Dascombe

Where: Haven. Outdoors.

When: Tuesday 21st May 8pm server-time

Who: Anyone on friendly / neutral terms with Haven

Event Type: Social

GM Assistance?:  Only needed for setting out of tables / NPC townsfolk. Publicly accessible event so can be deleted afterwards.

 

In the lateness of the evening the sound of sporadic gunfire, Orcish roars and screeching wildlife were some of the key indicators that the hunt was going somewhat well.

Baron West and Grotga of the Bleeding Hollow managed to bag a few rather tasty local delicacies along with assistance from one of Bloodfury's followers the Orc Mik'Turok who assisted with bringing the carcasses back to the northern township where they were plucked, descaled, skinned and the flesh removed to be salted, smoked and prepared for the feast tomorrow.

Many of the townsfolk would have seen the Baron preparing the foodstuffs out in the open and informing the townsfolk of the time of the feast, making sure to ask the odd citizen now and then to go request some tables off the captain of the guard.

Before long a notice of sorts would go up in various parts of Haven, even making it as far as Drustgarde with possibly one or two of Grom'Goshar's Orcs taking the notices up as well (though written in common rather than Orcish)

 

"Feasting Extravaganza

 

To all ye humble folk of Haven, I Baron West and the Hunters of Opej bring forth to you this tuesday evening a feast for the eyes and a marvel of the bounty that Opej'nor provides!

Worry and fret not, for this is a feast free to all who wish to attend, those coming shall be fed heartily and wine shall flow like the streams of Opej'Nor itself!

 

I invite you all cordially to a banquet here in the town at 8 tolls of the bell at night, bring your own side dishes if you so desire and bring alcohol in abundance too if you wish for tonight is a night where we may forget our troubles that plague us, take no heed of the enemies at our doorstep, and celebrate the magnificence of the most glorious of all pursuits: that of the hunt!

 

First course:

Opej Stomper sausages & blood pudding with boiled vegetables

Opej viper stew with herb garnish

Gryphon skewers

Garlic butter baked Doldrums salmon

 

Second course:

Grilled Gryphon beast with locally gathered salad and a Westfall coleslaw

Opej Stomper steak flambeed in an Alterac brandy

 

Third course:

Gently fried honey Teroclaw wings with garlic roasted wild Opej potatoes and onions 

 

Dessert:

Soft ginger bread with custard

 

Drinks:

Limited amount of wine

Bring more along and be merry!"

 

 

 

Event Objectives

Main Objective:

•  Feeding the Five Thousand

Ensure everyone in Haven is fed and goes to bed with a full belly!

 

Bonus Objectives:

•  Lightweight!

End up with several individuals drinking so much they start having a fight

•  Lead by example

Encourage a small band of Haven townsfolk to take up hunting and trapping

•  Ego overwhelming

Show off hunting trophies to at least 5 feast attendees

 

 

Rather simple one:

 

Can players get an NPC 'exclamation mark' object which can be dismissed / summoned like an architect / provisioner GoB so that it is clearer that players are offering quests and missions to other players?

Reason I ask is that its a rather handy and quirky tool for players and would not only help engage players with 'questgiver' members of the community but will help them stand out slightly better in crowded environments (EG: Haven)

 

Event went well aside from some flaring up in OOC channels which impacted on the event.

 

Another small and close-knit event, disappointing however that few people seem willing to roll even small characters to come along. Worth pointing out that Tim is offering free hunter mentoring to said individuals seeing as how folks aren't that interested in events unless they provide something mechanical for advancement.

 

Event was not GM'd this time as it was open-world hunting and no GM's were about at the time (non-requested), event has been sent off via ticket and is awaiting confirmation of results of said hunt.

 

There have been a couple people asking for these events to be done at other times beyond the usual weekday 8pm server-time hours (we want to try to go beyond no further than 10:30pm server-time), are there any other times / days people prefer? Please post in this thread with your responses and i'll try to accommodate for as many people as possible by  finding overlapping times or running extra events for said individuals.

 

Next event will likely involve a return to what Tim's referring to ICly as the 'RAT RUN' where we fought King Snaggletooth's forces, it seems the king isn't keeping to his bargin of keeping clear of Haven.

 

 

 

 

((A reminder folks: this event starts in approx 1 1/2 hrs))

((Disclaimer: no points for guessing Dascombe's favourite pizza))

By 'fog of war' do you refer to the darkness debuff that kicks in around 9:10 server-time?

4

Where: Meet at Haven Port

When: Thursday 16th May 8pm server-time

Who: Any race, any non-hostile (twilight hammer etc) faction, hunters only. Maximum of 5 players in attendance. Priority given to those who have attended previous hunter events.

