The Vigiles Amicae is a roleplaying guild in Everquest 2, on the Freeport and Antonia Bayle Servers.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Cleaning out the Imperators and Regents

Vauldr-drachnid and Hevnoraak in foreground.
The Praetor and Legate Pax in the background.

From left: Vauldr D'Saren, Praetor Ariahdnia z'Equidaii Chath, and Hevnoraak Syl'Tor.

The Praetor and Legate Pax at the Imperator's Terrace.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Excerpt: From the Concise History of the Vigiles in the Age of Veeshan

It was once said by Cieramos d’Monde of Qeynos, under whose glorious leadership the Trinity was formed during the Age of Turmoil, that the position of resistance to the forces of tyranny in whatever form they express is the only true state of the moral, sapient creature. While it was ever the stated goal of the Trinity to one day establish a separatist community, and no record indicates that they ever did, the Company did at least operate in a state of political neutrality well into the era of Faydwer.

The last battle which the historians can agree the Trinity engaged was that which toppled the old Imperial line in Zek. Though a clan hailed as Deathfist rules there still, the new blood is weaker than it once was, and is frequently culled.

But that is getting ahead of matters.

Historians argue to this day exactly the circumstances of the defeat which humbled the glorious Company after centuries of victories. It is agreed, however, that the Deathfist alliance with a cannibalistic goblin tribe had some part in it, and it is widely supposed that there was a betrayal from within which laid them open to the flanking assault of the orcs. The ranks were not merely decimated, but actually ruined. No more than a quarter of the soldiers who entered the Citadel ever emerged, for what is eaten cannot ever be Restored.

Nonetheless, there was Victory, and the Imperator was felled.

Some of the survivors removed to the desert of Ro following that battle: others retired to farms in the Steppes, the Commons, the turbulent lands of the rediscovered Faydwer, and in one notable case, to the time-troubled overrealm.

It is important to any study of the military and social history of the Trinity to understand the ethic which bound the diverse ranks so successfully, and for so long.

Among the Trinity, it was taken as an article of self-evident reason that to live as citizens under either tyranny in the old Shattered Lands - in conformity, fear, obeisance, or collaboration and idolize "safety" or "security" as new and false gods - caused moral insanity and constituted a form of death. Resistance was the only stance worthy of a sentient being, as much in responsibility to oneself as to all other beings.

If that posture involved grave and constant peril of persecution, imprisonment, or execution, at least one would have lived justly while taking these risks. It was the practice of the Trinity always to offer refuge to those who did this work in the world, and aid them in their cause. It was for this reason that they were known to also seek relics of the fallen gods and other powers, either to keep or destroy them, preventing them from reaching the hands of tyrants.

It was also for this reason that the Trinity was chartered as a bonded free-lance company, open to any and every job offered. Their habit of judging and executing their customers from time to time did little to stem the business they were offered: they had one of the larger fighting forces in that era, and they were more effective in the field than many larger companies. They were frequently sought for staged battles and grand melees, or to eliminate problems which proved resistant to the deaths given by other Companies before them.

Not to resist, on the other hand, was considered to have the certitude of death, howsoever effective the Restoration Arts of the Ravens and others might be. It meant a moral death, a death to sanity and conscience, a the death which possesses sentient creatures who are profoundly ungrateful for their own lives and for the lives of others. Though they walked abroad, in truth they lived no more than the revenants which rise in the chaos-riven lands.

These, the Trinity sought to return to the cycle whenever possible, that on another turn they might better learn the value of the world and the creatures in it. When such lack of resistance proved to be the result of enforced bondage, the Trinity made a habit of freeing the subject, even if they afterwards chose to follow their former masters willingly.

Historians do not agree exactly when the leadership of the Trinity passed entirely to the hands of its last Commander, Ariahdnia z’equidaii chath z’Ress do’ Xiphos, as it is suspected that several of the names recorded in the lists may have been pseudonyms. What is known for certain, is that she was recorded as a Captain in the Freeportian cohort of that force early in the sixth century Anti Rendi, difficult though that may be to believe.

The Trinity passes from the forward attention of history during the next several ages, except as scholars of military tactics are always interested in the struggles of the long dead. The Company itself was formally declared dissolved by the City archivists in both Qeynos and Freeport sometime late in the Age of Faydwer, and it was generally assumed that some contest with the D’Vinnian or Sanguine powers in that region mopped up what remained of the last cohorts.

During the Era of Sentinels, and most specifically after the collapse of the Citadel in Freeport, the next significant mention of the Trinity is in the enigmatic notation in the Gorowysh citizenship rolls. At the same time as they applied to the ruling council for full citizen rights in Gorowyn, three teir’dal are recorded as the High Council of a new House of Trade, registered as the Vigiles Amicae. The Leader of that Council is listed as one Aryadnya z’Ress do’Trinae, and the reigning Primary of that period left this notation on the document:
“On the strength of Reputation and Proven Victory, the Vigiles are named as Favored Allies, and the Fireborn prefect of the Residential district is to be ceded to their use in exchange for Future Service in the name of Reason and Justice.”

Where the Trinity was a highly public mercenary Company, the Vigiles Amicae has largely existed as a quiet presence reinforcing the rule of law in Gorowyn. Within Gorowyn they are known for exactly what their charter states they are: fine craftsmanship in both durable and consumable goods. The private guards allows the House are generally only seen in the rare times the City of Gorowyn experiences strife, or when the local militia is overextended. In these times, the Vigiles seem to perform only as paramilitary peacekeepers and lawgivers.

A notable exception to this unambitious appearance arises during the Age of the New Combine, wherein the Vigiles actually published a Declaration of War, as if they were an independent City-State capable of such action. That Declaration has never been withdrawn, but the terms it lays down are unmistakably drafted as spiritual - if not actual - successors to the goals of the Trinity when it was formed some nine ages before.

“Amicae: In the name of your ancestors and the dead generations of soldiers from which you receive your steadfastness, your writ and traditions, your Praetor summons you to the standard of the Vigiles, the ever-watchful. The drum of war is sounded, and the anvil of liberty rings forth.
Having organized and trained the Vigiles in secret and in the open, to guard all Amicae; having perfected discipline and silence; having awaited resolutely the day our liberties could be shown to the world; now the pattern of time has unfolded an opportunity for glory. Supported by the souls of those who laid down in blood, and those who have chosen to return to the bondage of tyrants for the good of coming generations, but relying first on the strength within our own ranks: in the sacred mystery by which one and one and one together carry more than each alone ever could, we strike in full confidence of victory.
We declare now to the world the right of the Amicae to the unfettered pursuit of their destinies, without regard to the petty circumstances of birth or the avarice of gods and mortals. The abysmal usurpation of that right by any creature makes them our enemy, now and hereafter. In every generation there are those who forget the consequence of attempting such invasion: we must never let them forget that the final victory shall ever be ours.
Let this hereby stand as a declaration of resolve, and a summons to the council of war: the shield and spear of the Amicae be raised! Until by our wisdom and our valor we have reclaimed our Lost, the rule of all Amicae shall be held by the Vigiles arm, under the direction of the Praetor, and held in trust for the people until peace return.
May the woven fate guard us, and may no thread fray in cowardice, selfishness, or sadism. In this path, the Vigiles Amicae must by the nine virtues prove again that we have the right and the worth to claim the destiny to which we are called.
In Strength - we meet under the banner of our bond, Solaceday Eight, in the month of Burningsky.
By my will and hand, Ariahdnia Z'Ress

It is worth noting that this declaration was published in the same period in which there was some chaos on the High Council of the Vigiles. Several Interim Legates were named in succession, and many casualties were recorded - and later struck from the same record. This much is easily learned from the Gorwysh records of the bureaucratic changes within their allies, and even more alarmingly, is followed inside of a year with the shocking Usurption by Amrunrosse to the mantle of Praetor.

The details of that particular event are salacious enough to tempt even the most recalcitrant student of history, but unfortunately, many of the most interesting records are still classified. Corroborating records from other powers indicate that during this period the notorious slaveholding vampiric House of Cel’Voda was destroyed, and there was even some entanglement with the young house Stormharrow, sworn to the Shaded Lotus smuggling ring. The Legate Bellum is struck from the Vigiles record in this period, and is recorded elsewhere as variously a member of the Morag Tong, the Nefarious Inc, The Ebon Syndicate, and other organizations of ill repute.

The clever student will remember that the infamous Valacor Arios Valinos Val’Kavek has a long and torrid history of his own, best treated in a work devoted exclusively to him and his innumerable disreputable exploits. Remember that it was once said of the Captain-Commander z’Ress that she advised:

...always to hold one’s enemies closer than one’s friends, for the former will tell one useful lies, where the latter will tell one only pretty truths which anyone could discover.

The records in the Tower of the Moon and the Library of Light in Maj’Dul hold even more tantalizing hints of the intrigues which drew the Vigiles at last into the public sphere. The Legate Pax, registered in Gorowyn as “Sidhen Finn”, and in Maj’Dul as the Archivist Sytan Fiac, was listed with the Sultanate as a Missing Person, and connected to the personal guard of the Hero, referred to throughout as “Vigiles”.

The Sultanate does not often bother with the affairs of barrashar, except in this case it appears that the Archivist Fiac was a member of the household of the Champion and Hero of Maj’Dul. Local records only refer to the head of this house as “the Champion”, or alternately, “the Hero”, much to the frustration of later scholars, but in the civic records this useful detail is retained: the Estate of the Champion is, and has always been, established on one of the terraces of the Heroes’ Quarter at the edge of the city overlooking the Clefts of Rujark.

This quarter of the City was not even established until some time into the Age of Shadow - or perhaps, it is more accurate to say, re-established. There are references to this quarter in records dating from the Age of Faydwer, but it would appear they were little more than ruins attached to a land grant in the gift of the Sultanate until the current Champion or Hero took formal residence there during the early Age of Sentinels.

The casual student might well reel at this litany of detail, but all is to a point: that is, to assert that the humble Captain z’equidaii Chath has, over the ages, risen to the position of Hero and Praetor, and seems to have gained tacit recognition from several major powers to operate at the very edge of formal law.

