Jack T. Lamplighter

I've seen a lot of misinformation on this shared around which is causing some unrest so I wanted to make a clean post here stating our position. Multi-boxing IS allowed. The only thing that is not allowed is having a second (or third+) client in the background that is executing some automatically triggered skill like autoattack or crafting. For example, if you run multiple clients and switch to a second one to cast a heal spell, that is fine BUT your other account might miss an auto attack... Clarification on multiboxing View the full article

I just wanted to post and let people know I'm giving the team until Monday to give feedback on my epic post before it goes live. I had planned on posting it today but far too many people are out of town and completely unavailable for feedback so likely posting it at the start of next week. Sadly due to massive battles with Unity issues, I haven't had much time to spend on bards. I do have the UI and skill tree frame work and specializations done but no chance it will be live by midnight.... This is not the Shroud 2020 Post! View the full article

As mentioned on streams and posts before, we are ending ALL real money transactions here. Starting on January 1, 2020, roughly 2 days from now, no RMT (real money transaction) will be allowed in our private forums. Existing posts for RMT will be deleted. New posts will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be moderated or banned. This does not mean that we will not allow RMT, simply that you can't use the forums to do. As discussed in multiple places, this is a support headache for us and... Starting 01/01/2020 only trades and gold posts will be allowed View the full article

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the next instalment of this wonderful story by Draxenath. It is entitled “Interview with the Dragon Goddess”. Background music by Smartsound Part 13: The Ancient Library Once we finished having our meal, Wallanime laid down and turned face down on the ground. Her clothes dissolved, white and grey fur started growing all over her body as it increased in size and acquired a canid shape. Her nose and jaws elongated, turning into a snout with a maw full of long, sharp teeth. Her ears grew and became pointy as her hair turned into a dark bluish mane. Her amber eyes became snowy blue. In a matter of seconds, she had taken the shape of an Inujin as large as a horse. She sniffed on the floor, looking for tracks of The Goddess, then stood up straight on her hind legs and signaled me to follow her. She leaped on her four and followed the scent as in pursuit of prey. I tried to keep up with her pace, it was exhausting! She would stop every once in a while to allow me to catch up, to dart away as soon as I was a couple of steps from her. We soon arrived at a large crater in the center of the ruins. My dog friend was wagging her tail and panting happily as she waited for me. – She came to the site of the battle, just as I thought. – said the Avatar. – It will get dangerous from here, follow me and be as silent as you can. – She shrunk to the size of a small dog and crawled stealthily, approaching the center of the crater, using the debris as cover. I followed her as best as I could. We came across numerous interesting pieces of technology, and she explained a bit of what they were. It all seemed like techno-babbling nonsense to me, and I had no time to take detailed notes that I could study later, the only word that stuck in my head was “Magitronics”, the magical manipulation of “electrons”, which are some kind of incredibly fine specks of dust that carry electricity around. Wallanime stopped her advance. I noticed she was agitated and trembling. – Don’t move, don’t look, just listen carefully. – she said. For a moment, all I could hear was her panting, but then she closed her snout shut, and I could hear footsteps, they were approaching. At some point, the footsteps stopped, and I could hear a clear human-like yet oddly unnatural voice. “Intruder detected. Please, drop any weapons and stolen property and retreat in peace immediately. Non-compliance will result in hostile engagement.” The Avatar grew in size again, grabbed me and put me on her back. – Hold on tight, we got to run! – she said as she darted. I looked behind and could see one of those humanoid constructs, clad in odd, glowing armor and wielding a sword with a blade made of light. It pointed at us with what looked vaguely like a firearm and shot bolts of light in our direction. – I thought it would attack only if we did not comply! – I commented. – These automaton guards take things literally, so “retreat immediately” means “disappear in this very instant”. Their behavior directives were not properly revised! The automaton was pursuing us, and more of them joined the pursuit as we encountered them. Wallanime kept dodging the bolts of light, but one of them she could not react to and hit me on my left arm. It burned! I could not keep holding on to her and fell. I hit the ground and rolled until a wall stopped me. I was pretty beaten from the fall. I could smell the scorched flesh from my arm. My head was ringing, my sight was blurry. I saw a humanoid figure approaching, it pointed at me with its magitronic sword. I thought that was my end, but then a black figure pounced and trampled at the automaton. Black wings spread and a tail swung, hitting at another automaton. A dozen more approached, bolts of light flew towards the black figure. A golden aura exploded from the black figure, dissolving the bolts, and suddenly I could see golden scales and feathers, it was a dragon! It picked me up and held me in an embrace that eased my pain. It turned black again. We flew around, evading the bolts from the guns. The dragon was wielding a magitronic sword