilled in dealing with the other races of the surface Realms. It evolved quickly away from it's intended purpose, the emphasis on the clandestine arts far outweighing that on the more diplomatic arts. This was mainly due to the discovery of the 'Shadow Realm', and the subsequent skills that being a 'Shadowmaster' imbued one with. The Valsharess saw, and with great clarity, that these skills would be wasted on mere diplomats. Ever since, Shadowmasters/mistresses have been master spies and assassins. Their skills overshadow those of a mere assassin by as much as drow skills exceed those of mere rivvin. This is due in large part to their relationship with the Shadow Realm, which is an alternate plane where Shadowmasters/mistresses train and to some extent where there powers come from. Being a secretive lot, little is know of their powers....and few that have been targeted by a shadomaster/mistress to tell the tale of the powers they have seen. ENEMIES OF THE DROW/MOST WANTED Not just annoyances, these individuals are to be hunted and generally punished for whatever reason. Send in names of thieves, con-artists etc, with the following info:
CLASSIFIEDS Buy/Sell/Trade items, information etc. Please include in your add what game you are asking about/trading/selling in. GAME HINTS/TIPS/TRICKS/ADVICE Realm Zaknefeinn Isher Lylyl, Ultrin Vel Xundussa Jabbuk d'VDVM For those of you interested in playing the Realms that haven't, they offer a free 30 day trial of the game. I am not sure what the 'limitations' are for the demo, and as far as I know you can convert at the end of the period by paying the $50/year fee. There are 5 files to download, approximately 25megs total. You'll need to download all 5 and place them in a temporary directory. Execute each one by double clicking on it in Windows Exporer (the file manager version of Explorer, not the Web browser). Each will 'uncompress'. After that is done, find the 'setup.exe' file in that temporary directory and execute it...and off you go. The location of the game files is: http://www.realmserver.com/download.html Other helpful url's: Good General information for getting stared: http://www.realmserver.com/ (this page includes links to skills, beasts, magic, maps, online manuals, FAQ, etc) Good info, more or less up to date, on quests, items, etc can be found at: http://home.earthlink.net/~polgaradr/ GAME TIPS for the REALM
Lords of Empyria by Legora Valsharen Ul'faerz'un'arr d'TOL LoE information 12/17/97 Well - learning how to download and incorporate files to get into the gaming environment of Lords Of Empyria has been a challenge. My secretary has learned a great deal - and more or less - she can open the gates for me any time I wish to go in. I suggest to all of you - if you wish to play - now - write to Fred and request entrée. If you have a converted web account (into a GAME account - which is still free, until the game goes commercial), you may be getting email. They seem to want us all to get in there and play - to stress the system. So have fun. For those of you who are just starting out, there are some wonderful places to go to get information. the following url will take you to some general boards where you can learn about what is new, and keep current with the discussions about guild halls, classes, and alignment. There is never a dull moment here. http://www.Empyria.com/cgi-bin/forum?14@^11305@.ee6d324 The following url will take you to the most recent 'up to date' place to download the game of LoE and its patches. This address should really be used by those folks who are comfortable with downloads, or who have the directions. Http://www.empyria.com/prot/assets/files For those of us who need (as my secretary does) explicit directions, the following url gives very careful directions about how to set up your game. It also has tips on the most common mistakes. The Manual can be found here. http://www.empyria.com/prot/html/town_files.html I suspect that this gives you all enough to begin with. Lloth kyorl dos in all of your gaming environments. SUBMISSIONS by Legora, Valsharen Ul'faerz'un'arr d'TOL Vendui' Jal I would like to thank the Ul Jabbuk for his tremendous efforts to rejuvenate Lil Colbauth. For this, the premier issue, I would like to offer some information about the posting boards of Lords of Empyria. As mentioned before, the public boards are open for all to post. There are 2 places that you will find interesting. ~Step into our Parlor - invites you to come and join us in the ic/ooc chat area. It is this place that you will learn about the game and sit in relative comfort. There is jhinrae available both spiced green and with vlos. There are couches and chairs present in comfortable seating arrangements, and rooms in the back if you wish to stay the night. Weapons are left at the door - or hidden from view ~Whispers in the Darkness~ - is the In Character place to post our stories, poems, adventures. Anyone who has a web account can access all the posting boards in LoE. A Web Account is free. It is my understanding that WEB accounts (which most of us use for posting purposes) will always be free. If that changes, I will let you know. You can access the TOL boards of LoE at the following address: http://www.empyria.com/cgi-bin/forum?14@^55979@.ee6c8f4 There is a DROW web site that you are encouraged to visit at the following address: http://www.oocities.org/TimesSquare/Realms/8471/index.htm Coming soon to the DROW web site will be an updated version of the dictionary. ~Tales from the Underdark~ will carry any stories of your past - autobiographies, old stories that you wish saved, legends (the Dwarf/Drow Wars saga will go here) ~Stories Spun in Silk~ will be the place that will archive the tales from Whispers in the Dark~ ~LiL Colbauth~ will have past and present issues of the Drow Newspaper RUMOR/HUMOR Monthly 'finish this sentence': A drow walks into a bar... DISCLAIMER As my most esteemed predecessor said, any and all information contained here is unofficial. Official news will be posted and marked as such when I get it. Most of the above 'columns' can be anonymous or attributed to you, depending on your wishes. Others require a name....CLASSIFIEDS being one of them. Please indicate in your submissions whether your name should be associated with the article when published or not. Aliases are also acceptable...ie: 'Ripped-off' etc.
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