That is not to say that history must necessarily conclude that the legendary Trinity gave rise to a new tyrant: rather, it is notable that throughout the history of the Vigiles Amicae, and the Trinity before them, that these organizations were well known to embody both military excellence and a high standard of equity and justice within their ranks.

The Vigiles Amicae, like the Trinity they seem to have been modelled after, are sworn to complete neutrality and equality in its treatment of race, class, god, and nation. That is not to say they are any more permissive of tyranny than the Trinity were: in fact, the records of their campaigns seem to entirely revolve around dismantling threats to the free will they value so highly. Many of their actions in the last two ages have been on the order of rescue missions, and any number of political prisoners escaped in this period seem to have disappeared after one of the Vigiles reported on the situation to the High Council.

It is widely assumed that in the future as more reports are declassified that many currently open questions in current political history will be resolved.

The Vigiles seem overall to be a stable Company, except as there are irrecoverable casualties in any military force. Those few Exiles that have been named by it have always been so because they have violated the central governing principle of their laws. Namely: the right of all sentient life to live according to its nature, insofar as it does not hinder the rights of any other life or collection thereof.

In the early years of the Age of Veeshan, a second Declaration enters the Vigiles history. It appears that shortly after the discovery of the Vesspyr Isles, the Exile Amrunrosse was recalled from Velious, to serve the remainder of her sentence in a variation of House Arrest, on a small estate carved from the western portion of the Heroes’ Terraces. Records indicate this House Arrest was largely nominal, and Amrunrosse was soon functioning in all significant respects as an Equites, or Captain, of the Vigiles guard.

Nontheless, it is notable that the Praetor seems to have allowed - even approved of - the wide publication of the self-titled “Declaration of Truth” broadsheets at the tail end of the Erollissian festivities that same year. Where the Declaration of War was vague and adaptable to whichever cause the Council might consider worth attention, this “Declaration” is highly specific in its scathing condemnation.

WHERE AS it is known that Marconis Fiac uses the aliases Marconis Finn AND Father Fiac AND Father Finn AND Archbishop Marconis AND Archbishop Fiac AND Archbishop Finn, among others yet unknown;
AND WHERE AS Marconis Fiac holds the position of Archbishop in the Erollisian Diocese;
AND WHERE AS it is known that Marconis Fiac took under his tutelage one Fier'Dal;
AND WHERE AS he has not fulfilled his obligation to her education, both in schooling and life skills;
AND WHERE AS he has deliberately undermined her self worth verbally;
AND WHERE AS he has maligned the name of sad Feir'Dal's mother;
AND WHERE AS he has made the false claim of Erollisi speaking directly to him;
AND WHERE AS he has forged a secret military force within the Erollisian sect;
AND WHERE AS he has utilized this force to wage war on his family;
AND WHERE AS he has utilized necromantic magics against his family for personal gain against restrictions by the sects of Erollisi;
AND WHERE AS he has sought to make war on the Vigiles Amicae;
AND WHERE AS he has made truce with the Crushbone clan orcs of Faydwer;
AND WHERE AS his practice of Erollisian healing tends towards coercion of the mind;
It is resolved that a
DECLARATION OF TRUTH
be leveraged towards the cause of informing all of Norrath of Marconis Fiac's transgressions towards the cause of peace in general, and the precepts of Erollisi in particular;
THEREFORE that this missive be delivered to all major and minor settlements to aid the cause of this
DECLARATION OF TRUTH
Regarding Marconis Fiac
Signed Lady Folodu Amrunrosse, Adjunct Equites Diplomatic Corps of Vigiles Amicae

It is particularly interesting that Amrunrosse represents herself as a Diplomatic, rather than martial, personage within the Vigiles, as later in the quatrain she not only took command of an entire wing of the Vigiles army, but declared herself Interim Commander of all the armies. Contemporary historians refer to this as the Second Usurption, even though she did not make so bold as to claim the mantle of Praetor at this time.

This newfound restraint on the part of the bardic-trained Amrunrosse is found also in all of the official correspondence during the campaigns she led in this period. The most notable of these is, of course, the effort to extradite the unlicensed chiurgeon Veset dal’Glennil from the walled and warded residential quarter of Freeport. The publicly stated goal of this action was to bring the accused to trial for a litany of crimes, but it is worth noting that Amrunrosse requested for this - and was granted - permission to land a strike team of ten veteran soldiers of mixed talents, and requisitioned the use of a mechamagical Iron Turtle to expedite the mission.

Less widely known was the secondary objective: that is, to free the hostage Hyrokon D’Arkoth, and prevent dal’Gelnnil having an opportunity to transfer him to her alleged master, the Archbishop Marconis Fiac of Erollisi.
Further reading for the interested student may easily be found among the many volumes of the Lives, but particularly those of the Multum Mendacis, the Threadcutter, the Ignis Bello (if, in fact, any volumes of it have survived), and of course, the Apocryphal Journals. The Council records are themselves far too wide for the casual student to find profitable, though any particular details may of course be best illuminated in seeking reputable primary sources.

- Archivist Stargazer Sian
Deadening of Fenin Ro, Veeshan

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Reflections on the Writ: Respect

The rules at the heart of who we are, that make us Vigiles, are of prime importance to every one of us. It is the concern of every Vigiles to see they are upheld, and the special duty of the officers and Council to ensure that this is so.

The official summary of the OOC rules is posted here, and was drafted to be as concise, readable, and clear as I could make it. It was also drafted to fit neatly inside a player-written book in game, so that it could be posted publicly in our guild spaces, and shared with our members easily.

The entirety of the ooc rules can be reduced down to our driving ethic: act with love and justice for your fellow players. 

Or, as Wil Wheaton so eloquently puts it, Don't be a Dick.

From time to time, it is well to expand on a matter in greater detail.
We are surrounded by a world that regularly fails to promote love or justice, and we carry with us all the many wounds from that. Within Vigiles, we strive to re-imagine the structure of our world, together. We do this through our collaborative creative fiction - our role-playing - and we also do it in the community that we have built among us, the humans behind the stories.

We are human - and we will have conflict, and we will all fail to embody the ideals we strive for.

It is not a matter of if, only "when" and "how".
Learning how to move through the tense and uncomfortable places to become better versions of ourselves is an essential, beautiful, difficult, and necessary work. It is of vital importance that we work together in this process, to check in with one another and remind each other of the ideals and friendship that bind us together.

Respect the players. 

That means you.

Every one of us, in joining the Vigiles, has sworn to uphold the Writ and Rules, without exception. You have the same right to a safe and healthy storytelling gamerspace as every other member.

Any insult or harm you suffer is our concern - and at the same time we, the officers, cannot act to resolve the situation if we do not know it exists. We are human, and Real Life comes first. Not every officer can be online and attentive to every channel at every moment, and it would be injustice to expect that from those who serve out of love.

We actively work to build a community that acknowledges the danger and injustice of structural violence. We refuse to allow anyone to seed such harm in our space.

Just as within the Amicae no character is permitted to attack another Amicae for their race/gender/religion/class, no such insults in real life will be permitted among guildmates. Swearing is permissible, but language which has its basis in denigration or oppression of any group will invoke discipline.
Likewise, no discrimination based on account level will be tolerated.

Oppressive language has some obvious examples: slurs and insults, gross generalizations and stereotypes, violence and threats.

These are the even-con, aggro monsters of our world, outlined in bright red and easily seen from a distance for what they are.

There are also subtle, insidious kinds of oppressive language, which cloak their oppression in the veneer of other things. Taken alone, one comment may seem trivial: as part of a pattern, it becomes malignant. Violence may masquerade as reason, or humor, or even concern.

It is important to remember that your inability to see or feel the harm does not erase its danger and hurt for another.

These are the quest npc's that become epic raid bosses, these are the invisible vampires that wait for you in dark corners.

We do not often see such things arise among us, and what does slip through quickly becomes an opportunity for growth. We all carry some level of privilege from our Real Life into the storytelling space, and it is our responsibility to endeavor always to check that privilege.

When we overlook some part of that, we are asking our Amicae to check it for us, so that we may grow. The officers of the Vigiles Amicae have sworn to this duty, to monitor what they hear, and to hold safe space for Amicae to bring their concerns. When that happens, an officer steps forward to remind us all about our rules, and we open a public discussion of what those rules mean in application.

We in the Vigiles believe that this public discussion is essential to the health of our community.

There is a time and place for public and private discourse: privately approaching an officer will of course remain a private discussion between you and the council. Generally, official complaints are made in private, even though frequently they concern public actions. Public reminders also frequently lead to private discussions in greater detail than is feasible in a public forum.

That manner of private discourse is good and healthy.

Reminders are delivered publicly, because we all need to know them. If even one person is unclear as to the application of the rules in practice, it is certainly true that more than one harbors similar confusion. Successful conflict resolution brings us closer together, and actively builds the world we seek.

We of the Vigiles strive to incorporate the practice of Nonviolent Communication, while at the same time working to identify and disarm any structural violence we carry with us from the outside world.

Responding to gentle reminders and critique as though it is a malicious personal attack is a terrible thing for everyone, and actively undermines the health of our community.

Lashing out with violent language at an officer - publicly or privately - for issuing a reminder is a serious transgression: it is disrespect for our rules, and our officers.

Likewise, arguing for exceptions to our rules for any reason whatsoever is an act of violence against the Vigiles, and will be handled as such.

Once, will earn a formal warning, and redirection to review our Writ and Rules for later discussion. Refusal to comply will be considered a second violation.

Twice, will earn a formal rebuke, assignment to review the Writ and Rules, and report to an officer for further discussion. Refusal to comply will be considered a third violation.

Three acts of violence against the Vigiles, IC or OOC*, will result in formal charges of treason, and may invoke a sentence of Exile.

There is a time, place, and manner in which to bring your concerns and questions to the council, and learn about our Writ and Rule. Take time to center yourself, and approach the issue with clear language, and without value judgments. We, the officers, have sworn to uphold the Writ and Rule, and also to educate the Amicae in it. Come to us with any questions or concerns you have.

Your feelings are yours, and you have the right to feel them.

Notice your fear, your anger, your sorrow: these arise within you to tell you valuable things about your experience. Respect yourself as a player, as an Amicae, and speak up. Trust that you will be heard. Your officers are there to help you process your feelings and experiences among us, and to take action in the community when necessary.