Event type: Combat (open world)

 

Following the Opej Hunter's foray into the virmen den to quell their advances onto Haven, the group of eccentric marksmen and animal killers have been approached by an engimatic Elf residing in the town of Haven with an unusual request: to bring meat in vast quantities to feed the people of Haven in a grand feast the likes of which this island has never seen

Seeing this as an opportunity to not only win fame but also bag a few trophies as well, Baron West has sounded the horn beckoning hunters from all walks of life to answer the call to  fuel their obsession for hunting beasts across the land. The question however is will the group play it safe and bring naught but a hearty yet unimpressive bounty of deer meat or will they risk a fight with larger more prestigious beasts such as Nightsabers and Direhorns?

The rumour begins to circulate, as before the targets appear to be those who follow the hunting profession. Whispers gather and carry across the wind from the tanning shops of Haven to the rangers of Drustgarde, a handful of Orcs relocating from Haven to Grom'Goshar spread the tale of the hunt with them up the mountains to the very heavens of Opej'nor itself.

 

In the darkened night around Haven, a few archery butts are set up on the furthest reaches of the town where a few ambitious citizens practice with silent bows only for all traces of the act to disappear come sunrise.

 

Event objectives

Main objective:

•  The Meat Feast Completed

Bring enough meat to feed the people of Haven in a grand feast

 

Bonus objectives:

•  Variety is the spice of life Incompleted

Bring meat from at least 5 different types of animals. 

•  Big Game Hunters Completed

Kill at least one creature of a CR35 or more

•  Fearless Hunters Incompleted

Hunting party takes down a CR25 or more with only melee attacks

 

((Hi Folks

 

Its that time again, the Opej Hunters are being contracted by an unnamed Elf within Haven to gather meat to put a feast on for the townsfolk.

Unlike the previous event this is 'open world' and as such we will not be in a confined 'dungeon' persay but roaming around Opej itself in search for beasts to murdinate for the feast.

I've decided to spice this up a bit by adding some little 'side' objectives which are a neat little achievement-hunty kinda way of gauging how well we do as hunters. The more objectives that are completed the better we are as a whole (generally speaking of course)

The event does -NOT- require a GM to be present though if one wishes to drop in and DM the beasts they are more than welcome to do so. The kills and event as a whole will be recorded via screenshots and will be presented in a ticket afterwards to ascertain if enough meat has been gathered in addition to potentially claiming trophies from the creature's bodyparts.

Event is on a 'first come first serve' basis for attendance, these events work out best small and honestly are considered less stressful for any GM wishing to oversee them and generally we don't like having to RP until 2am the next morning on a work day. 'First come first serve' however only applies to newbies to these events with prior attendees getting first priority on attendance for their committment and frankly its a case of Tim taking only who he trusts.))

Group name changed due to it funnily enough causing some IC confusion when mentioning the name!

 

The call to the hunt had been sounded, and much to the surprise of the Baron it was answered!

A merry party of four marched off into the jungle, a Troll, an Orc, a Tauren and a Human, the most unlikely of hunting parties to probably have ever graced Opej'Nor!

 

Making their way to the burrow where their prey lay unaware and vulnerable they proceeded to enter, the burrow was awoken with battle cries, the clash of spears on stone and sporadic gunfire which echoed throughout the cave system

Despite numerous injuries, the Bleeding Hollow Orc known as 'Grotga' fought on despite being brought down to her knees multiple times by swarms of Virmen whilst her accomplice the verbally limited Troll Zaniah poisoned her spear and delivered cut upon cut to the seemingly endless ranks of rat-like creatures. Though amidst all this the hulking silouette of the Tauren 'Jalut' proceeded to unleash volley upon volley of gunfire from a weapon which to a human would resemble a cannon more than a hunting firearm.

As the group fought through, they reached the end of the burrow whereupon they discovered what could only be described as a 'throne room' in the centre of which stood a rather crude throne with a particuarly large and cruel looking ruler of the Virmen peoples.

The attempt to intimidate both the proud Horde hunters and the nearly medically insane Baron West proved fruitless despite the vastly superior numbers of the ruler 'Snaggletooth' and his surrounding subjects, in fact the tables turned when the Baron interrupted Jalut's pleading only to offer a threat in return which was timed by Grotga's display of her collection of Virmen ears she had been collecting from the entrance.

A compromise was reached, albeit a begrudged one, the ruler Snaggletooth stated he would no longer attack Haven or enter it's boundaries for fear of West and the other hunters returning for retribution. Although the group was ready to leave the Baron stupidly (albeit unwittingly) proposed a trade deal with some carrots as a bartering chip. The ravenous hordes of the virmen descended upon the vegetables like adventurers to a chest of loot which allowed the group a chance to escape.

 

Parting ways amicably having managed to gather an abundance of trophies, the Baron took one step towards a marginal tolerance of the peoples of the Horde, viewing them less and less as mindless savages (though still considering them uncultured) but seeing them more as honorable hunters capable of -some- aspects of what he considers the 'best' of human characteristics.

