AC2:Announcements - 2003/10 - Revolt

Teaser

Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=57

October Episode: "Revolt"

---

The bitter, cold wind roared down the jagged peaks of the mountains surrounding the entrance to the Mage Academy. As that wind violently whipped the edges of Aerfalle's gown, she paused, listening to what it had to say. The screaming wind told of bare rock and pristine, untouched ice. It spoke of beautiful, unchanging cold. Once again, she saw why he had built the Academy here. The location seemed similar to one where his original Mage Academy had been built.

"It's beautiful," her companion said.

"Indeed," Aerfalle said in agreement. While nothing could compare to the beauty of Gelid, there were hints of that land's beauty here and there. If she still breathed, she would have inhaled deeply of the crisp air. If her flesh was still alive, she would have felt the wind stinging her skin. She felt none of this, of course. Eternal life did call for some sacrifices, she thought. She smiled at her unintended pun as she and her companion passed through the entrance portal.

As they materialized in the Academy, a surprised sound escaped Aerfalle's companion. While the girl had always been prone to overreacting, Aerfalle too was surprised by the disorder that greeted her eyes. Things had changed quite a bit since her last visit. The last time she was here had been for a small celebration Rytheran hosted to commemorate the completion of the new Academy. That construction started soon after the Firstborn used those so-called Nemesis races to drive the mortal races from Dereth. Rytheran went before Geraine and asked for permission to use the Gurog to build his new academy underneath this mountain. While her love simply could have summoned Golems for the construction, he told her it had seemed so much more appropriate to command mortals to do it. And truly, that had been the Firstborn's goal—bending the will of more malleable creatures to their own and adding new subjects to their Kingdom. After an absence of over 10,000 years, the Kingdom of the Dericost ruled once more.

While most Undead followed the lead of the Firstborn and kept their displays of emotion to a minimum, the celebration at the Academy had been a joyous one. Even Geraine, followed by a contingent of loyal Sand Kings, seemed to enjoy the occasion in his own way. All of the Firstborn's enemies had been defeated: The Hopeslayer was gone forever, that whelp Asheron had disappeared and the Virin'di's Dominion was leaderless. All at a cost of a few hundred Gurog, Burun and Drudge lives—a very small price to pay. Now the Firstborn would rest for a few hundred years and then begin cleansing the world of the Olthoi.

It was at that celebration that Geraine had congratulated Saelar, Hahnain and Renselm for their efforts and named them his Archons of the Way. Those three had discovered the location of the Book and brought it before him. With the Book once more in his hands, Geraine had judiciously used its knowledge against their enemies and led them to victory. As the festivities drew to a close, Aerfalle made her way over to her love, to bid him goodbye before their rest. Before they parted, Rytheran spoke of his surprise at Saelar's reaction to Geraine's congratulation. The two had known each other for millennia, being from the same province and had been life-long friends. Rytheran had approached Saelar to add his congratulations to those he had already received and was surprised at his friend's anger. Saelar spoke of Geraine's patronizing gift, nothing more than a title, when Saelar knew that he and his companions had been the ones responsible for their victory. Rytheran tried to persuade his friend that he had been truly honored, but eventually Saelar stopped speaking on the matter and soon left. Aerfalle had chided her love for forgetting what the politics of the court were like; surely, bruised egos were an everyday occurrence.

Now, seeing what had happened to the Academy while she had rested, Aerfalle saw how wrong she had been. As Aerfalle and her companion entered the great hall, they saw one of their kind standing near a Gurog at the other end. The Undead stood idly, mumbling to himself, while the Gurog grunted in laughter and busied itself with picking flakes of flesh off the Undead's form. As they approached closer, the Gurog took notice of them, raised its axe and bellowed, "Halt!"

Aerfalle paused for a moment, taken aback that this creature had dared to speak to her at all, let alone the tone in which it did so, then waved her hand, flinging the creature against a nearby wall. A satisfying crack followed, and the creature slid down to the floor. The two now approached the mumbling Undead.