Not every character or player will feel comfortable in the space we have created. Our work is sometimes exactly that: work. We believe that even - perhaps especially - in the context of a game and storytelling space we all love, that this work is good, and right, and rewarding. We invite you to remain with us in this good work, but we accept that the difficult road is not one all souls may walk.

We, the officers, have sworn our time and our hearts to the work of holding the banner on that long and difficult road.

We welcome you among us:
stand with us, and our strength and wisdom together 
shall be greater than the sum of all we had alone.



* Yes, in-character treason and exile is a story you can write. Those plots are deeply complicated, and require excellent out of character communication to play out, while guarding the health of the players.

Incident report: Sliuchu

The Vigiles Amicae hereby declares the personas known as Sliuchu, Cleole, and Tirranne to be anathema. The wards are locked against them, and no move shall be made to stay the hand that is raised against them.

It is with sorrow that we report that this person was unable to abide by our Writ, and repeatedly expressed contempt for the substance and practice of the same. Every reasonable effort was made to educate Sliuchu regarding the nature of the Amicae, and the meaning of the Writ and Rules that guide us.

For fifteen days they were among us, but no more. The charges are as follows:

  • pressuring players for rp after they made clear they were busy
  • refusal to accept alternate times for rp or hunting
  • pressuring an officer of the council to move the guild resources without conference
  • seeking preferential treatment for a contribution of in-game money and status
  • seeking preferential treatment for creating enjin site unasked, and without approval
  • disrespect for players of silver membership
  • hostility to players of limited financial means
  • hostility toward an officer for their commitment to duty
  • hostility toward players who asked for empathy
  • repeated rejection of offered rp hooks and venues
  • disrespect for players' request for response to ongoing public story
  • refusal to abide the rp rules after claiming to have read and understood them
  • disrespect for the concept of the guild
  • disrespect for the Real Life obligations of members, officers, and other guilds
  • repeated rejection of players' right to ask that a subject be avoided or minimized in public channel, for any reason


A transcript of the prime offenses against the Amicae are attached below, for the review of any who would know how our Writ was trampled.


By the hand and will of the Praetor, Ariahdnia



Note:

This exile has been imposed for ooc transgressions only. However, due to the nature and severity of the transgressions, the player has been barred from our public IC spaces following his departure from the guild. Although the council does not recommend extended contact with this player, it is not forbidden.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Nearly Midnight News, May 16th

*pushes a big desk into the room made out of sumac. It seems to be poorly constructed - on the far end of it, a pile of ashes is pushed over.*

"There - new desk."

*jumps on top of the desk and takes a seat*

"Good morning and welcome to the Nearly Midnight News.”

“I am your anchorette, Folodu Amrunrosse. Tonight, as with most nights, I haven't a farkin' clue what I'm doing. So! Let's see what we can come up with!"

*pulls a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolds it*

“Hmm hmm hmm… No, that's dull. Boring. Too easy. Ah! Here we go!"

"The Department of Gnomeland Security would like to remind everyone that Bleeding Hearts is bad for your health. It recommends also not changing your clockwork every six months, and never, ever doing maintenance on it.”

“Additionally, a bleeding heart is bad for your health, and they would love to send you to a doctor. Preferably in Halas. Because they already got that figured out, and they have better things to do with their time."

"In other news, Baxter Johnson, son of the infamous Johnson Street Twins mob boss Bubba Johnson, formally apologized today for all the bank robberies. It is suspected that it was insincere, as he was robbing a bank at the time.”

“One prominent citizen did note that he was crying at the time. The only other witness, a small kitten, had this to say. "Mow....Meooooowww. Mow. Me. Meh... Purrr.". And then he fell asleep."

"For those seeking to bring Baxter to justice, he has left his calling card as per usual, signed only: B. Johnson. 4250 First Street, With the usual tag line, "We do it all, from petty theft to conspiracy!"

Corovar tells RPLFG, "I shall have to pursue this enemy against justice."

"In other news, the plague striking the gnolls down has run its course. Mostly by killing the gnolls.”
“Oh well. Good riddance. For those who cared, oh darn."

"In lighter news this evening, the Erudin or Paineel have decided to open the Vigilant to tours and tea with the Captain. The tea will be 20 minutes in duration, and you are not to make eye contact. Failure to follow this and 47 other arbitrary rules will result in death."

"The annual Gorowyn Kite Festival happened without a flaw for the seventh year running."
"It seems that previously, there were a lot of things to be hidden dangers, like bikes, and infants, when flying a kite. However, since the change, there have been no kites and no deaths"
Flo: "The evidence is clear, and must be obeyed."

Corovar tells RPLFG, "..... o.o"

"Incidentally, Old Man Dave is now sure proficient at keeping kite-flyers off his lawn. We are sure these are unrelated."

"In weather tonight, there was snow in Maj'Dul."

Amarillan tells RPLFG, "gerroff mah lawn"
Corovar tells RPLFG, "Wait, what? snow in Maj'Dul? I'm missing it."

"Not that is mattered much, as it melted about 143.6 miles above the atmosphere."

Corovar tells RPLFG, "........"
Corovar tells RPLFG, "-cries-"

"However, the occasion will be celebrated every year on this day now by means of throwing candy at little children in what must be assumed a very Nerian response."

"The Nearly Midnight News is brought to you in part by: Me. Need more me? Send cash, gold, or silver. Don't expect much on your return, however."

"Thank you for tuning in. I am your Anchorette, Folodu Amrunrosse."

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Campaign: Ticking Clock - Dispatch

Archivist's note:

It my be interesting to the student of Amicae history, that despite the controversy surrounding the Usurption in the Combine Era, Amrunrosse was given command over the Vigiles military forces during one of Brangwyn's many torpors.

Records from what is referred to as the Ticking Clock campaign, in the Age of Veeshan, are remarkably complete, and nearly stand on their own merit as a testament of the motives and tactics in that period.



::: Urgent Dispatch :::