with its right paw. It deflected the bolts and cleaved through the automatons as we flew by, destroying them along with their weapons. The dragon gave me a concerned look and decided to land. The blade from the magitronic sword faded until it was completely gone, leaving only the hilt made of odd materials. The dragon’s golden aura returned, and my arm healed very quickly as it embraced me. I closed my eyes. I felt the dragon shrinking, I opened my eyes and it was Wallanime in her human form, she was trembling. – I thought we were going to die! Those automatons were not wielding ordinary armament! – She showed me the magitronic hilt. I could see there was an inscription, my eyes took a few seconds to adjust and read it: “Athaldar, may this sword help you put the past to rest and build a better future. With love from your mother.” It was the god-killing sword created by Humenalia and wielded by Athaldar in his last fight! She was breathing very quickly. – My Mistress asked me to protect you while she was gone. I thought I would fail her again. You are alive, aren’t you? Are you still hurt? Oh, what a mess have I gotten us into! – she was looking around nervously and jumped at every minor noise. – I am fine, I will live! Are you alright? – I asked. She took deeper breaths, her golden aura slowly fading as she calmed down. She fell into a sitting position on the ground. – It has been about a thousand years since I did any fighting, I have been hiding and eluding conflict since the destruction of Curiosity. I was not feeling confident of my fighting skill… let’s keep looking for My Mistress. I followed her to the center of the crater, this time we were not attacked. We found plenty of corpses from scavengers as we approached. We arrived at a pair of large doors leading to a small room with a pit, there was no floor, only walls. It was deep and there was a long cable of odd material going all the way down. The Avatar hugged me, black-feathered wings springing from her back as she jumped into the pit. We glided down until we hit the bottom, there was an opening on the wall. A few steps before us stood Draxenath, and in front of her were some double doors. A picture hanging from the wall above the doors portrayed a very distinguished lady with auburn hair and brown eyes. Everything she was wearing was unusual. Her dress was made of bright, colorful materials and full of bright lights. Her gloves were quite odd, emitting light from the fingertips, the one on her left hand had tendrils going all the way from the tips to a glowing tablet with tiny bumps filled with what looked like letters, while the right glove had the same tendrils going to a wristband with glowing inscriptions. Her monocle was not ordinary either, it seemed to have a glowing inscription. The nameplate of the picture read “Humenalia, Goddess of Science and Magitronics” Draxenath looked at us and smiled, then walked towards Wallanime and embraced her. – I saw the fight, and am proud of you. Welcome back, Avatar! – Wallanime sunk her face on The Goddess’ chest and hugged her back. They remained silent for a moment. As they let each other go from the hug, Draxenath showed us a sealed jar with a heart. Wallanime was about to speak, but The Goddess interrupted her. – Don’t blame yourself for failures that happened because I abandoned you, this one is on me. And your daughter’s misdeeds are not your own, they are hers! Draxenath stored the jar in one of her pockets. – The place looks tidy, it may be intact if we are lucky enough! – she said as she opened the doors below the picture. Behind the doors was a very dark room. She pulled a lever on one of the walls, and the room was lit by electrical lights. The room was a massive library, there were towering bookshelves farther than my sight allowed me to see. An automaton was sitting behind a desk, it was not functioning. On the desk rested a large slab, plus a couple smaller slabs, and a pair of gloves like the ones from the picture. The Goddess put the gloves on and touched the large slab. It lit up and displayed text. Draxenath drew some gestures on the screen and nodded for a few minutes. – The magitronic books are readable, they weren’t lost, and the physical book indexing and database are operational! – she said. – This library is filled with books of advanced science and technology the rest of the world has never seen. Amaxis probably kept this place intact in case he needed it and activated the defense drones to prevent anyone else from accessing it. If he finds out we were here, he will destroy the whole place. There was an unconfortable silence for a minute, then Draxenath nodded a couple times. – Let’s go outside, hurry! – she said. Once we were outside and away from the crater, The Goddess closed her eyes and concentrated for a couple minutes. Then we heard a loud crashing and rumbling coming from the crater. The earth was sinking! Once everything settled, Draxenath opened a portal and invited us in. We were at her hiding place again, but there was something new, I spotted the double doors with the picture of Humenalia. The library was there! – The library is safe and out of Amaxis’ reach now. We won’t have to worry about that for now. – Said Draxenath with a smile of satisfaction. Echoes From the Caverns The post Interview with the Dragon Goddess 9 – by Draxenath appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: News Announcements Release 73 Livestream Today Lot Upgrades & Crown Sales + New Winter Vault Round December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers Release 73 Reward Program Items: Winter Holiday Theme Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles Sneak Peeks & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube) Upcoming Events Calendar Community Updates Meretz: Win a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition) Community Event: Release 72 Dance Party Community Event: Immortal City Annual Yule Ball Community Event: Hit me with your Best Shot Holiday Giveaway Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway Community Event: 5th Annual New Years Eve Party Project to Support: Pantheon Project to Support: Crowfall Project to Support: Avatar Express Resources: Players Helping Players Release 73 Livestream Today! The Release 73 Livestream is set for this Friday, December 20, at 3 PM Central Time! All Avatars from around the world are welcome to join us in the livestream activities. Release 73 Rewards Program Exclusive Items (Winter Holiday Theme!) Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 73 are winter holiday themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 73! Candy Cane Wand Ceiling Yule Tree Desktop Elf Statue with Yule Hat Prizes! We will be giving prizes away on an hourly basis with many being given away multiple times. Enter for a chance to win a prize by either logging into the game and typing “The weather outside is frightful” into chat OR by purchasing any item from our webstore during the livestream! Submit Your Questions We will be answering questions throughout the livestream, so submit them in Twitch Chat during the during the livestream and put !Question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch Friday December 20 at 3 PM CST Are You a Livestreamer? Get this exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Livestreamer Program! Lot Deed Upgrades & Crown Sale + New Winter Vault Round! Greetings Avatars, To celebrate the winter holidays Crowns and Lot Deed Upgrades are on sale for 20% off through the end of the year! This week we added another round of Winter and Yule themed items to the vault, including some exclusive winter themed stretch goal items like the Ice & Snow Shooting Bagpipes and Frozen Fountain! Please note that due to the holidays this round will be available for an extra week! Snow Pavers (Updated Visuals!): Put pavers down that make it look like it has just snowed, just in time for the Winter Holidays! You can find these pavers in the Crown Shop. Lot Deed Type and Size Upgrading with Crowns Sale: Upgrading Lot Deed Type and Size in-game with Crowns is on sale for 20% through the end of the year! Originally patched into Release 62, you can upgrade your deed “type” and size for Crowns in-game via right-click. This means, for example, you can upgrade from a Taxable Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed to a Taxable Player Owned Town Water Village Lot Deed, adding the ability to claim a water lot. You could also upgrade from a Village Lot Deed to a Town Lot Deed. This was previously available in the Game Services store but can now be done directly with Crowns. You can also upgrade from Taxable to Tax-Free deeds, with the exception that other types of deeds cannot be upgraded to Founder deeds. NOTE: you can only upgrade types, not downgrade, so you cannot go from a Tax Free deed to a Taxable deed, for example. Also you cannot upgrade to Tax Free Founder Keep or Castle, or Tax Free Keep or Castle (these were pledge exclusives). You can still upgrade to all other Keep/Castle types, including Tax Free Player Owned Town Keep, for example. The Vault: Current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, January 16 at 10:30 AM Central Time. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc. Please note the extended availability of this round due to the winter holidays! /snow Snowflake Cloak Ice & Snow Shooting Bagpipes 2016 Snowman with Stovepipe Hat Mask White Reindeer 2016 Yule Tree 2015 4-Story Yule Tree Frozen Fountain Viking Great Hall City Home December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers Sunday will be the first day to login and obtain the December login reward! To celebrate the Winter Holidays, every player who logs in during the month of December will receive a unique Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers! To receive the rewards simply login to the game before the end of December and check your rewards tab! Release 73 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Winter Holiday Theme! Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 73 are Winter Holiday themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 73! Candy Cane Wand Ceiling Yule Tree Desktop Elf Statue with Yule Hat NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s exclusive rewards. The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive exclusive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following: 900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month) Exclusive Title every 3 months 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith 6 Months: Keeper of the Word 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including: Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of the Portalarium Offices, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold! Complete List of Rewards: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land! Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle Unique Lord of the Isle Home (to be revealed later) NEW: A Festival of the Avatar FULL ticket (which includes admission, King’s Dinner, Barons Men Play, A Heraldry Banner) and one additional guest at a discounted rate. PLUS Choice of any 1 House currently available in the store Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot) Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (to be revealed later) 140,000 Crowns 999 Bank Slots Pick 12 Prosperity Tools 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later) Early Access to Episode 2 Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team 1 hour one on one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference) One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8 In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version) Tour of Portalarium Offices Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC. NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD. NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Portalarium for Tour & Dinner. Sneak Peek & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube) The Sneak Peek livestream was incredibly informative! Here is the livestream from our YouTube channel in case you missed it: Atos and others also sometimes livestream and you can check those out on our YouTube channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Note that if you subscribe to the channel you will be notified when they go live. Upcoming Events Calendar Be sure to check out the Forums Recurring Events section for other events! Dec 21 – Release 72 Dance Party 2020 Jan 18 – Release 73 Dance Party Jan 30 – Release 74 Feb 27 – Release 75 Mar 26 – Release 76 Apr 30 – Release 77 May 28 – Release 78 June 25 – Release 79 July 30 – Release 80 Aug 27 – Release 81 Meretz: Win a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition) Win a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition) & earn free SotA in-game items daily! Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy! Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries, Relics by Rild giveaways, and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition)! You can also enter to win a Relics By Rild $50 Gift Card and other cool prizes. AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes. What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY! Community Event: Release 72 Dance Party [Forum Post by Alleine Dragonfyre] Release 72 Dance Party & Stress Test @ Blue Lotus in Rinzai with DJ @DarkStarr on Virtue Radio hosted by @Griffler & the Residents of Rinzai Saturday, December 21st 2-4pm NBT Rinzai is nested in Desolis. Once in Rinzai, the Blue Lotus is the first lot on the left. Community Event: Immortal City Annual Yule Ball [Forum Post by Alleine Dragonfyre] YOU ARE INVITED! The Immortal City & Carpe Diem Annual YULE BALL Simulcast on VirtueRadio and Twitch.Tv Friday, December 20th 8pm-12am NBT/CST Immortal City (nested in Silverdale) at Chaotica SantaClaus will be making a stop at Chaotica to give out gifts and toys to all Avatars attending that have been Virtuous the whole year through!* – ALSO – Listen for Alleine to recite lines from “Twas the Night Before Christmas” live on air. The first Avatar to post in Immortal City Local Chat (that means you must be at the Ball) the lines she recited (spelling and grammar count!) will win rare gifts!** 1x Per hour so stay tuned! Twas the Night Before Christmas Rare Gifts *donated by Carpe Diem member @Toff while gifts last **donated by Carpe Diem member @Datendrache (Engineer) Community Event: Hit me with your Best Shot Holiday Giveaway [Forum Post by Lace] Greetings Avatars Rather than our annual stocking stuffer hangover event (where you can steal the prizes someone won before you) we are doing a giveaway of “A few of our Favorite Things” for this Holiday Season. You can pick up a backpack of goodies from the public cache located on Lace’s Holiday House (Village Lot in Novia Market) and after Thanksgiving weekend at the Crafting Pavilion in Diamond Fields on the East Side. Here is a map to the Novia Market location and the contents of the swag bags: *Note that beer and wine selection varies between bags The Contest These items should help get you in the holiday mood, and give you a leg up on decoing your house for the season. In addition we are holding a contest where you need to “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” (yeah yeah Lace is excited about the nomination for Pat Benatar for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) This is where you take a screenshot of one area of something you have decoed (including yourself if you wish) and post it on this forum thread. ONE SCREENSHOT ONLY! — That is the hard part picking the area, the angle etc. If you post multiple pictures you will be disqualified. WE WANT YOUR BEST SHOT!. You have until midnight server time on Friday December 27th. Along with the screenshot designate where you lot is located so others can go and take a look for the full effect as well. Prizes 1st Place 3000 Cotos 1000 Cotos to 4 runners up Bonus Category 1500 Cotos Crafted Only Display (please designate in your post, so the items pictured can be verified) And as a personal favor to Lace, if you have the time give Pat Benatar some love in the fan vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please head to the link below to see the current standings, then follow the link to vote. You can vote once a day until January 10th. (which happens to coincide with her birthday)–Note they ask for an email but don’t make you confirm or anything, but maybe use a unattended one in case they spam you lol) https://vote.rockhall.com/results/ Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway [Forum Post by ldykllr] Announcing the 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway! When: December 1st, midnight NBT – December 31st, midnight NBT Where: Novia Market, located just south of Britanny along the road What it is: For the ENTIRE month of December, ANY purchase made at an eligible vendor (see map below) will enter you into a prize drawing! 1 entry per purchase at an eligible vendor PER day (example: 15 participating vendors, if you purchase an item from each = 15 entries for the day). The PRIZES include: 1 MILLION in GOLD prizes (and not just small amounts – 2 x 250k is up for grabs!) Furniture (including sets!)