 

But with this having been said, three new 'Unbloodied' hunters have joined the Opej Hunters, in time perhaps they will amass a collection of trophies to rival or even surpass the mad baron of Opej himself?

 

____________________________________________

 

Jalut, Zaniah and Grotga are now new 'inductees' to the Opej Hunters as the 'unbloodied', they entered the Virmen burrow with Baron West and managed to get out with trophies and a great many kills notched onto their weapons, soon enough they will be granted a worthy prey to hunt and consider themselves 'Bloodied' and a force to be reckoned with upon the isle.

Event completed

Was a nice close-knit and personal event with just four characters. Was an interesting pace considering no healer being present and having to cook boiled food at a gordon ramsey pace.

As this was a rather pleasant success this will continue on as long as there continues to be interest in it. The more involved you become with this 'chain' of events the more likely you are to be invited to the events within this 'series' that have high value hunting targets in them.

In addition as Tim has a bit of income he'll not only be providing coin to hunters participating but also i'll  be ICly (and mechanics-wise) mentoring hunters especially if they are of a low exp rate so that they get some IC as well as OOC progression out from this. Don't forget: Tim won't be around forever and he'll want a successor!

 

All in all:

16 hours ago, Elle said:

1) There will be two possible places for characters to hide away during Ice Island's foray as the play area. But, I have not put any thought into it. As it stands No, characters can not hide away on another island. This could change before the launch, and if it does it will be included in the launch information.

 

2) My current plan for actually launching the island is a build up that lasts anywhere from one week, to three. I'm giving it such a big gap because there will be a lot to work out that I simply can not plan for, as my plans have to be flexible enough to take player characters into count. There may also be a week of 'downtime' for the OOC moving of a players inventory, as I am going to allow architect objects to be taken. And we will be providing a way for players to be able to move all that without having to build or buy a bunch of storage chests for themselves.

 

That is all I can say without giving away things more in depth.

Ace, thats a relief to hear that there's either stuff in the pipeline or that it isn't decided yet

 

And no worries about  giving away stuff! Can understand not wanting to ruin the surprise(s)

Where: Meet at Haven Port

When: Thursday 8pm server-time

Who: Any race, any non-hostile (twilight hammer etc) faction, hunters only with the exception of up to 3 warriors max and a single healer (ideally priest)

Event type: Combat (Small dungeon crawl)

 

Word starts to spread around Opej in the major settlements of Haven, Drustgarde, and even the few straggling Orcs returning to the shell of Grom'Goshar.

Strangely enough the people spreading this word, and mostly those receiving it, seem to have a lot in common: patches of mud smudged beneath the eyes, battered and dark green leathers to blend into the environment with the odd patch of maille to protect them... but most of all nearly every single one possesses ranged weapons be they guns, bows, crossbows, javelins, slings or even more unorthodox oddities.

 

These are hunters.

 

Many are welcomed into society with open arms as providers of sought after goods such as food and leather, others are outcasts deemed mad and insane for their endless pursuit of the hunt. 

The rumour begins to spread of the 'Baron' of Opej seeking a cabal of  hunters to take down the nastiest prey on the island, but first a test of sorts for the uninitiated in the ways of the hunt to be considered worthy of taking down beasts such as the feared tyrant queen 'Dornevalesh' or 'Spear-tooth' believed to be one of the offspring of the late 'Golveldbarad'

Those wishing to join in this hunt are told to be present at the port in 'Haven' to the north on Opej and to seek out the 'Baron' of Opej at 8 tolls of the bell at night.

 

Bring your bows, guns and javelins

Bring your passion for the hunt

And keep your wits about you

 

((Hi folks

This is a small scale event as a precursor to some larger ones i'm going to oversee on Opej. The event is open to any and all hunters (provided you are not an openly hostile faction like the twilight's hammer), a few warriors and a single healer (ideally a priest). I will emphasize that your hunter does not need to be of a particular rank or status they can be a freshly rolled character to trial out being a hunter and see if you enjoy it! Once again: can be newly rolled characters. If you attend this event and are deemed a skilled and generally 'good' hunter you will be (no pun intended) headhunted for further events stemming from this one and will be given priority attendance in the event of max capacity.

This event is strictly for hunters as, quite frankly, despite there being a wide variety of fauna to hunt on Opej there are very few people actively hunting them who are -actually- 'hunters', this is an attempt to change that and throw a bit of diversity into the pool.

Not only a new hunters welcome but new players are also welcome as the encounter is expected to be a relatively low-risk one so it's a good opportunity to get the feel of things.))

Hey guys

 

Just a quick post out there to see what's going on with regards to the Ice Island transition.

Insofar as can be established, Ice Island will be -THE- main phase for everyone with limited visits / excursions to other islands (Sotoras, Kolai etc) to wrap up storyline loose ends and as such when the island comes everyone will ICly be on Ice Island (unless I guess they choose to remain where they are?)