Need-to-Know

To:
~~~redacted~~~

Follow-up repoort on suspect Veset dal' Glennil, alleged do'Velahr

Suspect sighted within last 42 hours, Jade Tiger tavern, North Freeport. Suspect seen in company with Hyrokon D'Arkoth - minor Nerian nobility and trading house, on alleged diplomatic mission. Personal guard was dismissed to unspecified duties in the city on verbal orders. D'Arkoth seen accompanying suspect to Jade Clinic and Operating Theatre. Suspect seen briefly in public taproom shortly after, unaccompanied.

D'Arkoth has not been seen since.

Personal guards intercepted, bringing letter to proprietor, Julia. Surrendered written orders received after D'Arkoth's dissapearance. Evidence being held by agent on site, Baarca Schuemakkar.

Vigiles forces mobilizing now, siege equipped. Expected to make landfall on D'lere within six hours. Rendezvous in the Jade court. Suspect assumed hostile, hostage situation.

Recommend specialists with mental shielding.

-F. Amrunrosse, Interim Commander of Vigiles Military Corps

- - - - -

We do not prefer to engage M.'s forces directly - pray we arrive before he can. D'Arkoth is a trained dreadnaught, estimated power potential devastating.
-Flo

Saturday, May 17, 2014

From the eleventh volume of The Lives: Multum Mendacis

Archivist's note:

This particular letter is unusually short for the subject, who was widely known for his prolific correspondence and varied publications. Although it is not directly related to the overt campaign which the Vigiles launched shortly after the date of this letter, it may provide the reader some of the context in which that campaign was executed.

For further consideration of the Second Usurption, the avid student may refer to the wealth of primary material available in the Apocryphal Journals, as well as the excellent four-volume Lives: Caduceatoris, and of course, the several chronicles specific to the campaign.

Although undated, the passionate entries in the Apocryphal Journals referring to this letter indicate that this message was received an astounding twenty-four hours after the retreat from - and subsequent critical failure of the engine core of - the Vigilant, on 17 Blossoming of Fenin Ro in the Age of Veeshan.



My dearest F. Amrunrosse

It pains me to hear of your current loss. I am left wondering what I might have been able to do to help stay the hand of fate - alas, that life does not work so!

I am all too familiar with what must be a trying time for you and your little band of soldiers. As such, I open my arms in the name of our Great Goddess to you, and extend the protection She offers to all in your band of freedom fighters.

Come. Find rest. Find healing. The Praetor Ariahdnia would not want you to grieve so.

Archbishop Marconis Fiac

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Nearly Midnight News, May 8th

*steps up to a pile of dust and sighs* 

"You know, I might just have to clean that myself. Maybe I should have just taken a disinfecting wipe to it or something… But the burning was pretty neat..."

*shuffles a few papers*

"Well, anyways. Welcome to the Nearly Midnight News, April Fools Edition!"

Kaimos tells rplfg, "finally"

"Er...May Flowers Edition? TIME! WITH WEATHER! That may and may not be snow. I am your anchorette, Folodu Amrunrosse. And I have very little planned tonight, which is not much dissimilar from most nights!"

Karreth tells rplfg, "Along with Smarch, we now have the month: May-not"

"May-not? How am I supposed to work that in the calendar? Maybe it has twelve days, and I pull some from Frostfell… Add an hour to November… And draw smiley faces on October. There! Good as new!"

"In tonight's news, we have a shocking case of Dragon Love brought to light!"

"It seems, what with the cities being held under siege for so long, a few of the more impressionable minded have taken a slight liking to our oppressive Dragon regime."

"This phenomena, known as Dragon-Bubble Stockholm Syndrome (how it's Stockholm, when there is no Stockholm in Norrath, we may never know), has been observed in a large portion of people who, for some reason, refer to themselves as "Furry", regardless of the dragons not having fur at all, and usually they don't either!"

Ikro tells rplfg, "No no, we are scalies. Do your research!"
Saireena tells rplfg, "that is, basically, true"

"In the words of one prominent cultist, "We are Scalies! Hisss!" Mind you, they were hissing with a non-forked tongue. And also, there was some mention of a Temeraire, though it was like speaking Gnoll to me."

Ikro tells rplfg, "Iksar do not have forked tongues either."
Hyalit tells rplfg, "Iksars got blue tongues don't they!"

"Hey, who's doing the news here? We don't need to facts for News! We just need a fifth of whiskey and some dice… and a new dartboard."

Ikro tells rplfg, ":P"
Saireena tells rplfg, "is this a Fox subsidiary? it must be"

"And maybe a spot of coffee? Venti caramel macchiato with a side of coffee."

Corydonn tells rplfg, "What have I logged in to."
Hyalit tells rplfg, "Will they have blue fox furries in the new expac?"

"So anyways! Scalies! Probably better for you than Scabies, but I imagine the itching is still present."

"In further news, Norrath experienced quite a shock yesterday when everyone lost consciousness for something called an "Update". I feel no better informed, but at least my hand no longer looks like a bat wing."

Karreth tells rplfg, "lol"

"For those who have experienced this or other such problems, they are unique experiences, and it really is just you, you freaks. Don't bother seeking a counsellor. They wont understand. It's best just to give all your money it the NMN staff so that we can afford research."

"Or at least a picture book so we can tell what kind of tongue iksar have. Not that it comes up often, mind you."

"So, money. Send it. Your life will have meaning again. Maybe."

Ikro tells rplfg, "Rounded tip, very long. Iksar can lick their eyes to clean them."

"Elsewhere on Norrath, NMN staffers were creeped out when an iksar licked their own eye."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "Just the tip."
Alupia tells rplfg, "(LOL)"
Kaimos tells rplfg, "delicious"

"There is nothing else to report, and this incident seems limited to a few social graces that have not been instilled. Like when Kerra lick themselves in public."

Ikro tells rplfg, "And here I was going to be nice.."
Karrha tells rplfg, "That's for your edification."

"Or Koada get all high and holier-than-thou. Or when Teir torture their little brother. Which totally is the same thing, but a little different."

Fendrigal tells rplfg, "I'm sure everyone tortures their little brothers..."

"...Probably."

Alupia tells rplfg, "My little brothers happen to -like- when I torture them. Of course they are also Koada'dal... hmm… My family is very twisted."

"Moving on! In further news, a new bar is going to be openning...what, in a little over a week? It will be called the Harpy, and the proprietor expects very large tips in the form of coins."

"I am possibly getting some kick-backs to say that. So tip good or you will continue to suffer the Wrath of the News. Also, it's very classy in there, and suits us soldiers quite well."

"So look for the Harpy in a week!"

"In other, more personal news… It rained, and a bunch of snails came out. I have here about a pound and a half in a couple jars."

Coribyn tells rplfg, "What...no earthworms?"
Susana tells rplfg, "I took the earthworms already."

"I'll probably have to put a picture on the RM forums..."

Susana tells rplfg, "They're fantastic for mash."
Kaimos tells rplfg, "please, no more pinworms"
Coribyn tells rplfg, "Oh, i see"

"Because it's seriously kind of creepy, how their little eyestalks are all moving and waving about."
"And as I opened the door, I disturbed a nest of sparrows, and my idiot failcat ran out and snatched one out of midair! and ran off with it."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "That sounds like the opposite of failing to me."

"A cat that can’t jump 17 inches onto a couch. Yea, he's an idiot savant. More idiot than savant."

Kaimos tells rplfg, "surely to give it a ride home?"

"Probably. To a very eternal home."

Fendrigal tells rplfg, "*starts a release the snails petition followed by picketing with signs*"

*starts an escargot club*

"In weather tonight, it's... dear gods, I don't want to look. The paper is going to say snowing in Thurgadin. It -always- says snowing in Thurgadin!"

*looks*

“...raining littler frogs in Feerrott. Well. there is a change of pace."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "Let's talk about the weather in the only place that matters. Neriak."

"Neriak will continue to experience eternal night until they get their collective Teir heads straight and move somewhere where there is sun. Like Maj’Dul."

Alupia tells rplfg, "*hisses*"
Xiathe tells rplfg, "But Maj'dul is bright. And ugly. And smelly. And not dark."

"Also, that will take care of their little vampire problem."

Alupia tells rplfg, "We are not a problem. We are population control… *smirks*"
Vaelenn tells rplfg, "But vampires are hot without the sun."

"NMN! Solving societal problems one city at a time!"

Susana tells rplfg, "Neriak needs population control like Norrath needs another sundering. Have you seen how vacant these places are? The sparse NPC population is appalling."
Kaimos tells rplfg, "i want riotous crowds!!!"

"And now to an expert on vampires, Field Agent Folodu! "

"Thank you! We have vampires! A whole slew of them in the Faydark! Well, a little less than before, after a few adventurers went into the castle."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "Now THAT'S population control."
Kaimos tells rplfg, "vampires are just doing the jobs others wont do"

"I think they went to give Mayong a gift basket."

Vaelenn tells rplfg, "OF PAIN!"

"It had water, and some kindling. And someone brought a pound of rice. Which no one could figure out why! Back to you!"

Kaimos tells rplfg, "sounds like a wedding"

"Wow, adventurers are weird!"

"Further upcoming events include Pay It Forward and the ... What is it, Faydwer Faire? The one where they have all the cupcakes and fae flying around singing Kum By Ah?”

“Nothing serious to report there. News is for maiming."

"Of which, tonight in sports, we saw the Thundermist Centaurs versus the Splitpaw Gnolls for a rousing game of "Kill as many as you can"!"

Coribyn tells rplfg, "*mumbles* why would anyone want to cook Mayong some rice...he would not give them enough time to do so anyways"

"While the game is still going strong, the crowd favorite tonight, the Gnolls, have arranged a cheer leading squad. Come out and see it! But not too closely, as I have heard Gnolls have Plague. And are ugly."

"Thank you for tuning in. I was your anchorette, Folodu Amrunrosse. And now I'm on a horse!"

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Report: Taitos Erikson

Incident Report:
8 Blossoming, Fenin Ro, Veeshan
Attn:
Council, Senators, Tribunes
*
Location:
Jasmine Blossom Tea House, Mara
Regarding:
Follow-up on request for audience, Taitos Erikson
*
From:
Equites Amrunrosse 
*
Attachments:
initiation request form



I was recently contacted by the aforementioned male human in regards to the Declaration. This is the same that sent out informants attempting to get my attention recently from Halas.

I set a meeting in Mara, with Vigiles Karrha and Foederatti Kerrath assigned as guards.

Taitos sought the veracity of my claims, and seems filled with fury that such a being as Marconis can exist.

His primary motivation seems to be justice. 

I offered to welcome among the ranks, and he first reacted like he hadn't even considered allies. He accepted quite gladly. He has no oaths as yet to the Amicae.

I used my scape stone to pull us both to the hall and see to his room, as he had just gotten off the ship and went straight to waiting for me. 

He has not yet asked about his friend in Maj'Dul.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Survey of Norrathian History: The Age of Refuge

(( Technically, a portrait of Rokovon:
but seems like it might make a good frontispiece. ))

Survey of Norrathian History
A Neutral Account, Written for the Beginning Student 

by

Archivist Threadcutter

*

The Age of Refuge: The First of Our Own Ages

*

In the early days of the Age of the Shattering, the seas were riotous with tempest and thick with hungry drakes. No ship dared go more than half a day from the shore, and in those shallows lay the wreckage of the rent lands. As many fishing boats snarled on the ruins of lost towers as they did on reefs and rocks.

What survived of Qeynos was besieged by gnolls, and rabid, starving wildlings, and their own unquiet dead. The lawless and unlettered moved among them, smuggling contraband into the city, and stealing goods and people from it. Trade was chancy at best: every merchant that would make the attempt overland hired mercenary guards to defend them, for the Queen's armies were stretched thin already holding the city alone.

Freeport fared little better: the city's farms became a desert, and the orcs lay siege to the walls. They toppled the outer walls, and the city struggled to feed itself, caught between the unceasing waves of the orcs, the predations of unwashed bandits, and the ravenous unbound dead. The Overlord opened Citizenship to any soul who would swear to the city's defense, and created a new class of Overseers to rebuild the armies.

Between the riven contents of Karan and D'Lere, lies the Sea of Refuge. Though in the early days after the shattering it was fraught with tempests, they were shorter and less fierce than in the other seas. The sea claimed no few ships, but some of the souls, the sea gave back. Thousands washed ashore the islands and the mainlands, bereft of home and memory.

