In this edition of the Avalon Echo...
Avalon is now free to play with Sponsorship, which now renews automatically for all active players without need to seek it each month
The month of July 2015 has seen a massive influx of new blood to Avalon as well as dozens of old faces returning to take up the banner of Avalon's unique challenge once again
Updates to Avalon's gamesystem continue, with a further hundred experiences added as well as tweaks to shapes and forms aplenty...
Epic warfare activity rocks the world again as both Mercinae and Silverfalls strike hard against the huge armies of Thakria and Parrius
Elmaethor, god of the stars assumes patronage of Parrius and immediately prophesies impending world war
Cornelius, all-consuming god of the void declares Ashvani, goddess of the moon anathema to Thakria, ordering the total destruction of her shrine within the city walls
The Sirens Guild opens in Thakria as a dark branch of the Bard profession; the first new guild in Thakria for over twenty years
Avalon 'QUIZ NIGHTS' continue with 200 banknotes for the curiosity shops as the grand prize. Four have been held so far with the very special fifth quiz to be presided by Genesis himself on 11th July
ALL fourteen of the divine gems have been updated throughout to reflect modern Avalon, with each boasting unbelievable new powers
Ordination XII continues through the summer with the cornelian, ruby and moonstone quests scheduled for July, August and September.
THE AVALON ECHO: Issue #3
Dear Avalonians,
Avalon celebrated its twenty fifth anniversary in November 2014 and this week - July 10th to be precise - it celebrates a full year since the land's renaissance which has seen activity climb higher than ever before seen since records began over a quarter century ago. Much has happened in that year: deities have come and gone, battles have been lost, and won, coups d'etat, whole governments swept aside and forgotten, entire cities mere months ago on the brink of destruction and ruin rise to prominence once again and crush their competition. A Golden Age is coming, to dwarf the legends of the past and paint the future bright with modern, dynamic energy the likes of which has not been seen for almost twenty years - and you do not want to miss it!
Remember, Avalon is FREE to play and there is an amnesty on old debts (case by case) so nobody need be left behind!
Sponsorship: Avalon is now FREE to play
In January 2015, Avalon finalised its new model based on sponsorship (see HELP SPONSORSHIP) allowing players to play for free at the expense of the divine globe power of their cities, reputation of their guilds or might of their patrons. Even old players may return and play at no cost if they wish. It is our way to let Avalon be FREE with a player-controlled exclusion of the obscene and the abusive.
Avalon's renaissance reaches its first birthday with an enormous influx of activity new and old
It is a year since the dawn of Avalon's renaissance, and the land thrives to highpoints never before seen in its twenty five and a half years. This week alone has seen an enormous influx in activity as masses of new blood, hundreds of regulars and scores of returnees come together and clash.
Welcome from Avalon to our newly sponsored juniors: Psybion, Sollos, Thjorvard, Phynale, Willo, Avren, Ezren, Torac, Gannicus, Craios, Dona, Culverin, Minamir, Emily, Vhallos, Konodon, Eviscerus, Akumajo, Larkin, Rex, Jinxx, Arkturus, Merou, Nuovo, Raymond, Vilkas, Paean, Breamon, Guybrush, Fashtas, Ilanthas, Bladien, Anaalia, Lysha, Malice, Rocarolla, Aurorah, and a warm welcome back to the veterans who have returned to take up the Avalonian banner once more: Moradin, Natayyk, Kailess, Kesrick, Micheo, Simaril, Romago, Graylin, Karkhan, Saroman, Kureishi, Shadowbain, Borrak, Eveain, Cadmus, Pythus, Eldur, Ajathar, Braveheart, Omacron, Vargo, Daiwdan, Dundee, Sinda, Song, Patroclus, Abaku, Glendor, Seraphima, Zarcam, Garin, Vortka and last but by no means least, Calagan!
Gamesystem updates and combat balancing continues rapidly
Work continues furiously as updates, bug fixes and balancing tweaks are made to ensure Avalon's gamesystem is the most intricate, robust and challenging of any game of any kind.
