December 2006
November 2006
November 17
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New Runes Translation : Or seek the vile corpse dust
New Locations
- T2A has 2 blackrock spawn areas with Blackrock Elementals
New Vocabulary
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October 2006
October 20
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New Runes Translation : PATHS CINDER IF KNIGHTS TIP
Ricardo the Thief was being moved from Trinsic to the Yew courtroom with his defense attorney, when they were attacked by brigands, executioners and a man named Murdock. He's been killed and the golden rune is at the moving prison Ricardo is in. Both are asking for the key to the cell.
New Vocabulary
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October 12
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New Runes Translation : HONEST DEBT NEEDED THIS
New Vocabulary
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October 5
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Updates to the World
Nothing too important of note.
- No new runes since 9/15.
- Treasures of Tokuno are now dropping blackrock.
New BNN Article - Imperial Notice
Oct 5 2006 6:14PM
The official inspectors of the Empire wish to inform the citizens that new items seem to have been collected by the various beasts of Tokuno. Some of these items appear to have strange properties and could pose a danger. The Empress does wish to thank those who are restoring the royal treasury and hopes the good citizens will continue to collect and turn in the Treasures of Tokuno.
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September 2006
Sept 15
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New Runes - Translation : A GRIM ASCENDANCE OR ODD RUMORS
- Proposed meaning : ARMAGEDDON IS CAST, RICARDO RUNS
New Updates - by Gildar
- Blackrock stopped spawning
- People learned they could cast Armageddon with a piece of blackrock on the ground by saying "Vas Kal An Mani In Corp Hur Tym" on a 120 mage (Neira was the first to figure this out it appears; Lady Sounder being the first 120 mage to cast it).
- On occassion, people die from casting Armageddon, leaving cool, U7 murder scene looking body parts behind.
- On occassion, a wisp appears due to the casting of Armageddon. He asks for a "source of dense information". It has not yet been learned what that is. He also explains the nature of wisps (that they come from the Xoronite Dimension and they're all projections of the same being, Xorinia, and that their "duty" is to spread information between dimensions).
- Time Lord (well... "a robed figure" or whatever technically...) appeared at all the rifts, though quite often (always?) hidden until revealed. He says nothing.
- Sheriff of Trinsic puts out wanted posters for Ricardo by order of the Royal Council. Those that speak with him are asked to find his lair, and are told that anything found inside they can keep.
- "Shady" NPCs across all shards respond to talk about Ricardo. One per shard knows enough to give a location (near an old burned tree) and a password (different per shard... there's a list somewhere in the thread, and I think on the Wiki).
- The "old burned tree" is found south east of Destard, along the mountain.
- A shoe, hat, and painting are found inside Ricardo's Lair, as well as the "this is as far as you can go for now" beeswax/rune and a bunch of treasure that can't be taken (and some other deco stuff that may or may not be important later).
- Runes can be anagramed to "Armageddon Comes, Ricardo Runs" (I forget what they say, and I'm in a bit of a rush to check).
New Vocabulary
New Locations
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Sept 8
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New Runes - Translation : Tear of saintly demon (anagrams: ? )
New Updates
- Rifts forming in 8 locations across Sosaria
- A 9th Rift has been found, containing the Void spawn
New Vocabulary
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Sept 1
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New Runes - Translation : Onset Sacred Test
Supposed Anagram : Scattered Stones
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August 2006
August 25
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New Runes - Translastion : let fate greet companions
Supposed anagram : Negate Protection Flames; or An Sanct Flam
After defeating '???' the pedestal and gate are destroyed spewing blackrock. Large pieces of blackrock were found around the immediate gate area, while small pieces were found throughout Sosaria.
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August 4
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New Runes - Translation : Hence it's done
- Proposed meaning : Need The Scion
New 5 for Friday [Source]
3. What’s up with looting rights on Ophidian Berserkers?
Draconi: The Ophidian Berserkers absorb damage much differently than the other Ophidians. It seems the original version, while still letting incremental damage build up, wasn’t adding players to the loot table unless they managed significant damage. So if someone walked in and hit it last, they received the loot rights by default. We’ve fixed this by ensuring at least 5% of your damage is applied directly to the Berserker, however, the Berserkers have become slightly stronger to deal with their now weakened shielding.