It was in these days that the Far Seas Trading Company was established. Initially the Far Seas was beholden to and permitted within neither remaining city, but had permissions to land at the colonies of both. They built an empire on ferrying supplies to ill-provisioned colonial outposts, and selling refugees to the commanders of the same.

Representatives of the Company were posted in two places along the Coldwind coastline: by the Antonican lighthouse and the Thundering Steppes docks. Along the Tempest coast of D'Lere, the Company was in tight competition with the Blackshield for the use of the outlying harbors, and relied instead on overland caravans from the Crossroads trade outpost to the treacherous pirate port at the Naythex beachhead. The Company maintains liaisons in these places even today, though the areas are pacified - almost civilized, compared to the days of Refuge.

Even in the chaos of the time, there remained some small settlements outside the great cities, and many of the martial, arcane, or mystical orders which had an establishment in relative seclusion chose to remain there despite the danger. Many of these, of course, fell to the ongoing tremors, the depredations of wild beasts, savage races, or the unquiet dead. Those who remained often signed treaties of fealty to the nearest City, and received a detachment of the regular army to protect them. Others relied on their ability to hire passing sell-swords and explorers to defend them or fetch supply.

It is difficult to convey to the modern reader how incredibly perilous the world was in this Age. The relative peace which is now enjoyed the world over was bought at great cost by generations of blood, and legions of elite heroes. The Reader who now shelters behind the great force-shields against the attack of the Awakened may well scoff at the idea that they live in an age of peace, but the heroes of the Age of Refuge would likewise be amazed to see drakes only in small pockets of the world, and it is unlikely that even a sight of any one of today's bustling harbors would convince them that the sea-lanes are well and truly open.

In this time, the Ulteran spire network was entirely shattered, and what powers it had once drawn upon were in such flux that even had the arcanists of the day recovered some fragment of how to work upon them, they would have been unlikely to survive any attempt to touch them. It is generally agreed by historians that the nexus storms were in many cases catalysts for the storms and tremors that manifested in the physical world, and may have lent a mad sort of strength to the savage races of the day, at the cost of course, of whatever sanity they might have once possessed.

It has been theorized that the savages have since been irreparably damaged in their blood by the chaos of that age, and their strength further diluted by excessive inbreeding. Various tribes were as isolated from one another as the outlying civilized settlements, with none of the natural advantages which our own peoples posses.

Likewise, the mystical circle-roads were impassable in this time. Some ruins of the original Gates remained, but though contemporary memoirs suggest they retained some resonance of their former glory, they were no more than nostalgic landmarkers during the Age of Refuge. Nor were all of them even discovered: like the ruins of the old spires, there were fragments scattered across the known world, and other pieces which were not discovered for generations after.

What little translocation and stasis magic did function in this era was exceptionally limited. Living creatures could only be moved a few leagues, and at great personal cost to the caster. Contemporary accounts indicate this cost was so great that it was indeed preferable to maintain a riding beast and remount string rather than rely on the mere possibility that such a limited Gate would function at need. The most common use of these limited magics at the time was by the various courier companies which together composed the world-spanning Post. Nothing larger than a single cubit could be sent by post at all, and the magical cost of maintaining the letters and parcels in such stasis was significant at the time. In many cases, it was cheaper to hire a physical courier for such work, and there is strong evidence that such work comprised at least a quarter of the work done by free-lance bonded mercenaries.

The chaos of the outlands was so extreme during this age, in fact, that securing food for the cities was a significant logistical problem. The fertile land in Karan yielded more, of course, but the variety was severely curtailed by what could be grown quickly in that climate, and brought to the city for preservation. Exorbitant tariffs and trade restrictions were put in place by the Queen and the ruling council against all foreign food and drink: the proceeds were funneled directly to that portion of the Army which oversaw the planting and harvest in Antonica itself.

D'Lere, of course, has always been a harsher sort of country, especially after the irrigation system in the commons was destroyed by the catastrophic events following the Shattering. Early attempts to militarize planting and harvest proved disastrous, and led to the loss of three outlying districts of the City itself to the invading orc tribes. Shortly after that, the Overlord began issuing letters of marque to ships as well as land companies, and these were written in such broad strokes as to legalize the seizure of ships, wagons, artifacts, and provisions from any "Enemy of the State" for any cause whatsoever. Enemies of the State remain loosely defined to this day as any citizen of a foreign power not currently in formal alliance, or treasonous citizen of Freeport itself.

Mercenary companies who did well on these ongoing supply raids were the first to be tapped for more targeted work: rogue arcanists, revanent epidemics, drake nests, savage warleaders, lesser wyrms, and the reopening of trade routes. The Reader who is interested in the histories of individual companies will find few official histories from this period, but it was not uncommon for officers of these companies to keep personal memoirs.

Those who were lucky enough to live to something like a retirement age often published revised versions of these as entertainment: the taste of the time tended toward such things, and they were read in much the same spirit as the patently fictitious, sensational "confessions" and wonder-tales of the day. No formal exercise of history was practiced at that time, and there is little evidence that the reading public discerned, or even had concern for, the distinction between fact and fiction in the chronicles of their age.

It leaves us, therefore, with a curious but sensational muddle, to tease out the threads of truth and bombast from one another as we attempt to reconstruct the details of the age which had so much to do with how our own was formed.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Report: To the Council, Regarding potential ally of Marconis

Incident report 
5 Blossoming in the Year of Fenin Ro in the Age of Veeshan
At: 
Soulfire club
Regarding: 
new meeting, Veset, a potential ally of Marconis
From:
Equites Amrunrosse

I attended the Soulfire Club initially as an official Priestess of Bristlebane on the night listed. It seems to have recovered from what hold the Great Prankster had on it, save there was a sentient Billy that wanted a story.

It was after the doll was sent away that a young, rough, androgynous woman joined me, commenting on being called Professor by Euryale. She said the Boss never used that title for me before.

The woman refused to reveal who the Boss was, and I employed a staff member of the Soulfire to assist in this.

Needless to say, I have only suspicion.

However, I did see the woman leave with a fae, and after explaining to the staff why I wanted to know who the Boss was, after some confusion, I found the fae was sibling of a sort to Koural, who is daughter to Ginneve. Also in attendance was Amaury and Vezzexx, a monk and Necromancer in training.

I lead the trio to the clinic listed as Veset's and stayed out of sight. The fae was recovered, though Koural seems to have been bespelled and claimed weakness and exhaustion. I had us retreat, still not learning who the Boss is.

We went back to their stronghold, where I gave some instruction to Vezzexx to attempt to heal Koural. I left before I could ensure she was fine, but the healing was going well.

Before leaving the Soulfire, I left word with Veset that I would await her Boss on Lucan's Mount. I am observing the area, and requesting back up in case it is as I fear.

Selections from: Notes on Diverse Magicka - Kenetica

Notes on Diverse Magicka

by

Legatus Pax Sytan Fiac



Author's note:

This is a series dedicated to informing those with limited or non-extant abilities in arcana on the various forms of magic and their uses. This is not intended as an in depth study, nor does it go into all details. For many, the usage of leylines or nodes will never manifest, nor will the finesse to guide the blood magicka explicitly.

This discourse will cover the concepts of similarities and differences among the branches, and peel back some of the mysteries.

The first section will cover my specialties of hematurgy and necromancy.
The second will cover natural magicka.
The third will touch on the psionic talents.
The fourth will delve into the divine controversy.
The fifth will touch upon the delicate and complex question of void.

It is to be hoped that the interested student will find the more technical treatises on the above topics more readily accessible for this humble offering. Any errors or elisions in this work must be attributed to the difficulty of enumerating in plain language what becomes a nearly reflexive, intuitive impulse for the grand adept.



Natural magicka can be broken down into the two base components that are very much related to blood magicka. In the previous section we gave our attention to the so-called pure Elementalist, and in this we shall discuss the most common expression of the kenetic type: conjuration.

Conjuration is, as previously stated and all other writings on the subject indicate, related to necromancy most closely. It relies on ritual and animation to direct and guide an action.

However, conjuration itself is a misnomer for most. It captures everything from making giant golems to the journeyman kineticist working the shuttles on industrial looms. All conjurors gain the skill necessary to do the smallest of the works - simple animation, and only those, again, who can work the leylines and nodes can accomplish the larger scale works.

It is worth noting: where the elementalist by definition must be able to See and Feel the magic they work with (although they may not be interested or capable of putting that experience to formal analysis) the keneticist has no such limitation and in fact, they are unlikely to miss the ability at all. They work directly upon existing manifestations of both pure and mixed elements, and with similarly physical creatures thereof.

These two extremes show how differently the paths branch - one is most significantly military, and the other most significantly civil. No matter the background or civilisation lived in, there will always be pressure to find what is the most that can be done in the full exploitation of any skill. The kenetic collegia have often been referred to as the Wellspring of Industry, and that designation is as pragmatic as it is poetic.

This does lead to some error in understanding the skill base, as a conjuror that can make a golem could run more than half of a city’s industrial equipment alone, and unaided. Similarly, the current industrial kineticist could be utilized for launching small, numerous, destructive projectiles with a corps or archers. The fact that Industry and the various militaries do not organize in that manner is as much a factor of custom as of suspicion and greed.

Those conjuror-kenetics who can subjugate a Greater magical creature - or animate a vast mass with artificial sentience under the direction of the caster's will - rightly terrify both the lords and dependants of Industry. Accordingly, the various collegia are united in ensuring that those with such potential are herded to the battlefields along with the Master and Adept class elementalists.

It is more comfortable for the untrained masses to honor their fallen Arcanists as Great Heros, than to learn to school their fear of such power moving too closely among them. What mundane mortal could gainsay the demands of such a person, should it occur to them that they are, in fact, in a position to make those demands? No reader of this work can be unaware of the tyranny that may arise among the mundane, and it may perhaps too easily be imagined what terrors might manifest under a mageborn regime.

I digress.

Because of the difference in power and the personal energies being so varied, it is not feasible for even a large group of kineticists to summon a golem for longer than a few minutes. As soon as one is out of their personal reserve, the bit under their control would fail. Accordingly, the kenetica rarely work cooperatively, or upon any of the permanent magics.

The rare exception is the Grand Adept of the Kinetic Arts, who through intuitive or ritual harnessing of node-bound mana is capable of crafting immensely ingenious automata - many of which may continue to function long after the death of the caster. Properly tuned and maintained, these Permanent Kinetic Magics can be tended by a specially trained cadre of lesser kinetics even though they could never recreate them once destroyed.