"What happened here?" she asked him, yet the Undead seemed to take no notice of her and continued mumbling to himself.

"Something is dulling their minds," she said to her companion. "Can you sense the magics at work here, Garaena?"

"Yes mistress," the girl nodded. "But they are very subtle. I would not have noticed their presence had you not said so."

"I took no notice of them either, child. It was only on seeing the state of this poor one's mind that I expanded my senses and noticed their presence."

"We should make haste, mistress," Garaena said, a concerned note entering her voice. "I must see what has become of Master Rytheran."

"Yes, we should, child."

*******

After navigating the halls of the Academy, the two passed through the portal leading to Rytheran's Sanctum. After materializing, they were met with another surprise—mortals. A small party of the creatures stood there, casting magics on themselves in preparation for the battles to come.

Aerfalle and Garaena were not alone in their surprise—many in the mortals' party cried out at seeing them appear. A Human sorcerer quickly recovered from the shock and cast a fire bolt at Aerfalle. With a simple gesture of her hand she deflected the bolt, sending it toward the ceiling of the chamber. While the sorcerer uttered a curse, a Tumerok wielding a blazing weapon rushed toward her. Aerfalle raised another hand, her fingers splayed, and the creature froze, motionless. She then quickly brought her fingers in, forming a fist, and a resounding crack was heard. The creature fell dead. The sorcerer uttered another curse, and began making the motions necessary to escape into portalspace, while the others in his party rushed the two Undead. As the mortals approached, Aerfalle quickly brought her arms inward, crossing them over her chest. She threw them out and released a wave of fire in all directions. The wave struck the creatures, who screamed, then fell dead.

As she stepped over the smoking corpses, Aerfalle said to her companion, "I can see some things haven't changed."

"Mistress, there seems to be something odd about this creature's weapon," Garaena said, stooping by the blazing weapon still clutched in the dead Tumerok's hand. "It seems to be imbued with magics that further confuse our minds."

"Their betrayal has been truly profound," she said to the girl. "Let us press on."

As they walked into Rytheran's chamber, she saw him standing stooped over, mumbling to himself. She approached him, weaving an intricate pattern with her hands.

"Rytheran," she whispered.

Rytheran stopped his mumbling as the magics took hold and looked at her in surprise, "Aerfalle? My lady, what are you doing here? What has happened?"

"You have been the victim of a betrayal, my love," Aerfalle said as she placed a hand against his cheek, her voice still a whisper. "We all have. Come with me now, for I will need your strength in the days to come."

"Yes, yes, of course," he said, the cloud leaving his mind. "But what of the Academy?"

"We haven't time to dispel the magics that have been cast against this place," Aerfalle continued. "Nor have we the time to purge those Gurog loyal to our betrayers, but Garaena will remain behind in your place. She will watch over these halls and do what she can."

Straightening himself and pulling away from Aerfalle's hand, Rytheran looked at his one-time student and said, "It is good to see you one more, Adept Garaena. I entrust the care of my Academy to you. Perhaps you will have more success here than I have. I am ready to leave, my love."

"Good, then let us do so," Aerfalle said, as she raised her hands to summon a portal. "We have a revolt to put down."

 

Letter to the Players

Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=58

October Episode: "Revolt"

---

On the brink of war...

It is a surreal scene not witnessed since before the Devastation. On a lonely Osteth plain, the undead are beginning to gather. On one side, beneath the Standard of Geraine, Lady Aerfalle's grim loyalists arrive to affirm their allegiance to His Eternal Splendor. Far across the field, the rotting servants of the Archons rally to the Standard of the Book, burning with the desire for freedom and power.

Briefly, Aerfalle reflects on the irony of the situation. Had it not been for the interference of mortals, the Archons might have destroyed them all by stealth. How strange, to think that such insignificant beings could prove so important! But she has now been warned, and the traitors will soon face the wrath of the Filinuvekta. Perhaps she can find further uses for the mortals as well...