4. How exactly do Power, Vanquishing, and Mystic weapons help against Berserkers, and to what extent?
Draconi:The Power, Vanquishing, and Mystic weapons cut directly through the Berserker’s magical shielding to deal a certain percentage of the damage you would’ve done normally to it. Power does the least percentage, and Mystics do the highest. The damage numbers you see when dealing damage to Berserkers is the 5% mentioned above, and doesn't include the extra damage the magical weapon has included as well.
5. How come Liane had to die?
Draconi: I think we were all shocked by just how vicious the Berserkers truly are. Even the normal Ophidians fear them, and the higher ranks have weapons made specifically to deal with any that get loose. Intelligence indicates that the Berserkers are only loyal to the Ophidian females – to the point of even murdering their own troops.
Beyond that, I think it’s been an eye-opener that the Royal Council has done virtually nothing to aid Papua or Vesper during this crisis, instead relying on the local militias, guilds, and mercenaries who’ve been doing their best to stem the tide. I don’t feel that Liane did have to die…
Editor's Note: Speaking of dying, after Draconi so graciously answered these questions, he mysteriously disappeared. An hour or so later, EA Security called to let us know they needed the services of a healer once again, and that we'd need to send someone down to clean up the mess. The odd twist to this story is that Draconi's ghost apparently has an affinity for photography, as once he was rezzed, he emailed this... um... self portrait. Click here to see it.
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July 2006
July 28
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New Runes - Translation : SPAWN TOY MICE
New BNN Article - Alone [Source]
New FYI - Redwood Shores under Ophidian Attack, Shards Threatened!
- As we were coming back from lunch today, they noticed that the security forces here at EA Redwood Shores were fully engaged in battle with what appeared to be Ophidian warriors! Quickly running inside, preparations were made to counter the inevitable onslaught. Though many EA employees have fought valiantly throughout the afternoon, it appears that our time here is growing short; the Ophidians are currently assaulting the elevators and it is now plain that our hopes of repelling these giant snakes were in vain.
- Draconi has been busy coordinating our defenses, but he just sent word that his calculations now show a 100% chance that the Ophidian force will reach all shards and take them offline at approximately 7:45PM PDT today, July 28th (2:45AM GMT July 29th).
- Fortunately, once the Ophidians have taken control of all shards, we expect them to only be offline for only approximately one hour while the Ophidian Shamans teleport the entire invasion force into UO. Hopefully someone will be along to resurrect us before too long after they have departed. Good luck, and may you have better luck fighting the Ophidians than we did!
New Vocabulary
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July 21
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New Runes - Translation : TAKEN A NEW WARS TRUTH
New BNN Article - It was taken from us - [Source]
Unknown Jul 21 2006 3:35PM
A note recovered from the corpse of an Ophidian Courier:
It was taken from us. It will be returned. The thief will know a thousand fangs piercing his flesh.
Slake Snoelen
Royal Ophidian Guard
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July 7
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New Runes - Translation : One seventh grieve
Unconfirmed via runes on UO.com, but best theory on anagram : Revenge on thieves
Updates to the World
- Karui Kabuto has returned to his home
- The Guard's corpse in Britain has disappeared
- The townsfolk that had surrounded Inu are in the Cat's Lair Tavern (just south of WBB)
- Ophidians are spawning outside towns
New BNN Article - Ophidians Attack! [Source]
Town Criers Speak - Some of the latest news!
- Beware! Ophidian raiding parties sighted near towns! Hide the women and children!
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June
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New 5 for Friday
2. What kind of timeframe are we talking about with the delay of the Inu event? Weeks, months, a year?
- Darkscribe: The fiction cycle will return as soon as we re-rig and script a couple things. Before the end of July, the in-game story will continue. I’m sorry for the delay. As for the announcement, I can’t say when we’ll make it yet. As soon as I have a firm timeline, I’ll let the community know.
Inu plot on hold until further notice!
From Wilki on Stratics about the delay on the Inu plot.
- No, it's finished as it was planned.
- But given the changes that have happened recently, we're going to have to readjust our timeline a bit, and rather than have nothing for you to do, we're going to have some fun stuff to do in the meantime.
- It's really nothing more than this deal happening at the same time... I'm sure the execs didn't sit down and plot to throw a monkey wrench into the Inu plot just to make us all mad :-)
- The way we're looking at it is that when you're handed a lemon, you get to make lemonade! It's a short term setback, with a very good chance of lots of good stuff coming out of it in the long run.
- We'll have to see what happens during the next few weeks, and go from there.
Another post from Wilki
Hey, no need to apologize. All of us understand your frustration... remember, this is something that we've created ourselves, poured many hours into and we want to see if finished just as much as you do!