I'd just like to publicly query what's going on with regards to the movement from other islands to Ice Islands with a couple questions that hopefully won't reveal too much as to how ICly the transition will take place:

 

1.) Will there be a means for certain characters to be 'locked' if they wish to remain on certain islands (Menhirs / Opej?) rather than go to Ice Island? Once again as the reason for the move is not yet known characters may end up having to move due to (un)natural disasters hitting the islands.

2.) Will the transition to Ice Island be instantaneous or over an elongated period? Am hoping for the latter as the former basically forces people to be railroaded into -HOW- they get to Ice Island whereas the latter allows for folks to prepare, build ships or acquire other means to get there. It's not really been established much the reasoning for a mass exodus towards one island, and this thread is not to ascertain the why's, but rather it's quite important for folks to established they need to get from A to B ICly.

 

Battered and bruised

Cut and clawed

Damned and defeated

 

Or so it was thought

 

The man, the myth, the legend known to many throughout the isles as 'The Mad Baron of Opej' has made a return fairly recently.

Still highly irked at the seemingly impossible task of hunting down the dreaded 'Daggerfin' murloc, he has returned to the shores of Opej to find it a wildly different place.

Haven now stands as a consolidated fortress with close to a hundred guards and soldiers at various points across the island seemingly becoming a defacto 'faction' of sorts, something which irked the nobleman as peace of a sorts on the isle was ever ironically maintained by the balance of power between the Orcs of Grom'Goshar and the Humans of Drustgarde, but with both gone (in the latter's case gone insofar as the baron is concerned with Haytham's apparent demise) he has grown distrusting of this neutral faction operating out from what was once Halfpoint Haven.

Throw into the mix the presence of the group calling themselves the 'Trailblazers', the Baron heard only small hushed whispers of them having defeated the dreaded golem of Black Finger so thought to himself as long as they keep away from beasts on the isle and leave that to him he may have to quarrel with them.

But with beasts comes a whole new prize: the Tyrant Queen.

The Baron caught a glimpse of her, or rather felt her thundering her way through the jungle canopy to annihilate a rather unlucky raptor in her path, perhaps this is part of the same bloodline that was birthed from Golveldbarad? The Baron certainly hoped so as to keep at least a breeding pair of devilsaurs on the isle would ensure that the beasts were not wiped out by careless adventurers who had no consideration for the balance of wildlife... his first task would be to establish where it made its lair and if it had already produced a clutch of eggs yet or not.

But thats only the start... what other new beasts have crawled from caves and canyons on Opej during his absence? Only time will tell!

 

Make some events yourself?

Not a condescending tone by the way, maybe start an event or some small scale stuff that doesn't require a GM before stepping forward with this?

New number, who dis? 

On 3/19/2019 at 7:10 AM, CascadingPrism said:

Margrave:

 

5 hours ago, Amazium said:

HMMMMMMMM...

Sorry to burst your bubble man but you're late to the party

 

Following a local rumour from Egtown, Baron West made headway for the newly establish 'Halfpoint Haven' where he sought out the local folk hero known only as 'Captain'. Upon arriving, he found out that rather than bringing hides as part of some minor task, it would appear that a local pack of raptors have attacked the settlement and gone so far as to kill two of the refugees who live there.

After coming to the conclusion that the Opej Basilisk has caused no fatalities (yet) the Baron declared that he will bring proof of the death of the packleader to the Captain so that the local refugees might sleep easily. However this was no simple raptor, the Captain elaborated and stated that the packleader of these raptors was not only bigger and deadlier but worse it was intelligent, something about the captain's tone suggested worry to the Baron... strange considering the apparent strength of the man.

The baron insisted half of his cost would be waivered for a trophy from such a worthy kill... but he also insisted on the other half being relinquished if the Captain revealed to the Baron who he was and his real name... on account of the Baron's suspicions of the man. Regardless of the outcome... the Captain made clear that this raptor and its pack would be too much for the Baron alone who must now seek to put a crew together to hunt the raptor... but despite having scrapped his fee the Captain stated he would pay any crew that the Baron brought along to kill the creature.

The Baron set out into the jungle in the dead of night... but even darkness and the heavy snowfall would struggle to deter him from finding the tracks he was after... but before long he realized that the raptors were not heading -straight- back to their lair... but seemed to be criss-crossing and doubling back on themselves... quite clearly under instruction from this 'intelligent' raptor which had a MUCH bigger print left behind.