There is not as much competition among conjurors as there is among necromancers, but among the Masters and Adepts there still tend to be intrigues. These skew towards matters of military, rather than magical interest, and therefore is of little relevance for the casual student.

There is not as much to say about the functional details of this line that has not been discussed and compared in other works. The only remaining crucial point is this: where a kineticist is unlikely to be capable of manipulating greater magical forces by Sight and Feel, the usual course of extensive memorization and precise ritual may be entirely circumvented if they have the luck, talent, or ruthlessness to acquire a True Familiar.

Not all magical, elemental-bound creatures have the capacity to serve as a True Familiar, though they may aid a mage's work by increasing their base affinity with that element merely through proximity. Those that do have the potential to become True Familiars, could well be classed as mages themselves. Through their alliance with - or control over - those creatures, a Kinetic may well amass and deploy such immense power that they can - and do - challenge the greatest of Grand Adepts.

The reader by now must be well able to imagine what consequence such association or exploitation this practice may have on the sanity and ethical capacities of both Mage and Familiar, and no doubt is aware that many of the great mage-battles of the past have involved at least one such pairing on any given side.

Therefore, we close this lecture early, and move to the next general concern, which has personal significance for even the most unMagickal of persons.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

In-Character Introduction Letters

Are you a new member of Vigiles Amicae and still needing to interview in-character? Are you a current member of the guild, but have a stable of alts that you would also like to introduce and role play with? We only require interviews for new players, not for every new alt, but this post may still help even old hands.

An excellent idea for introducing a new character is writing an introduction letter. It's by no means required, of course, but it helps prepare you, your character, and all the characters and players involved in introducing your character to Vigiles Amicae. A letter of introduction can include anything you want, but will likely include things like your character's motivation for joining Vigiles Amicae, what they want out of it, and what they feel like they can contribute. It doesn't even have to be written by the character in question if another of your characters or a throw-away NPC if it would make more sense.

Ultimately, an introduction letter is most important to you as the player, as it allows you to nail down details of how and why your character is joining the guild ahead of time without feeling any pressure to figure out such things on-the-fly in the middle of live play. In my personal experience, I often do not find a character's "voice" to play them well until I have written something for or about them outside of live play. Even if you never publish such an introductory letter and no one else ever sees it, it still might be useful exercise for you as a player.

Below is an introduction letter written for my new wood elf channeler alt, Hissaelien Rowanbough. Note that it is not actually written by Hissaelien herself, nor is it technically addressed to the Vigiles Amicae, but it alludes to what personalities, histories, and conflicts have led her to the guild. It also details what her current skills are and how she might hope to build on them.

******

To Whom It May Concern:

As one of the foremost institutions of magical research and education in Norrath, the Concordium of Magi of Qeynos formally requests to transfer and highly recommends Hissaelien Rowanbough to the tutelage of the training division of a duly-licensed militia or mercenary company.

Hissaelien recently came to the Tower of the Concordium seeking to expand her magical knowledge. Unfortunately, though she meets most entrance requirements, we feel that her background, prior education, and natural talents are unsuitable for our stringent academic standards, and seem much more suited for the kind of hedge witchery common among small villages, militias, and mercenary groups. As such, we are passing her along to an educational environment where we feel she will better fit.

From what she has told us of her background, she joined a caravan of vagrant entertainers following some minor political squabble in her home of Kelethin. Her earliest training was as apprentice to the caravan’s fortune-teller and medium, and she was with the group for some time. Hissaelien claims no family in Kelethin or otherwise, and with no-one else of sufficient rectitude to vouch for her, the staff of the Concordium feel that she will not have the support she needs to meet our demanding academic standards.

In regard to her training and talents, though she seems adequately capable of the most basic elemental magic, her talents strongly favor, and in many ways are dependent upon, spiritual and necromantic aspects, and as such, cannot be encouraged or developed by an honorable arcane educational institution such as this one.

As Hissaelien did pass the Concordium’s entrance examination, and we at the Tower bear her no ill will or prejudice in our rigorous admissions process, we have presented her this letter of transfer and recommendation to the training division of one of the many well-organized militias and mercenary companies we have contracted with in the past. We wish her luck in her future educational endeavors.

Augurer Rho Hippnal
Associate Dean of Admissions
Concordium of Magi of Qeynos

Report: Undercover in the Order of the Rime

From the desk of Zer Sonantius Strigidae
Report for Praetor Ariahdnia Z'Ress
3 Stargazing, Fenin Ro, Age of Veeshan

Zer Praetor Ariahdnia Z’ress,

I address this report to you personally for fear of it falling into the wrong hands. Over the last five months, I have taken on a personal duty to infiltrate the Order of the Rime to gather evidence of its crimes and see to its downfall. I have spent a significant portion of that time deep undercover among their ranks in both Kunark and Velious, and have compiled quite a list of injustices against all the inhabitants, both native and immigrant, of those territories. My cover was recently blown as I moved through their ranks, and so I report to you now, seeking advice and aid in moving forward.

The Order employs brigands and vagabonds from all races, its ultimate goal being to bring about some kind of ice-bound apocalypse in which only the Order of the Rime and their warlord, an apparent half-ice-giant named Kraytoc Killingfrost, will be the survivors. Their magic is incredibly effective at chilling any climate, as evidenced by the deep freeze they have instituted in the northern areas of the Fens of Nathsar, an otherwise tropical region. (An injustice against nature itself, in my opinion, to change a climate so drastically.) To bring about their goals, they seek powerful magical artifacts and also seek to sway or enslave any being whose powers might be used toward their ends.

I was motivated to infiltrate them when I discovered from the coldain of Velious that the Order of the Rime was capturing and enslaving the local ice and wind elementals for use in their nefarious plots against other races. As I am sure you are aware, most such nature elementals are indeed sentient beings (if a bit alien to corporeal persons such as ourselves), and as such, I felt this was a grave injustice to be addressed as swiftly as possible. I resolved that the best way to accomplish this would be from within the organization, where I could collect records of the unwilling enslavement of sentient creatures like the elementals to bring as evidence before the powers of Norrath. Ultimately, I did find this evidence, and so much more.

To gain access to the Order, I first enlisted the aid of the Rilissian Iksar of Kunark, who are attempting to use the chaotic presence of the Rime in their lands to their own ends. Ultimately, the Rilissians provided me with a quite effective disguise, and I was subsequently able to pose as an enlisted soldier of the Order of the Rime.

Most of my activities while undercover in Kunark were of a logistical nature, acquiring and transporting food and supplies for their camps and armies. They are largely extremely poorly organized in this aspect: there seems to be little or no standardization or rationing among the troops, and as such, all three of their largest camps in Kunark are in need of constant resupply. My other duties with the Rime in Kunark tended toward sabotage: destroying or tainting supplies of other, native factions in the areas they were operating in. I am conflicted about these tasks, as some of them required or resulted in unjust violence against local populations. My only rationalization is that these orders were assigned to many soldiers of the Rime, they would have been carried out regardless of my presence, and the orders gave me further opportunity to gather evidence of the crimes of the Order. I have written records of these orders and others to other Rime soldiers which should be strong evidence against them.

The Order's main goal in Kunark is the acquisition of ancient, powerful artifacts; a goal which aligns well with the Rilissian warlord Dominus Rile's goal of reconquering his ancestral homelands. The Rilissians are using the Rime as first wave shock troops in their campaign, and the Rime is hopeful of using this front line position to claim powerful artifacts. Both factions fully intend to betray each other as soon as their goals are accomplished.

After sufficient time in Kunark, I was promoted to service in Velious. I contacted the coldain to explain the work I had already done and the evidence I had collected. They enthusiastically encouraged me to continue my deep cover work, even if it meant acting against coldain interests to maintain my cover. My investigation proceeded similarly as before, though the Order in Velious is much more highly organized than in Kunark. Very little of my service there involved resupply as before, and tended much more toward sabotage and thinning the ranks of coldain defenders, both directly and by reducing coldain morale. Every new assignment provided new records and new evidence of injustice against the natives of Velious, though again I remain conflicted about my participation. The administration of Thurgadin have legally absolved me of action against them in light of the information I have provided them. My only hope is that the evidence I have brought to them might aid them in bringing the Order to final justice.

The ultimate goal of the Order of the Rime in Velious seems to be the enslavement of the dragon Yelinak. They believe that the ancient and powerful being will be key in bringing about their frozen apocalypse.

In discovery of this goal, I worked closely with their commander in Velious, a sage and mystic of the Order named Grand Restorer Lingwal. Unfortunately, his considerable clerical abilities permitted him to see through my disguise, but he did not reveal his discovery of my deception until after I had already completed my assignment of disabling the dragon Yelinak's coldain honor guard.

This is the point at which I request aid and advice. My cover is blown, and the Order of the Rime still moves freely in Velious. Though I doubt the Order actually has the resources available to reach the dragon Yelinak and defeat it, it may soon. The Order of the Rime in Kunark has managed to open a chamber in the ruined city of Charasis called the Emperor’s Athenaeum. Within, they expect to acquire artifacts, or evidence of such, allowing them to enslave a being as mighty as Yelinak. As such goals are reprehensible, it is of utmost importance that a group of seasoned explorers including myself enter the Athenaeum and retrieve these artifacts before the Order can get them. Tracking down and preventing access to any resources which might allow the Order’s true goals to continue is likely to be of high importance in the future of Norrath.

In the name of Justice,
Zer Sonantius Strigidae

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Selections from: Notes on Diverse Magicka - Elemental Arcana

Notes on Diverse Magicka

by

Legatus Pax Sytan Fiac



Author's note:

This is a series dedicated to informing those with limited or non-extant abilities in arcana on the various forms of magic and their uses. This is not intended as an in depth study, nor does it go into all details. For many, the usage of leylines or nodes will never manifest, nor will the finesse to guide the blood magicka explicitly.

This discourse will cover the concepts of similarities and differences among the branches, and peel back some of the mysteries.

The first section will cover my specialties of hematurgy and necromancy.
The second will cover natural magicka.
The third will touch on the psionic talents.
The fourth will delve into the divine controversy.
The fifth will touch upon the delicate and complex question of void.

It is to be hoped that the interested student will find the more technical treatises on the above topics more readily accessible for this humble offering. Any errors or elisions in this work must be attributed to the difficulty of enumerating in plain language what becomes a nearly reflexive, intuitive impulse for the grand adept.