Every indication I've gotten over the past few days is that this isn't something to worry about, be patient and all will be well. This UO Team is pretty close: we socialize together, goof off, constantly make jokes and respect each other's abilities. I also trust the people I work with, and I really don't feel that this is going to turn out for the worse.
If I thought for a minute that I wasn't being told the truth, I wouldn't be here in my free time telling you this.
So, some things we're going to be or are working on in the near future:
- more anti-cheat tools
- vet rewards
- something Draconi has been working on for awhile and he'd kill me if I ruined his surprise (he'll probably yell at me just for that)
- more PvP changes
- bug fixes (we're always doing these)
- stuff for the 9th anniversary box (which I haven't seen yet, but it sounds cool!)
- tools so that we can do more complex and fun stuff with our weekly events (which also means trying to involve more people with them)
- putting more Ultima into Ultima Online (this is actually something we really, really feel is important)
There are other things I'm not thinking of at the moment, but I'm feeling quite good about UO these days.
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June 23
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New Runes on UO.com - Translation: Nonbelieving and Ensnared Grace
New Vocabulary
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June ??
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New Runes on UO.com - Translation: Inu Has Seen It
- Solution for last weeks runes, He Insinuates
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June 9
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New Runes on UO.com - Translation: A recovered obsolete nest
Clues from Draconi
- Following the foul scene in front of Britain bank today, bystanders may be somewhat relieved to note that Kurai Kabuto, rune beetle of the now missing Inu the Crone, is expected to make a full recovery. After being carefully examined by some of the city's finest veterinarians, the following prognosis is being offered:
- Apparently, the rune beetle was incapicitated by some sort of heretofore unknown poison
- Traces still linger in his system, and he seems to be still somewhat sick
- Citizens have notified the Royal Guard that Kurai is desperately flashing rune signs upon his back when anyone tries to talk with him. A well respected mage, who wishes to remain anonymous, feels that these runes are some sort of method of communication. He noticed that there also seems to be a series of "aa" growling sounds following each runic sign, but attributes that to Kurai's poor health, and recommends people pay attention only to the runic sign itself, or perhaps the strange clicking and buzzing noises he's making.
- In his words: "'Tis trying to say something, aye, but methinks some of the runic signs are being jumbled!" A passing veterinarian briefly mentioned that the poison's aftereffects may be causing small seizures within Kurai, which might explain the constant noises we hear.
- Hint: Don't let the journal confuse you. Pay attention to what you see on the screen.
New Five for Friday - 5. Are there any possible plans for the 9th anniversary?
- Darkscribe: Yes! There will be a new boxed product that we will be announcing shortly that will go on sale in September, just in time for the anniversary. There are a couple remaining details to work out before we can give all the details. This new product will contain not one, but two new housing tile sets, both of which are quite different from anything currently in the game. And no, this anniversary box isn’t the secret that will be revealed when you solve the puzzles surrounding Inu. The spring flowers are still very much in bloom.
New BNN Article - Inu disappears, rumors swirl, pet beetle getting hungry [Source]
- By Saax Pannae
- BNN Associate Reporter Jun 9 2006 7:31PM
- Inu, the old woman some called a prophet and some considered a noisy old crank, has disappeared.
- "One second she was there, the next she wasn’t," said one bystander. "I don’t know what happened. The poor old woman is probably lost somewhere. She had clearly lost her mind. It’s a good thing no one took any of her crazy talk seriously."
- Her pet beetle remains where he was, near the Britannia Bank. Beetles can go days without food, but how long can they go without the love of their master?
Updates to the world
- Inu and Yrigor are no longer at Brit bank
- The 'guard' next to Inu is dead and her obi is near him.
- There are still 3 NPCs around the body that talk.
- The beetle is stil there, and has moved to the west of his original location.
- The dungeon in Britain sewers is open. Go inside and utter Charvory at the sign to enter.
Vocabulary Updates
- Kurai Kabuto
- Townsfolk in Brit
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June 6
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New Runes on UO.com - Translation: Danger Surrounds the Prophet
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June 2
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New information speaking about Inu at Five for Friday - 3. Any plans to add content or spruce up existing content in the original lands (Britannia itself)?
- Darkscribe: Yes. I will continue to drop hints until someone has to sweep them up. Follow the clues within the in-game story arc involving Inu. Soon, there will be puzzles to solve that will lead players to an amazing revelation. If players don’t reveal the secret, then they’ll hear about it from a press release a couple weeks later, but I’m betting on the players to find it first.