 

The seasoned hunter simply lit a cigar from his silver case

 

"Clever Girl"

 

 

Grettik Gritbeard

 

Race: Dwarf

Age: 185

Class: Archaeologist / Explorer

Alleigance: The Explorer's League, Ironforge

Languages: Dwarvern (Fluent), Common (Fluent), Gnomish (Passable)

Additional Languages (X denotes useage of scriptures for translation): Titanic Script (conversational), Thalassian (passable, X), Highbourne (passable, X), Zandalari (poor, X), 

 

 

The Trio

Grettik Gritbeard was born to a rather modest family within the thriving city of ironforge a good seventy three years following the War of the Three Hammers, a now distant memory in the minds of many Dwarves. As far back as the Gritbeards remember there has always been at least one sibling entering the Ironforge Army as a soldier and another joining the mountaineers... both prestigious positions that usually went to the eldest and most favorable of the siblings.

Young Grettik however had two elder brothers: Dalofic and Gadmuk. The latter became a soldier at a young age clad in steel due to his skill with axe and shield whilst the former, ever skilled with firearms, donned his cloak and maille to become a mountaineer taking the fight to the trolls of Dun'Morogh, this left the young Grettik as the runt of the litter with little-to-no aspiration in life.

Years would pass, almost destined to be a tedious hammer-striker at the Great Forge, his calling was answered as the formation of an organization known as the 'Explorer's League became known throughout the city of Ironforge following the discovery of a number of ancient ruins believed to hold the key to the secrets of their kin's heritage... no sooner had Grettik heard the rumour he ran straight to the newly renamed 'Hall of the Explorers' where he was one of the first twenty to sign up... to this day Grettik still keeps his membership card #19 on his person at all times as a sign of pride.

 

 

The Explorer At War

Years would pass, Grettik gained notoriety within the league for his unconventional excavation methods in addition to having sheer rampant good luck with finding fascinating ruins to explore... admittedly this didn't go as well as planned as many of his theories, many rather outlandish and extreme, rubbed many academics the wrong way who attempted to relinquish his membership by sending him on many more increasingly suicidal excavation projects to work on.

He survived each one of them.

Despite his almost divine level of good luck, such luck didn't seem to run in the family. His brother Gadmuk went missing presumed dead with the rest of the exploration league into outland whilst his other brother Dalofic went on a scouting mission into the depths of the cursed fortress 'Grim Batol' only to have their mangled remains found weeks later by a rescue team sent in to find them.

Despite his parent's grieving, Grettik was still shunned seemingly as some sort of runt despite having achieved the rank of 'senior archaeologist' within the Explorer's League at such a young age and it was from this point on he cut all ties with his family and went off in search of adventure, choosing to be an archaeologist in the field exploring strange and wonderful places rather than sat in an armchair within Ironforge simply -talking- about it.

As the Orcish menace ran rampant across the lands, it became increasingly apparent for a need to appoint individuals from the league to form a 'special' branch in charge of protecting potential sites of archaeological importance from being crushed by either Orcish boots or Human sabatons amidst the numerous wars stretching across the lands. Grettik was the member of the league appointed to oversee this task however a few budding archaeologists now taking up the profession in Stormwind expressed a desire to help. The long-lasting alliance between Dwarves and Humans was argueably never more apparent between Grettik Gritbeard and his human counterpart 'Wilson Wheeler', despite having severed his connection with family he found a friend in the human as the two made their way across Azeroth surveying the land as one supplied the ale around the campfire whilst the other sang and played upon his guitar.

 

A Forgotten Land To Be Explored

"Would you search through the lonely earth for me? Climb through the briar and bramble?"

 

After Grettik and Wilson travelled across the land surveying ruins from Uldaman and Ahn'Quiraj to Eldre'Thalas and Azshara word began to spread of an ancient artefact resurfacing to allow the legion to reopen the dreaded 'Dark Portal'

With the first, second and third wars behind everyone, it became increasingly apparent that a team representing the league would need to head through the portal to ensure a proper and accurate recording of artefacts relating to the ancient Orcish homeworld... rumours began to circle amongst senior academics in the league of a 'Horde' counterpart to their organisation being formed... seeing no time to waste both Wilson and Grettik volunteered to lead a small team into the shattered realm to record what they can... though deep down what Grettik sought was some sort of closure on what happened to his brother Gadmuk who supposedly died all those years ago.

Barely two days into entering Outland, the duo came across the 'Sons of Lothar' from the expeditionary force, those who Grettik queried all informed him that his brother survived the destruction of the portal like many of them but rather than remain in Honor Hold he ventured north to Kirin'Var village with a scouting party to maintain communications with the village of magi. Weeks would pass before Grettik and Wilson would arrive there with their team but alas the village was all but destroyed by the forces of Kael'Thas Sunstrider with no sign of his kin or the scouting party sent from Honor Hold.

 

The Roof Of The World

"I'll be your treasure"

Appointed 'Professor of Archaeology', the now seasoned Grettik and his equally experienced friend Wilson travelled north with the rest of the Horde and Alliance's forces into the Lich King's domain... only to find out that there were far worse creatures than demi-gods lying within the permafrost.