At a central pavilion, the leaders of both factions hold their first and final meeting. The Archons bring a swarm of their most fervent followers; Lady Aerfalle and Lord Rytheran are attended only by a pair of trusted aides. The conference, conducted in the high tongue, is brief and bitter—either the Archons will destroy their former liege and reign supreme, or they will be obliterated from the memory of the world. This meeting is little more than a formality, a nod to the ancient glories and traditions of the Dericost.

As the leaders return to their war camps, the empty pavilion behind them is put to the torch. The dancing flames announce to both encampments what was already common knowledge: in one moon's time, there will be war.

Elsewhere, many of Dereth's mortals celebrate the turning of the seasons with raucous entertainments and good cheer. Others, more ambitious, set off to seek alliances with Aerfalle or her mortal enemies. There will be profit in this war…for those who survive...

Content Additions As usual, we don't want to spoil upcoming content, so here are our vague hints for October!

• The people of Dereth will find the opportunity to participate as the conflict between those loyal to Geraine and those seeking to topple him approaches.
• In addition to the struggle between the Undead, the mortal races will find other conflicts in which they can choose to participate.
• More task quests have been implemented for characters level 30 or greater.
• Some seasonal fun will be available, along with some "lighter" content that might add to your waistline...

Skill Changes

• Base Tree Skills
• Although we had originally planned on allowing certain base tree skills to be increased to skill ratings above 50, these modifications did not make it into our October episode.

• Tier 3 Hero Skills
• Due to upcoming planned revisions to the specialty classes, we are delaying the release of the Tier 3 Hero Skills until after our October episode. At that point, some of the proposed skills may be redesigned to better fit these revised classes.

• Tumerok Base Melee
• The reset timer for "Blood Tithe" has been increased to 12 seconds, as we intended to do in our September episode.

• Tumerok Clawbearer
• The duration of the Tar Mine's root has been increased to 5 - 40 seconds, as we originally intended.

• Tumerok Hivekeeper

• • We've corrected a bug that limited the "Queen's Defender" skill to a range of 30 meters or less. The skill can now be used on targets 60 meters or closer.
  • We've increased the cost of the "Master Hive" skill from 300 Vigor to 400 Vigor, as was originally intended.

• Tumerok Healer
• The "Curse of Peace" skill is now working as originally intended. It applies a Healing effect over time that gives 10 to 200 points of health per second to the target for 30 to 60 seconds, while greatly increasing the vigor cost of all special skills by 1000 Vigor points. This skill can only be used on the Healer or a member of the Healer's fellowship.

• Tumerok Invoker
• The reset timer for the "Pure Spirit" has been reduced from 20 minutes to five minutes.

• Lugian Base Melee
• We've updated the skill description for Wellspring to indicate that it can now be used on both self and others.

• Lugian Juggernaut
• The maximum focus cost of "Devastating Arc" has been reduced from 800 to 750, as was originally intended.

• Lugian Berserker

• • The magnitude of the melee defense-reducing effect given by "Reckless Abandon" is now listed in the skill's description.
  • While the armor-ignoring damage for the Berserker's skills was increased to 50% in September, the skill descriptions were not updated. We've updated these descriptions in October to reflect the change.

• Lugian Raider
• The maximum focus cost for Living Rock has been increased from 600 to 650, as was originally intended.

• Lugian Tactician
• The Crystal Wall now correctly applies its damage-reflection effect when being summoned.

• Lugian Elementalist
• The Sand Goliath is now applying his rooting effect to targets at the expected rate, which is roughly once every two minutes per target, depending on when the Goliath chooses to use the skill.

• Human Base Melee
• All human melee skills that receive a damage bonus if used on a certain side of the target now list that bonus damage in their description.

• Human Bounty Hunter
• Assassin's Strike and Paralyze now list the bonus damage they receive if used on the correct side of the target.

• Human Defender
• We've fixed a bug that was causing the Defender's Aegis skill to block 10 - 50 points of damage instead of the intended 10% to 50%.