- A question from Salmar to Wilki:
- What kind of timeline for the press release? Does that mean after the year long story arc and we don't figure it out or does it mean this next set of clues (starting back on June 9th) will give us enough to solve it? I'm confused, but this Inu thing sure has got my attention!
- Wilki's response:
- No, you won't need to wait anywhere even close to an entire year. Just a small fraction of that. Personally, I'm hoping someone clever figures it out right away!
- As for a time frame, read some of Darkscribes earlier comments in past newsletters and FoF's.
- And that's ALL I'm saying till ya'll discover it for yourselves.
- *zips lips*
News from UO.com - Inu Taking A Week Off
- We are almost ready to finish the first chapter of the Inu story cycle and launch into the next. What’s been going on is really just a prologue of events to come, an appetizer for a yearlong buffet of Sosaria-rocking revelations and discoveries. Unfortunately, to get ready for the next phase, we need to take another week to prepare. If we were a TV show, we’d run a rerun this week. But we aren’t, so instead, Inu must remain silent for a week. The story cycle will begin again on June 9.
- Thanks for your patience,
- Darkscribe
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May 2006
May 26
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New Five For Friday - Hey, have you guys noticed the crazy old lady at the bank? She's really got a crowd worked up!
What's going on?
- City Guard: We are aware of her presence, yes. She is called Inu the Crone, a visiting national from the Tokuno Isles. Thou art not the first to inquire, and we shall be posting an informative bulletin for the citizenry in the near future. Good day.
New BNN Article - Inu 2 [Source]
- Describes the events leading up to finding the Demon in the Fan Dancer Dojo
- Draconi responds on Stratics - Source
- However, you might notice that almost all the characters are the kind of people who wouldn't stay put, so you may not be seeing them in the near future.
Vocabulary Updates:
- A Wisp - May 27, 2006
- Unshackled Demon - May 27, 2006
- Yrigor - May 27, 2006
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May 18
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New runes - Translation: Unchained Pride
 - These runes are the correct anagram solution for "Cure Hidden Pain".
Updates to the world
- All in-game characters stop talking as shards receive Publish 40.
- Daiichi, Nanako, Tomoe, and Yatsue appear in Zento.
- Aileen (aka: Unnamed Noble Woman #1) appears in Castle British.
- Campsite appears East of Britain.
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May 12
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New runes - Translation: Cure Hidden Pain
http://www.britanniacartel.com/wiki/images/runemay12.gif
New BNN Article - Excerpt from "The Care and Feeding of Demons" [Source]
- … Demons brought to our plane from their infernal native reality are extremely traumatized. Demons abhor physical restriction, and suffer emotional stress when they are compelled to certain duties. As big, powerful and terrifying as they are, they will whine like children missing their blankies under the yoke of some obligation.
- That’s why summoning a demon to perform some task always sounds like a much better idea than it actually is. Demons are pouty, insolent, stubborn and even prone to self destruction to escape entrapment or geas. They’ve been known to beg for death, even as they thrash well-meaning warriors trying to give them the gift they are so loudly requesting.
- The questions that must be answered after a demon‘s physical form is destroyed, and subsequently released from his prison, are “Where does he go? What does he want? What does he do with his newfound freedom?” Most likely, he will return to his own kind, either in the nether realms, or on this plane…
Changes:
- Enslaved Demon is found in the third level of Hythloth on shards where he was defeated. He is renamed to "Unshackled Demon".
- Inu and Kurai Kabuto head to West Britain.
- Draconi is revealed as the author of Inu, Chapter 1 by a remark made by Inu in the Five on Friday section.
Vocabulary Updates:
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May 5
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New runes:
http://www.britanniacartel.com/wiki/images/rune5.gif
- Translation - Death Dealing Fanciers
New BNN Article - Inu [Source]
- The tale of Inu's journey to Britain along with Maya and Ken.
Changes:
- Dungeon underneath the Fan Dancer Dojo found, with an "Enslaved Demon" found inside.
- Town Criers Speak:
- Some of the latest news! Code broken in Nujel'm!
- Some of the latest news! Wisp hive uncovered!
- Some of the latest news! Mysterious crone returns to the desert
Vocabulary Updates:
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May 4
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UO House of Commons IRC chat
- Calelena - *Minotaur2k* The new P40 quest was done extremely well, can we expect this from all quests from now on? Also will there be more virtue quests and will they gain the virtues, if only to make a reason to do the quests more than once....