Whatever the degree, a Mage has a personal well to draw from in some finite means. The inclination of each Mage will determine how it can be used. For example, some incline towards creating fire through the manipulation of thermal energies, and others to the formation and direction of ice through the same means. Others develop towards what may be broadly defined as kineticism, which mechanisms have been of vital importance to the stability of Industry and numerous mechamagical developments.

Elemental magicka can be broken down into the two base components that are very much related to blood magicka. The first we shall discuss is considered by most academia to be “pure elementalism”, or working only the elements and not adding a layer of compulsion or animation.

As such, elemental mages tend to work like a hematurge, casting by intuition and intent rather than full ritual as they advance and age. Many of the same principles apply, especially the possibility for an elementalist to work some magics generally considered beyond their reach through cooperative or ritualistic forms. The biggest main difference, however, is incredibly stark: there are no Grand Adepts among Hematurges, howsoever much blood may be spilled for their art.

An elemental mage may not necessarily became as powerful in their art. Some are born with the predisposition towards working with leylines and nodes, as in the case of the previously discussed Master and Adept rank mages, and some are not. The issue cannot be forced without serious and usually deadly consequences: cooperative Workings which would touch one of the Greater Nodes must place one arcanist of Grand Adept potential - even if they are untrained - in the central working position, or the Node will consume the entirety of the circle that dared to attempt the harnessing. Similarly, a ritualized Working meant to mimic the praxis of a higher-level magus has an exponentially increasing chance to consume the working Mage as part of its power source as the demands of the Work also increase.

The so-called “weaker” elementalists tend to be called hedge wizards, though it would be folly to assume that someone working the lines and nodes would always represent a more formidable power, whatever the formal designation for them.

This main division causes interesting effects, as a hedge wizard is able to refine their arts gain a vast understanding of what they can and cannot do. Masters and adepts, for all they handle more power, tend more towards be a channeler of energies and act as a funnel. They tend to miss many of the finer details of spellcraft as so much is transpiring during a casting, and to direct such vast power toward anything requiring finesse invites disaster. It would be as well to chain a greater fire-drake to light a single candle. Additionally, there tends to be a higher cost to the castings they make and are too exhausted to immediately set themselves to examining how their spell worked and “felt”.

These classifications are vital to understand as the training either branch will get is vastly different from the other, and again vastly different within their division to further narrow a particular specialty.
Not all people can do all things, and not all mages can cast all spells or work with all elements.

Regardless of form, elementalism can be broken down into intention and connection, and kineticism can be broken down into subjugation and animation. The first style tends to be elemental in nature, such as calling forth Fire or Water, or manipulating the properties of Wind, Wood, or Stone. That is not to say a personal affinity or talent for any one element precludes a kenetic's working upon them: it is more a question of whether the mage works with potential or actual manifestations of their chosen element.

The pure elementalist may seem to create physical manifestations of their magic from nothingness, but in practice they are manipulating the latent potential in a given medium, supplemented by what proverbially "raw" mana is available to them.

The kineticist frequently seems to work in a more accessible fashion, for example, by directing where existing mundane water should go to, and in what form. The reader may rest assured the matter is more complex and wonderful than it may first appear, and do well to remember that nothing whatever prevents the emergence of a Grand Adept among the kinetica.

Intention gives shape to the elemental spell. From a simple fireball to a complex ice wall, the elementalist guides the form of the casting, and again it can be done almost intuitively. Most mages undergo extensive training in the focus and refinement of their will, for a vague intention predictably creates a vague result, but it is entirely common - especially among the shorter-lived races - to encounter a particular innate talent for such focus which requires very little help to manifest exactly what the mage desires.

The major difference comes in connection. Rather than a sympathetic connection to a target, an elementalist relies on an innate understanding and connection with the element of the spell. This, of course, is the reason why pure elementalists are often surrounded by - and work with - creatures of elemental magical nature, even though the nature of their talents frequently preclude any possibility of actually ordering them to assist or carry a Working. The greater the connection, the more strongly the mage may channel, manifest, and manipulate that element.

From that point, the target will find harmony with the spell, or it will not. Elementalist training frequently focuses on internalizing the properties of every possible material relative to the element or elements which the student has the strongest talent for. For example: a fire spell used on water will find harmony if it is shaped to manifest in diverse mage-fed particles throughout the water, exciting and infusing the water with immense heat for an explosive result, even at a great distance from the fuel source. A fire spell which asks the water itself to burn, however, will pull immense power only to fizzle in disharmony as the spell seeks and fails to find sufficient potential Fire in the water itself.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What time is it?

A handy visual map of world time,
drawn by the awesome Randall Munroe at xkcd.com .
If it's rude to call their area at a given time,
it's also unlikely you'll see those people at an online event.
Keep this in mind when scheduling RP or hunting!

Nearly Midnight News, March 28th

*crawls up to a pile of ashes*

“Oh gods, oh gods... get me drunk and then mess with my place in time..."

*looks at the pile*

“Someone burned my desk… I mean - seriously... Make me crawl from bar to bar..."

Kyrafym tells RPLFG, "well... thats an awkward realization... "

"And then my - oh. right. desk was defiled… Need to remember to post that around. Bloody Erollisian priest..."

*slowly stands, wobbling*

"Welcome to the Nearly Midnight News, Vithing Erollisian edition.... Or was it Bloody Chronomancers edition… Perhaps Turn Off The Light I Have A Hangover Edition… ... Or the Why Does This Bovid Have Wings Edition."

"Anyways! News! With hangovers! Hurrah.”

*not amused*

"In tonight's news, we go to The Past (TM) and find out.... just what the hell."

"In Antonica, a rare sighting of Fippy Of Yesteryear allowed us to get a brief interview. We asked him why he tries so hard to break the wall."

"His response: "Not break! Climb! Those dumb Qeynos people just ruin my exercise! So I hit them!" Truely an endeavoring spirit, he has tried for years just to do a pole vault and wall climb. And those darn humans..."

Kyrafym tells RPLFG, "the irony is ... i could see fippy doing that -.-"

"There is no irony here. Only news. Pure facts. Can't make up facts."

"In other news, my Holy Of Holy - er - Fizzlethorpe's Holy Days are upon us! Many are celebrating in the time honored tradition of killing other people in creative and sadistic ways! Less noted are those who are putting poo in a bag and lighting it on fire on Old Dave's doorstep."

Kyrafym tells RPLFG, "-shocked and terrified face- "

"Flaming bags of poo are just so naive and juvenile compared to death. Other festivities include buckets of water over doorways, and transporting someone into a full replica of their home, minus all the people there. And one spirit known only as the Prankageddon has sold the Qeynos Claymore to at least three different scrap companies."

Kyrafym tells RPLFG, "BUNNEH!"

"And we must never forget the easiest of pranks - setting a cup of water on someone's bedside and easing their hand into it. This can be done by nearly anyone. And just goes to show, if you set your sights low enough, you can do anything."

"A new strain of degenerative cubism has been released in Odus. It seems to affect something like 47% of all Erudin."

"So far, it has remained isolated in Paineel, though if it were ever to become airborne, the general block-shaped head you see today would spread, and incubation would likely affect the entire body after a critical mass. Experts agree - Erudites would be one block representing the forehead, an egg that might be the body core, and three sticks, possibly representing a cry for help, or a new spell."

"Work is underway to reverse it, and this so called Realism vaccine has had interesting effects. Sadly, one of them is a slight chance of surrealism, making the affected erudin become an angry badger, a book, and a loose pile of string being chased by a cat."

"Paineel has never been more awesome. And that is a professional opinion as Grand Poobah of Fizzlethorpe."

"Elsewhere in Norrath, and less awesome by leaps and bounds, we find our next story in New Halas where Fae unions have been authorized."

"The measure was passed despite worries of regions developing condensed sugar and unmitigated energy. Most experts suspect that it was this phenomena that took down the spire network so long ago."

"Dissenters hold that the Fae can unionize just like any other race, and that there are no side effects to this. Except for the dissenters of dissenters - Nerians hold that Fae unions would not only have side effects, but they would be almost pointless, and therefore able to be ignored."

"A side effect of this measure causes discussions of the hitherto illicit Fae days to resume. New Halas has become a hotbed of Fae activity, and all other sentient races are smart enough not to touch that with a ten-point-two foot pole. Which is a little obsessive, rally, as most Fae are only 3 to 8 inches."

"The NMN would like to point out that pigs were proven not to fly last month, and Bovids are just as unlikely this month."

"However, we seek grant monies to do a thorough and expensive investigation. For those who wish to waste - er - participate in this, please send all inquiries to NMN staffers directly. This is totally Tax Deductible. Meaning that yes, taxes will still be deducted. It will just be harder to calculate."

"In sports this week, we were going to go live to a new team in Enchanted Lands, but when we got there, we only found a huddle of goblins."

"They were calling themselves The Profits, and wanted to play against the halflings. When pressed, the leaders could not say what they wanted to play, or how to play it. Only that they were the True Profits."

"Goblins. Need I go on?"

"Odd weather today - Half of antonica experienced a snowstorm, and the other half experienced the worst case of 72 card pick up in recorded Bristlebane history."

"Residents of Windstalker were torn, sometimes literally from papercuts, in how to respond to this. Some opted on snow forts, and others on houses of cards."

"Rivervale had three inches of spaghetti at about noon, and it was all cleared up by weevils by 4."

"Thurgadin didn't have snow, causing mass panic."

"There was a small bit of continental drift when D'Lere wanted to demand it's land back from Karan, but after a brief talking-to by the Feerrott, went back home. This happened at about 7 pm, and was saved from becoming an Incident by sheer force of smell by the Feerrott."

"I am your anchorette, Folodu Amrunrosse, which I did not say earlier I don't think, and This Is Sparta!"

"Er… Nearly Midnight News. Good night and good luck."



editor's note: 
Maiden’s Fancy's and Vanesh's multiple advertisements during the broadcast have been excluded. The NMN staff does not look kindly upon opportunistic spamvertisements. 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

How to: Prepare and review logs for an incident report

This article is part 3 of a series on logs. Part 1 of the creation, and Part 2 on the cleaning of personal logs, are in the archives.



We in the Vigiles are very low-drama. We strongly believe drama and rumors are a thing for rp stories and intrigues, and we expect honest, honorable, and forthright behavior from our members in all ooc interactions, in and out of guild space.

That said: even the best of us have misunderstandings among ourselves, and from time to time we will all encounter people who do not live up to the virtues we expect from ourselves. It is our position that these conflicts are best resolved in a public or officer-mediated space, with transparent, documented processes and stable, clear guidelines.

Violations of the EULA are of course, best left to SOE.

For all other personal conflicts, within the guild or not, our single greatest resource for promoting justice is the keeping and reviewing of logs. 

In the heat of any rp scene or hunt, there are inevitable mistells, overlooked chatter, and unclear or misinterpreted dialogue. Running your logs through the cleaner program, in the same way you would for personal archiving often allows you to clear up simple misunderstandings and/or gain a little distance from an emotional scene.