The duo and their excavation team were instructed to rendezvous with Brann Bronzebeard himself. Despite numerous setbacks and encounters with the horrific forces that lay deep within Ulduar itself, they arrived to the forward base camp just outside the titan city's gates in the Storm Peaks. The human and the dwarf had come so far together over land and sea to explore the depths of the world and learn secrets of the gods themselves, the duo were determined for this discovery to be their biggest yet and to make their names resound throughout time as world-famous explorers.

But as Wilson plucked the strings on his guitar in the base camp and began to sing... it would turn out not to be...

Wilson's last song before he would perish in Ulduar

 

The Imprisoned Horrors

"I felt the touch of the kings and the breath of the wind"

Where once Grettik was a level headed, studious yet fun academic, after the events of Ulduar he was no longer that same Dwarf. Forever looking over his shoulder and possessing an ever-present twitch, part of the Dwarf died that day in Ulduar.

As Brann's forced loaded up their equipment, the base camp disassmbled and engineers made the finishing touches on the siege engines that would break down the main gates into the hostile facility. Grettik remained atop one of the siege tanks as a spotter whilst Wilson manned the gun, the men and women of the league laid a path of destruction through the Iron armies of Ulduar but despite this they were met with horrors both mechanical and ... something else

All through their venture they felt something scratching at the back of their minds, tearing at the fabric of their memory as a thorn on a plant rips open flesh, some were more susceptible to this than others yet their soldiered on with Brann leading the expedition despite their numbers falling.

 

"I'm waiting for you"

 

It wasn't until they encountered a strange organic being a couple of stories tall where even glancing at it granted one a headache of immeasureable proportions, some of the weaked willed of the league proceeded to attack other members of the group and they had to be subdued or, in one case, killed in self-defence... the league were sorely mistaken when they thought they could banish such a monster who held their will in the 'palm' of its tentacled limbs, several were slain instantly and Brann ordered an immediate retreat but to no avail, many were lost in the rout and by the time they had ran through several corridors there remained only Brann, Wilson and Grettik... two un-named explorers as far as the younger of the Bronzebeard's was concerned... although they thought they were ahead of such a large beast it charged at a relentless and unnatural speed up the corridors, smashing stained glass windows depicting the stories of the titans as it did, but such a charge was short lived and the moment the trio thought they were in the clear a sound ripped through the air as though tearing through reality itself.

 

"I'm with the ghosts of the men who can never sing again, there's a place follow me"

 

Wilson dropped dead in an instant, the sharpened 'bolt' of void energies had gone straight through his neck and severed the top of his spine, killing him before he had a chance to blink. Grettik could only stand and stare for but a brief moment when he heard Brann screaming elsewhere. His eyes darted around and he realized he was lost in a maze... corridors leading down into access routes and open spaces filled with decorative urns or strange ancient consoles overgrown with dust and cobwebs... and deep inside the facility something reached out to him... not the creature from before but something much bigger... something which had entered his mind in his brief lapse of panic, something which assured him that it was his friend... he denied the voice, screaming for it to shut up as his only real friend lay dead in some forgotten corridor of a hellish prison.

 

 

The Return of the Expedition

The League's official report was that Grettik spent no more than a week within Ulduar whilst Brann fled to inform the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance of what he had found, though in his distraught mental state it likely felt like months as he scavenged through the facility's grounds for food and avoiding patrols of automated drones or Iron Dwarves... but in reality the true test was upon the Dwarf's mind which was shattered, torn and tossed around.

 

 

Something was in here... something which manipulated him without the Dwarf realizing it. He would insist in later reports that he found food to survive as 'Wilson' had shown him where he stashed it, or that he had escaped a squad of Iron Dwarves through an access grate for mechagnomes which 'Wilson' had unscrewed for him.

Grettik was eventually found shivering in an access chute close to Hodir's domain suffering the early onset of hypothermia, it would be almost four months later that he would finally be set on a wagon bound for Dalaran... but upon his return it would seem he had been gathering small nuggets of ore found in the deepest recesses of Ulduar, when he turned up to Dalaran he took this material to the forge and began to work it into a rather crude blade shape which ended up becoming his new shovel for archaeological excavation. Sadly many would see him speaking to it and calling it 'Wilson' constantly... many assumed this was some sort of post-traumatic stress...

They were wrong.

 

The last reported sighting of Grettik Gritbeard was him entering the portal to Ironforge from Dalaran... the Explorer's League have since confirmed to the Kirin Tor that the seasoned explorer never arrived.

 

It is a shame they were looking in the wrong place...

An OOC post for folks (hence red)

A few people seem to think this is just a guide for Timothy West. It sort of is at the moment because he's the only hunter in the group.

 

If you are interested in joining, roll a hunter (doesn't necessarily have to be the -class-) and get hunting and make a name for yourself, or at least express your desire to hunt big game in Opej within earshot of Timothy.