- Draconi - I think we can humbly say that we're happy to hear how much positive feedback this quest has been garnering!
- Draconi - As a team, we're always excited when we can deliver something like this, that helps not only bring back fond memories for veterans, but help make new ones for those new to the Ultima multiverse
- Draconi - As for the future, who can say what it holds? Well, maybe some batty old lady who's been wandering around lately, but that's another story entirely ^^
--
- Calelena - *RaMcHiP* Does pub 40 have anything to do with the Crone conspiracy?
- MrTact - It has to do with adding some functionality that will let us do some more interesting things with these in-game storylines.
- MrTact - I believe you will be seeing the benefits of that very soon . . .
- MrTact - However, is pub 40 the things Inu is all worked up about? Oh heck no. We have something a little bigger than that in mind . . .
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April, 2006
April 28-29
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Changes:
- It is determined that the hidden message that was supposed to be found through the "words good and bad upon nujelm" runic clue and the "Who is Inu the Crone?" article is "kwybce", though there was an error in Inu's responses that made it impossible to get those letters. The clue "kwybce" is combined with "nujelm" (k+n, w+u, etc) to get "yrigor". "yrigor" is said to Inu to get the password to the Red & Blue colored wisp statue (ManifestationsOfWisdom).
- A wisp is found at the back of the hidden dungeon accessed through the Red & Blue wisp statue.
- A Rune Beetle named "Kurai Kabuto" appears by Inu.
- Odda is found on the Nujel'm Docks.
Vocabulary Updates:
- Inu the Crone
- Kurai Kabuto
- A Wisp
- Odda
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April 25
Red & Blue colored wisp statue found in the Wisp Dungeon, which leads to a hidden dungeon after a password is spoken (Yntyr). EA finds out that the entrance is found without solving the puzzle (much like the Lorgash Dungeon was found too early) and the password gets changed. Inu stops responding to the word "Wisps".
"Beastlike and odd heroes thrive" was determined to be an anagram for "Evil near destard hides book".
Vocabulary Updates:
- Inu the Crone
April 21
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New Five For Friday - 5. I think Inu is a virtue short of a full codex. Is she ever going to make any sense?
- Inu the Crone: I make plenty of sense. It's not my fault that you can't add two and two together; or any other combination of numbers for that matter.
- *mutters* Non dignus.
New BNN Article - Letter to the Editor [Source]
- Dear BNN,
- Troubles in Tokuno, which you recently published, made me realize that you have been sending secret messages! If you take the number of letters in Inu the Crone, you get eleven which of course means nothing by itself. Now, if you count the long paragraphs in that story, you get twelve. Furthermore, eleven on top of twelve is twenty three! Only they know what twenty three really means, but it's very obvious to myself that it does indeed mean something. In addition, adding the two short paragraphs of that story to twenty three gives us twenty five.
- Lately, I've been a bit lost trying to figure out what all these numbers mean, but I know that you know what they know! How do I know? Adding stuff together is what mother (who is now retired in Nujel'm) said I'm best at, and I know you're up to something with these Inu the Crone stories! Thank you for listening to me, but please stop sending them messages and just tell us regular stories from now on.
- Sincerely,
- Odda
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April 20
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New runes - Translation: Beastlike And Odd Heroes Thrive
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April 17
New runes:
- Translation: Words Good And Bad Upon Nujelm
Changes:
- A cave is found on accident through an old event entrance. The new entrance is found through pictures of how it was exited. The entrance to the cave was by double-clicking on a fur located in one of the huts in the Destard Swamp. Inside the cave were large amounts of ratmen. On the second level of the cave was a Ratman General named Lorgash, and a book named Studies:The Shattering, written by Nystul.
April 15
New BNN Article:
Vocabulary Updates:
April 13
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5 for Friday - 5. Division Rules Sosaria?
- Inu the Crone: That's what it says, doesn't it? You people are dense!
New runes - Translation: Division Rules Sosaria
- This is the solution for the first set of runes, but has additional meaning to it.
- There was mention of the runes in the Five on Friday section on the UO page.
Changes:
- Inu moves once more, this time back to her house in Tokuno.
Vocabulary Updates:
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April 10
Runes appear:
- Translation: Delirious as in saviors
April 7
Changes:
- Inu moves to a new location on each shard (location is different on each shard).
Vocabulary Updates:
April 4
New BNN Article:
Changes:
- Inu "the Crone" was seen wandering the streets of Britain and Luna. Her exact location varied per shard, and she continually moved around.
Vocabulary Updates:
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