That record can also crystallize problematic interactions and grant us the necessary perspective for discerning when a behavior is part of a larger pattern, and when an action clearly oversteps the allowance for misunderstandings and transgresses our rules.

Even if you have not yet reviewed your logs, if you feel an IC or OOC transgression has occurred, or if you the player are feeling unsafe, objectified, disrespected or in any other wise uncomfortable: Please! Do not keep silence for the sake of an imagined peace. Go to an officer as soon as you are able. We are here to guide and protect all the Amicae, both in battle and in life. Poison festers in silence and shadow: we cannot take action unless we know there is cause to act on.

As of this writing, the officers and their alts are listed below. 
Feel free to approach any of them in private, through /tell, /group, in-game mail if you are able, or to the guild email which is only accessible to the officers of the high council.

  • Praetor Ariahdnia 
    • Alts
      • Zapdash
      • Chrysopraze
      • Chevanima
      • Veset
      • Karrha
  • Legate Sytan
    • Alts
      • Folodu
      • Baarca
      • Skih
      • Marconis
      • Luddicia
  • Legate Fafnier
    • Alts
      • Andrejja
      • Urgnog
      • Edusa
      • Yorrik

Please note: If the dispute is solely an IC matter, please specify that you are wishing to have the matter handled only IC. If the issue is an IC interaction that crosses your boundaries, violates our OOC rules, or in any way is an issue outside of the story-space of role-play, please make that clear to your officer(s).



In the course of bringing an incident to the officers' attention, or as the officers investigate an open incident, you may be asked to provide logs. Further details about what logs are may be found in part 1 of this series.

  • If you do not have logs, they will be requested from the other actors in the event which has been brought to our attention.
  • If no logs exist of the incident in question, the matter will remain open, and all actors will be asked to keep logs going forward.
  • Any repeat of the offense while a matter is in open consideration will escalate the officers' analysis of the severity of the matter 
  • Any member who fails to keep and provide logs after a specific request from an officer will be reprimanded.
  • Any member involved in an investigation who fails to provide clear, undoctored logs for the timeframe requested will be subject to reprimand, and judgment based on whatever logs are available for review.
  • Screenshots of chat are an acceptable supplement to log files, but due to tabbed chat filtering, are not a substitute for logs in most cases.
  • If you have been approached by an officer for logs, you may ask about the nature of the investigation: however, bear in mind that details of matters in open consideration may be kept confidential until a judgment can be rendered. Refusal to cooperate with the officers, obstruction of process, or harassment of ANY players will be considered an admission of guilt to any and all potential offences and may result in severe reprimand or exile.
  • The officers of the Vigiles Amicae do not have jurisdiction to reprimand non-members. Documented incidents with a member of another guild may be brought to the officers' attention, and we may conference with the officers of the other player's guild if the situation warrants it, but no particular outcome can be expected from those proceedings.
  • If the actions of a player have been deemed severe enough by consensus of the High Council, all known alts of the player in question may be placed on access:none for all guild rp spaces, and an incident report will be prepared and filed for public record. Note: this is our standard process when encountering garden-variety trolls.
  • Hearsay is not admissible as evidence in conflict resolution. The report will be noted and shared with other officers, but any such rumor shall remain an unofficial notation until and unless substantiated by logs or evidence of the rumored behavior being repeated.
  • Not all requests for logs or screenshots are matters of transgression: on occasion, you may be asked to submit logs for combat analysis (for example, after a spectacular raid fight), rp event archiving, or even to harvest npc or other lore flavor-text.





If you've been keeping and organizing logs for a while, you know how big chatlogs can be. When an officer requests logs, they are NOT asking for the entirety of your chatlog archive.

So what are they looking for?

The officer you are talking with will explain in greater detail, but as a general rule, you will be asked to provide a log for roughly the 24-hour period surrounding the incident in question, from logging in to logging out. You may be asked to provide logs from more than one character, and multiple log-in periods, depending on the situation and the stability of your internet connection during the event.

This process does take time, and you will be granted a reasonable period in which to assemble your logs, and during which the incident will remain open.

The first task is to identify when the incident began.
If you are bringing the issue to the officers, you are the best judge of this. You know what was said, and what was done, but how do you isolate that from the mass of your chat? Perhaps at the time it was happening, you had a suspicion that this was going to need further attention, and you took screenshots of the chat. In a perfect world, you might have a screenshot of the problem in action, but even if you don't, you might be able to use the Find feature in any basic word processor to land in the right vicinity of your raw, uncleaned log.

For the purpose of this tutorial, let us say that the problematic lines are as follows*: 

(1385327972)[Sun Nov 24 15:19:32 2013] \aPC -1 Trollbob:Trollbob\/a tells AnOOCChannel (3), "LOL I will steal all ur loots while ur ded"(1385328273) 
[Sun Nov 24 15:19:34 2013] Trollbob looted 71 Copper from the corpse of a party crashing gnoll.(1385328274) 
[Sun Nov 24 15:19:35 2013] You cannot loot while you are dead!

You might remember the phrase "steal ur loots" and search for that, to find these lines in the raw log. Reviewing the log reveals that not only was this a transgression of need-before-greed but a disrespectful comment by Trollbob. Perhaps after this, you broke group, and the incident ended there, or perhaps Trollbob continued giving you trouble afterwards. Now you have enough information to create a preliminary "clean log".

Wait! You said I was supposed to submit raw logs!

This is true: and also, in order to identify the timeframe you need to submit, it may be more efficient for you to create a clean log next, rather than wading through thousands of lines of combat text. From the lines above, we can see that part of the incident occurred at 15:19 on November 24, and the chatter was in both the AnOOCChannel and may have had components in /group chat. In the log cleaner, you would click only the boxes for "channels", "guild", and for "group", and narrow the timeframe to 3:19 November 24 to 3:19 November 25, and name the export file something like, "Trollbob_chatter_Cleancopy.txt".

That clean file might not be very big, and when you look at it, you might decide it doesn't cover enough time. Keep refining the variables in logcleaner until you feel the entire incident is represented in the clean copy of the log. Make special note of the timestamps at the beginning and the end of the clean copy of your log.

Next, open your raw log, and find the timestamp which matches the beginning of your clean log. Remember the Find feature will make this easier! You might insert a line break or two above this timestamp, possibly with a symbol like # or * for your own reference.

Now, do the same thing for the ending timestamp from the clean log. If there is a camping sequence near this timestamp, make sure to include it, and place your linebreaks and reference symbol after it.

Now, copy the entire section between your reference marks to a new text document. Name this something like, "Joe_Trollbob_chatter_rawcut.txt." The size of this text document should be SUBSTANTIALLY bigger than your clean copy.

Now what do I do with it?

You are now ready to submit logs to your officers. You might wish to write a short letter explaining the nature of the incident you are bringing to their attention, and mention that the heart of the incident occurs around the timestamps you've identified. You may choose to submit your clean log in addition to the raw log for the officer's convenience, but the essential thing is the raw, snipped version.

DO NOT give in to the temptation to edit the raw log any further. Do not remove code, timestamps, combat or loot data, channel chat, or tells. If you are concerned about revealing private conversation in /tell which was going on during the incident but which you believe is unrelated, you may discuss this with your officer. You may be asked to identify the other player(s) involved in those /tell messages so that they may be consulted. Be assured, that all material unrelated to the incident will be kept absolutely confidential between you, the players in question, and the officers analyzing the incident. 
In some cases, you may be given permission to censor those unrelated tells by replacing the text of the tell with a specific phrase: do NOT do this without officer permission. Sometimes conversation which might seem unrelated will have bearing on the case.

Why not delete the whole line?

Tampering with logs in an attempt to sway the council's judgment is a very serious offense. Lies, obfuscation, and other gaslighting are destructive to personal relationships and to group dynamics. In order to assure your officers that the logs you have submitted are genuine and truthful, they need to see the code and the timestamps at the beginning of each line. Remember that your logs are going to be analyzed as part of a body of evidence, and any inconsistencies will draw the officers' attention.

What if the other person tampers with their log to make me look bad?

We've seen it all in the years we've served as officers, and we ask you to trust us that we'll know. Conflict resolution can be a stressful situation, even and perhaps especially when you know that you behaved honorably. It is very important that we have the evidence we need to expose wrongdoing and predation, and your cooperation is essential in maintaining our safe space here in the Vigiles.

I don't want to cause drama, but even though this person was reprimanded and/or exiled I'm worried...

We understand that anxiety. Your officers have your back, and public Council judgments are final, without appeal. Any retaliation in the wake of an incident will be treated as a serious offense. Incidents among us are few and far between: those who cannot abide our rules do not keep their welcome long.
We recommend that any players who have been officially exiled be placed on /ignore by all members, and from time to time our ooc channel will change names to ensure that our ooc space remains exclusive to those who abide by our Writ and Rule.

What if they make an alt?

If you are contacted by a stranger, and you feel anxious about this, one of the best ways to discover whether the stranger is cause for concern is this: bring an officer into group with you, and with them present, invite the stranger. Reply to the stranger that you will not respond to further tells, but only to group chat.
If they will not join the group, you may safely assume they are trouble, and place them on /ignore.
If they join the group and then complain to you in a tell that they will not speak in a public space, tell your officer, then take a screenshot, place the player on /ignore, and kick them from the group. Be prepared to file this screenshot and corresponding logs with your officer for posterity.

I think this one person might be an alt of this other person, and they did this one thing in this other guild and I'm worried it will happen here, and this other person was there when it happened too.

We understand your concern, and we will take every reasonable measure to promote a healthy, fun environment here among the Vigiles. More information is always a benefit to the officers, and even without logs to substantiate that history, the more details we have the better we will be able to watch for patterns. You do not need to roleplay or group with anyone that makes you uncomfortable, and if the person in question earns your trust, more the better. If, however, they live down to your expectation, be assured the officers will take action as soon as there is evidence to work with.

I'm not in your guild, but this person was recently kicked from/left our guild and you shouldn't let them join because...

We are always happy to talk with the leadership of other guilds, and we firmly believe that a strong community is one with open, respectful, and honest dialogue, no matter what the IC storylines may do. Forewarned is forearmed, of course, and as with internal incidents, the council will make decisions based on hard evidence as detailed above.

Okay - but where do I send the log files and stuff?

We like to keep things simple, so it's a free account with the guild name. Vigiles Amicae at gmail dot com, without the spaces, of course, rather like our little blog here. Sending spam to the guild account will earn you a reprimand, so don't do it.





* This is an example created for the purpose of this tutorial. Loot-stealing while a party member is dead is no longer an issue in game, so it works especially well as a neutral example.