Anyone can type UPDATES in Avalon to see the full list dating back over three years, and here is a sample of changes from the last week alone:
Military ranks have been updated to cover General, Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant and Cadet, enabling much greater flexibility of command
The dramatics 'enacting' ability has been activated for the Bard profession
Enlistment beckoning now has distance limitations - no more world-wide beckoning macros - with youngsters able to beckon farthest of all
Hundreds of abilities now have updated AB help files covering in many cases unknown or previously undocumented info
Guildmasters are now able to command right of ENTRY to guildhouse doors, allowing them to remain open for locksmithing activities
Now possible to type NEARBY to show directions to all towns, cities and villages from your current location - in line with Avalon's updated MAP function
CCCs from the gauntlet now reset much faster than before
Loremaster lightning now carries with it a 'flashing afterglow' with numerous properties while the glow remains
WOLF form is fully live for the Brigands, Rangers retain the BEAR form and both guilds have many unique versions available to all high level Forestry users
Now possible to use NEXTBB to read through all unread Bulletin Board posts without having to enter the BB proper
Warfare fortifications updated to allow friendly legions to pass through without accidental blockage
Shapes and forms and nonhuman states of all kinds updated throughout with much much more to come over the next weeks
Elmaethor seizes patronage of Parrius and foretells impending World War Avalon
The Parrian resurgence began in December 2014 after the peaceful coup d'etat that saw Damocles, the god of chaos assume patronage, sweeping clean the former government and beginning a new chapter in Parrian history. Six months later, before all Parrian high government and with the very chaos-god withdrawn from city politics, Elmaethor, the god of the stars accepted patronage of Parrius and lit a fire in the bellies of the eastern pirates. Calls were sounded through the streets that Catarrus, the black pirate was ready to sail and - with the star-god himself aboard - The Black Galleon did depart the shores of Parrius, coursing through the oceans of Avalon laying waste to Mercinae and Thakria, slaying their monarchs in their palaces, cutting down their citizens where they stood and bringing the pirate pillage and plunder to their treasure chambers.
Not content with the voyage of the Black Galleon, as night fell on the 3rd of Leaflost 1381, the star-god rose into the Heavens, wielding his Divine Palantir. Visions of world-reaching conflict flooded the entire land - the world engulfed in the chaos of battle, thousands dead, great armies on their inexorable march to War, entire cities burning in the wake of all the bloodshed. What this means for Avalon remains to be seen, but in the wake of divine prophecy, military activity has once again erupted - all four cities involved in the clashing.
Thakria conquers Thaumacie though not without two thorns in their side
The last Echo left Thakria on the brink of a conquest in Goblin Town; reclaiming their rightful territories and undoing Mercinaen expansion in one fell swoop. The final piece in this puzzle of Thakrian reclamation was the dwarven citadel of Thaumacie - Thakrian for two centuries and recently subsumed by Mercinae.
The very same day that Necrophona and Satsuki raised their crescent flags of conquest was the day they made their strike; escorting a contingent of fifteen thousand Thakrians into the city of the dwarves, crushing the occupying Mercinaen forces and beginning their claim.
Too confident were the Thakrians, for as they slept soundly in their beds, the Alchemist Lleu - lifelong Mercinaen yet young in the military - launched a counterattack from the Thaumacian mountains that left over four thousand Thakrians dead. Once more the overconfident Thakrians had taken a decisive blow, and though it was not enough to mar their conquest of Thaumacie, Lleu and his Mercinaens retreated amid raucuous cheers without losing a single man.
Days later and the Thakrians had completed their conquest - raising crescent flags through every room, large legions in place to demand their occupational tribute. Morale was high throughout all of Thakria and celebrations were in full force. But in the north, events played out entirely differently...
Culloden, Barholm and Dundalk - the three villages of the northern Steppes - had been left in the control of Helga, ancient Thakrian and staunch commander. The Assassin had spent some weeks bolstering Thakria's northern defence with fortifications, barricades, land and water mines aplenty as her troops crept along the Alzir river. While she joined in the Thaumacie conquest festivities, all of Thakria failed to spot a legion of five thousand Silverfallians slinking along the rivers. Quinn led his able bodied army to deadly purpose; launching a highly effective precision strike of mortar bombs, archers and frontline melee to destroy the idle Thakrians.
The Parrian-Silverfalls treaty ends, and new conflicts flare in the east
Three years of peace between Silverfalls and Parrius had given both cities time to plot and scheme, to develop their armies, their generals and their strategies to ensure that when that peace ended, both cities would be ready. Mournsend 1382 marked the end of the ceasefire; both cities free to attack, be attacked and wage war with each other with no restriction. Silvefalls were ready. Parrius was not.
Kristanisti was once more the epicentre of the military conflict - led by Prince Quinn of Silverfalls with Sloane his able lieutenant, the two saw another prime opportunity: key fortifications had been left lowered by the complacent Parrians and thousands of tribute troops were left strewn through the Kristanisti streets with neither deployment orders nor instructions to engage. The Silverfallians marched an army of several thousand through those streets, cutting a bloody path through the Parrians who scarcely raised their heads to retaliate. Silverfalls had bloodied the nose of the formerly dominant Parrians - proof that the pride indeed cometh before a fall.