Depending on how good you are (or Tim perceives you to be) will reflect what 'rank' you are in the group to start off with.

 

Remember: This is not a guild, you can still be a part of Grom'Goshar, Drustgarde, Tordala or any other guild whilst also operating within the hunters as long as you stick to the code

 

Cheers

To Hunt a God

 

Contorted and corrupt, twisting and torn, distorted and dangerous, this is what Baron West saw all those months ago when the nightmare, a product of the old ones, started to corrupt the beasts of Opej into horrific aberrations which bore little semblance of what they once were.

Within her temple and domain, Death herself spoke to the baron: seeing fit to appoint him as her chosen champion... though the Baron did not realize it, he had been acting out her will all along with each kill he brought upon the isles... a rather grim and strange twist the huntsman thought.

He came to learn the truth of the Four Horsemen who had recently plagued the isles, why they were here of all times and how they were unleashed.

 

More importantly though, Baron West has previously dismissed this notion of a 'soul stealing being' as utter nonsense and the product of fairy tales caused by delirium from refugees drinking too much sea water, but the horseman of death made him see the truth in front of his own eyes... that this 'being' he had heard of was the cause for her grasp over the dead being loosened... that this -thing- grew evermore powerful with each soul held in its grasp in this foul place known as 'The Pit'

 

"If the taint is destroyed, many things will be made possible. That [the freedom of souls] is one of them, yes. But do not think you can slay such a beast easily" the spirit of death warned

 

The Mad Baron of Opej simply stared the spirit in the eyes

"I do not intend to 'slay' it like I would a wounded doe. I intend to -hunt- it" he stated defiantly.

 

Death's ghostly visage smiles eerily

"Hunt an old god. Without a pause to your pulse. That is why I have chosen you to be my champion"

 

Seemingly without a moment's hesitation, the Baron simply declared as if the old god itself were listening: 

"If it bleeds... we can kill it"

^------- Scorpio's hit the nail on the head here.

There's been quite a few times i've been wanting to do other events however because there's been a 'world ending' sort of apocalypse around the corner, everything else has naturally had to go on hold because it makes no sense ICly to go do minor tasks when there's something so big about to occur.

It would be nice to see more common stuff happen. I believe there was mention a while ago of more self-determination amongst NPCs whereby they start springing up their own settlements and stuff?

 

I mean take for example Tent Town and Egtown? How do the two communicate / exchange goods at all? I wouldn't mind betting now with the Sand Reaver threat gone there would be trials of refugees taking the beach (safest rout) to go between these two towns either to trade goods or simply to communicate with friends & family. As a natural and organic result of this perhaps have a small refugee 'outpost' appear half-way between the two that starts to ask players for help dealing with local issues? (IE: they are next to the sea but have little drinking water, bring them X10 fresh water and X other goods to make a water filtration system?)

I'm currently in the progress of sorta kick-starting some more player initiative stuff but I think at the moment there is (as APBD put it) too much going on:

 

1.) Kolai

2.) Twilight's Hammer

3.) Eredar demoness

4.) Volcano going overload

 

And thats not to mention the defunct / dead / dying storylines that could really do with a wrap up:

 

1.) Blood of Opej Gems (I know quite a lot of players still have these in their inventories, the Black Golem is supposely powered by one)

2.) The Nightmare (Still got a fragment of it on Gruk)

3.) Sotoras (What have they been doing in the meantime?)

4.) Kolai (Not much happening bar that recent thing posted by Ingired)

 

I think what folks need to realize is that there is -still- only a small number of players on US with a great many having not returned / not interested. A brief chat with a decent few has led me to realize that the talk of 'Ice Island' is fairly common knowledge now and quite a lot of folks are simply waiting for this change in scenery.

In addition when you have the player base more or less split between Opej and Menhirs you basically have two 'sets' of storylines going on.

Further to this, I think the eternal tie in with the 'Old Gods' still needs to tone down a bit. I get that in retail they are ultimately the 'BBEG' and 99% of bad shit happening can be led back to them but it doesn't have to be that way. I'm sincirely hoping that this 'four horseman' stuff happening now is something unrelated and completely it's own separate entity in terms of 'evildoer'. That having been said whilst I do like the look of the four horsemen as a 'standalone' threat, APBD has got a good point in highlighting the lack of 'mundane' villains.

The one reason I liked the Opej Crystals storyline is because it put the threat of them in the hands of players: they were only really problematic when players started using them recklessly (which they usually do, a lot of us play careless characters!) and that is where the threat came from: players.

 

Hobo

Race: Goblin

Ag---

 

Woah woah hold up bud, what are you doing?

 

No no no, stop that stupid 'format' nonsense, you want a biography? Sit down and let Hobo here tell ya the story!