• Human Ranger
• We've corrected a bug in the Bird of Prey skill that was causing it to last a maximum of 80 seconds, instead of the intended 60 seconds.

• Human Base Magic

• • We've increased the reset timer for Vigor Siphon from eight seconds to ten seconds, as was originally intended.
  • We've updated the skill description for Inner Calm to indicate that it can now be used on both self and others.

• Human Enchanter
• We've corrected a few bugs in the Living Armor pet. We've raised the Vigor cost for summoning the Living Armor from 300 Vigor to 400 Vigor. In addition, we've raised the reset timer on using the skill from two minutes to five minutes. Finally, the Living Armor no longer counts toward the maximum number of pets the Enchanter is allowed to summon at one time. This will allow the Enchanter to use both normal and hero pets at the same time.

• Human Sorcerer

• • Inferno's Blessing, like all other buff skills, can now be used while wielding non-magic weapons.
  • Blighting Gaze is now working as designed. The skill reduces the effectiveness of all healing skills applied to and healing items consumed by the target by 20% (L1) to 60% (L100) for 30 (L1) to 60 (L100) seconds. In addition, it applies a health damage-over-time effect that bleeds the target for 5 (L1) to 30 (L100) points of health for the duration of the skill.

Monster Changes

• Monsters now more appropriately classify their attack skills as either Ranged or Melee, and then choose the correct attacks for their current mode. This will make it less likely that they will use a ranged attack at melee range or switch to a melee skill if a ranged attack is damaging a target.
• Bloodstones should no longer be leaving orphaned monster pals all over the landscape.
• The Warath isn't using its knock back skill quite as often.

Quests Changes

• The intended challenge rating for a quest is now displayed in the Quest Panel.
• Characters in a phase of the Hero Initiation quests that require a Sliver, Shard or Fragment will find that they have a much higher chance of getting the item they need when killing a group of, or high level solo, Bloodstones. Characters not in those phases of the quest will receive those items at the lower drop rate.
• A bug in the way the Pure Mana Recipes were given to characters was causing them to only be rechargeable every seven game days, not the intended seven real-time days. We've corrected this bug; every seven real-time days, characters can return to the Shrine and recharge their Pure Mana recipes.
• We've fixed a bug in the "Salvation in Artefon" quest that was preventing characters from receiving the quest reward more than once.
• The Star of Dereth reward given out by the "Salvation in Artefon" quest now boosts the Lugian Sage skill "Cure Wounds," instead of the skill of "Bolster Life," which has been removed from the game.
• The usage requirement on the Holding Portal Gems has been increased to level 45.
• The reset timers for the Arramora Dungeon Quest and Exigency quests have been increased from five minutes to two hours.
• Thorsten Cragstone is still wandering, but he's wandering a bit more sensibly.
• The Alembic, needed to infuse various gems for the Artefon armor quest, is now attuned to your character.
• The fellowship propagation for the Mosswart Rescue and Olthoi Hunt quests is now limited to characters who meet the minimum level requirements and are near the person who received the quest, similar to the propagation of the Incursion quests.
• We've made a few changes to the "Sword of the Doomed Hero" quest to make it more of a challenge. This has involved reducing the timer for the "Protect the Bearer of the Doomed Sword" quest from two days to one day, and increasing the timer for the " The Doomed Sword" from two days to six days. We've also made the dungeon a bit tougher, but we'll leave that for you to discover...

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Entering the name for a character who doesn't exist in the Assistance panel now generates an error letting you know the name is incorrect. Previously this resulted in a more generic error.
• Characters above level 50 can now receive more than 100 million experience points from their vassals per level.
• The name of the first person to loot a corpse is now stamped on the corpse and visible when other players examine the corpse.
• All crafted items are now worth approximately 75% of the recipe's gold cost. Critical success items are worth 90% of the recipe's gold cost. The only exceptions to this change are Tier 2 tools, which are now worth about 60% of their recipe cost.