Two months have followed in the aftermath, with shots fired between the two cities as open warfare begins to unfold. It is the month of Paglost, 1382 years after the divine war, and anything could happen.
The Sirens guild splits from the Bards and opens their doors to Thakria
Five hundred years of history has the Bard profession, and the month of Mournsend 1382 marks another chapter in the great narrative of Avalon's most complex and difficult walk of life. Long associating with the city of Mercinae, the Bards guild proper severed ties with the city in the year 1272 - clashing with both Sun-God and Princess of Mercinae. A hundred years later and the profession has spread its roots through the entire land - all cities represented - and though the topic of Thakrian Bards has remained a controversial one throughout that century, a fragile status quo had been reached. Until now.
2015 has been a year of conflict in Avalon - grand scale battle activity, gem quests aplenty and interplayer melee taking the stage like never before - and in these myriad clashes did the Bards themselves collide. Having pledged themselves to the study and practice of combat, Bards walked the battlefield heads high and instruments ready to be brought to bear. Yet it was this very pledge of combat that would shatter the status quo and see Thakria take a new guild into its walls for the first time in half a millenium.
Necrophona, Baroness, Bardess and Field Marshall of Thakria was at the centre of this collision and though she tried her best to keep the fighting spirit from turning sour, her efforts were in vain. With Silverfallian and Mercinaen interests dominant in the guild of Bards, she decided to form her own guild - true to the fighting spirit she revered and devoted to making life difficult for all who would stand in their way.
Necrophona, though not known for her personal fighting ability, was and is renowned throughout the land for her performances and productions, weaving tales and stories that beggar the belief of even the most staunch disbelieving cynics. Thus the Sirens Guild rose on the cliffs by Trekker's Tower, forever the bastion of Thakrian Bards so desired for centuries. Herein lay the strange creatures with wing, song and tempting call. With lascivious Leucosia and the Mistress of Tragedy, Parthenope, flocking to their sister's side upon the guild's creation, its motives are clear, its interests simple: to fight, twist, and torture the enemy, whoever they may be. The Bard becomes a true fighter, a true rebel, with a home on the dark Moonstone shores of Thakria Cruel.
Test your knowledge in the monthly Avalon quizzes on 11th July
Each month, the grand prize of two hundred Avalon banknotes is up for competition in the Avalon quiz. Four have taken place so far - all close contests - with Arund, Agarwain (twice!) and Laramyn the victorious quiz-winners.
July's quiz will be presided by none other than Genesis himself. The Creator guarantees a multi-faceted, challenging quiz with prizes at stake higher than ever before - a divine artifact for the victory and runner up prizes yet to be unveiled. The quiz will take place on Saturday 11th July at 10PM by the Avalon clock (5PM EST).
JOIN QUIZ in Avalon to sign up.
Ordination XII continues with three more gem quests scheduled for Summer 2015
Ordination XII began with Illyism claiming the divine sapphire and becoming the first contender.
The second gem quest of the season - the Onyx - was presided over by Elmaethor, god of the stars in a ferocious contest on the Battleisle involving the sands of time. After a gruelling series of heats, Agarwain of the Enchanters finally claimed victory over Droxon of the Thieves with one of the narrowest margins the Gods have ever seen. In keeping with a newly ignited competitive, bloodthirsty atmosphere, there will be further gem quests throughout summer 2015, with still more to come.
Elmaethor, god of the stars will be hosting the quest for the divine cornelian on Saturday, 25th July, beginning at 10PM by the Avalon clock. The format is as yet undisclosed, but the star-god promises a challenging, combat-centric event for the gem of evil - now boasting the powers of dark forms, vampiric embrace and hypnotic command.
The divine ruby will be quested beginning Saturday, August 15th at 10PM by the Avalon clock. The ruby is the gem of war, its wielder gaining control over the powers of martial artistry and mindsets. Its quest format will be the traditional 'Ruby League' - a two week bloodbath of pure combat in search for the land's greatest fighter.
ALL of Avalon's divine gems have been updated and improved to reflect the nature of the 2015 modern Avalon gamesystem. It is the dream of many to become a God in Avalon and the dream of many more to lay their hands on one of the fourteen precious gemstones and wield their powers. HELP GEMS has details of these changes though they may be more than meets the eye...
Time marches on and Avalon swiftly approaches it's twenty sixth anniversary online since its launch in the late 1980s. In that time, thousands have stepped through the void and faced down the harsh challenge of this most persistent and unique of game worlds. Do you still have the courage to do the same?
The longest running online roleplaying world in history awaits...