 

Alright... so a long long time ago way back when... 'war of the ancients'? No too far back you moron, lets go back to just when this 'Burning Crusade' thing happened... I already said -NO- to the 'war of the ancients'... oh for pity's sake: When the portal re-opened, got it? Back when if you were a Goblin like me you had a few options: strike it lucky and get rich as a trade baron, create some marvellous feat of engineering, or end up slaving away in the Kajamite mines along with the Trolls.

 

Or you could win it big in the arenas!

 

Guess which one ol' Hobo went with? Oh I was glorious, cutting down droves of my enemies, two versus two, three versus three, or even the lucrative five-versus-five arena matches! Arena fights were brill as you fought not just humans but Orcs too! Completely impartial as long as you cut down -everyone-! Of course this was back in the ways when being a warrior was good money, you waded in with strength galore and armour capable of granting you critical strikes that ended up with some beautiful decapitations across the arena floor. Years of doing meager quests for strangers paid off as I became stronger and stronger over the years!

 

Yes yes, i'm getting to that bit, hold on

 

 

I'm what you call 'old school', whilst all these chumps were off and about killing whatever big bad evil guy there was to be killed I was off slaughtering their buddies across the land, I was doing these 'arena' things before they were known as 'arenas'! Little hot spots from the Crossroads in Kalimdor to Tarren Mill in the Eastern Kingdoms, i'd be there in the middle killing anything that so much as had a heartbeat (or not in the case of the Forsaken, who am I to judge?)

 

All that began to chance when this 'cataclysm' thing occurred. You see I was one of the ones on Kezan when some big black scaley thing flew overhead and blew up Mount Kajaro... I was in the middle of an arena fight as well for one of the big bosses on the isle! Well as pyroclastic flows blew past, me and my combatant continued fighting even as the magma surged down... it was at this point I sorta realized that if I didn't run now I wouldn't be able to fight anymore on account of being a mushy pile of hollowed out ash, that sort of this -really- puts a crimp on your PVP career.

 

So I ran, got on the boat where I had to hand over all my arena prize money, problem is though that the boat got caught up in between some crossfire between Alliance and Horde ships, I got blown away from the blast and thought i'd drowned like many other of the refugees. Well that's where you're wrong buddy! But by the time I woke up and found out what was really going on I kinda wish I had died in that cannon blast:

 

I ended up washed on the shore with -all- of my arena armour stripped off me... fortunately whoever robbed me had been courteous to leave me with two rather crude bandages and a pair of shorts to my name... but something about this island was strange, where once I could have ran up and down this entire beach on this jungle-island slaughtering everything for miles without so much as a scratch to my physical health, it now took me almost fifteen minutes to kill a crab which had managed to put me in a medically critical state. Somehow I had magically lost -all- knowledge of my fighting technique which had made me world-famous and worst of all: No-one knew who the hell I was!

 

'Hobo' is what the other refugees called me, on account of my constantly begging for cash to feed myself. I hadn't grown up with the knowledge on how to hunt: all I did was kill people and I got paid to do it in an entertaining way in a small arena, -that- is what kept  me fed and clothed!

 

Some of the more talkative locals who don't just stand there and stare into space simply answered my questions with 'Doldrums'... I mean what kind of response is that? I magically find i'm suffering from some sort of severe muscular atrophy where I can -just- muster the strength to fight off a seagull when before I was annihilating heroes who had fought the Lich King himself and all they can say is 'Its the Doldrums'?

I may not be a wizard but there is no way that an entire chain of islands can project some sort of weird magical mumbo jumbo to suddenly make me, an all-time arena champion into a measly whelp who would likely die to a fresh adventurer out from Northshire Abbey... if that were the case why weren't mages using this magic on me in the arenas?

 

Whatever, fact of the matter is i'm down on my luck, down on cash, down on any manner of strength or fighting capacity and more or less nearly naked.

 

But ol' Hobo here has a plan... and as soon as I find who nicked my vengeful gladiator armour i'm going to rest their legs over a pier whilst lying face down and proceed to drop the largest boulder I can find on their calves.

 

 

Appearan---

Woah woah, stop right there. 'Drop dead gorgeous', 'charming', 'chin chiseled from granite', that's all you need to put in here.

 

...

 

Not foolin' you am I? Oh who am I kidding. Since landing on this crappy island i've become some sort of measly pen-pusher losing any muscle definition I had previously... not only that but there was some strange bout of disease not too long ago in Egtown which meant I look thinner than an Elven women looking to get on the cover of 'Rogue' magazine.

The tattoos? Something back from my days fist-fighting in gangs on the mean streets of Kezan, kept ahold of them because well... tattos are hard to get rid of right? It's not like they just fit in an equipment slot like armour...

 

Fair bit of face fuzz, cuts and bruises here and there... what do you expect from a refugee?

 

Oh and my arm has recently been cut off  by an Orc claiming to he the physical manifestation of war itself... small things like that get overlooked.