!!!!! Over 10k in COTO’s! Artifacts Rares and other nice things — (Empty Land rows, Homes, Tax Free Village Lot deed, Eternal Patterns, Seasonal Deco, Dungeon set pieces, etc.) Resources and rare crafting mats! Pets! GM crafted items! …and much, much more! (I would list everything, but there is so much!) The drawing for prizes will be held January 3rd @ 1900 NBT (location inside NoMa TBD!) Additional vendors may be added to the map, so check back before shopping! Vendors and Map: 1. Robyn Hood, Adam Crow, Lace Delamorte (Lace – Armor and Weapons vendors only) 2. Kron Caledon 3. shawn 4. Yigg Endimion 5. Swish 6. D’Laein Lachlan 7. Bjorn Dyonysis or Terrence Phillip 9. Corina Napar 10. Taikee Vetrae 11. Tardis 12. Scanphor 13. Emmory Watson 14. Bookin Air 15. Phenyx 16. Lace Delamorte Community Event: 5th Annual New Years Eve Party [Forum Post by Mal Hari] Come Join us this New Years in the Jade Valley Tavern for our 5th Annual New Years Eve Party. Project to Support – Crowfall Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion! Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power! Project to Support – Pantheon Rise of the Fallen Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen takes place on the high-fantasy world of Terminus, a wildly diverse land formed from fragments of many different realms and times, bringing with them their unique civilizations and deities. Explore long lost realms, as their people and cultures vie for power and form alliances, struggling to gain a foothold in an unfamiliar world. Uncover civilizations and awe-inspiring locales that offer incredible adventures for you and your friends to experience. Enter a world where the environment itself tells the story and where content is always king! UPDATE: We were stunned to learn of the untimely passing of Brad McQuaid this week. He was one of the true pioneers and visionaries of our industry who brought Everquest to us. We have few words that can express how much we respect him; so we choose to honor him with a flaming sword tomb in Brittany Graveyard that reads: “Aradune: For the Brightest Flame Burns the Least Long”. Project to Support – Avatar Express [Forum post by Vladamir Begemot] The Avatar Express is a Shroud of the Avatar fan news site! I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site. —– If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening. You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like. Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game. It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts! So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us! Resources – Players Helping Players The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website. Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community. View the full article

The Release 73 Livestream is set for this Friday, December 20, at 3 PM Central Time! All Avatars from around the world are welcome to join us in the livestream activities. Release 73 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Winter Holiday Theme! Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 73 are Winter Holiday themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 73! Candy Cane Wand Ceiling Yule Tree Desktop Elf Statue with Yule Hat Prizes! We will be giving prizes away on an hourly basis with many being given away multiple times. Enter for a chance to win a prize by either logging into the game and typing “The weather outside is frightful” into chat OR by purchasing any item from our webstore during the livestream! Submit Your Questions We will be answering questions throughout the livestream, so submit them in Twitch Chat during the during the livestream and put !Question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch Friday December 20 at 3 PM CST Are You a Livestreamer? Get this exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Livestreamer Program! View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: News Announcements Play Release 73 Now! Sneak Peeks: Episode 2 Map, Bards, etc. Livestream Today Lot Upgrades & Crown Sales + New Winter Vault Round December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers Release 73 Reward Program Items: Winter Holiday Theme Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles Player GM Tools & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube) Upcoming Events Calendar Community Updates Meretz: Win a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition) Community Event: Release 72 Dance Party Community Event: Welcome Quest Release 73 – Ordinis Mortis Community Event: Hit me with your Best Shot Holiday Giveaway Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway Community Event: 5th Annual New Years Eve Party Project to Support: Pantheon Project to Support: Crowfall Project to Support: Avatar Express Resources: Players Helping Players Play Release 73 Now! Release 73 launched Thursday, December 12, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including: Player Game Master Tools Phase 1 Lua Phase 1.1 Scene Polish: Tartarus, Soltown R73 Rewards Program Items: Winter Theme Snow Pavers January Login Reward: Krampus Statue Performance Improvements More Bug Fixes and more! Check out the Release 73 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content. If you have not downloaded the game yet, go to www.shroudoftheavatar.com and click the “Play Now” button. The game is also available on Steam. Release 73 Player Instructions Release 73 Known Issues Sneak Peeks: Episode 2 Map, Bards, etc. Livestream Today! Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is today, Friday December 13, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! This week we are going to give a few sneak peeks of upcoming content including the Episode 2 map, Bards (a new skill tree), and maybe more if we have time! We will also be answering questions and as always handing out prizes! Release 73 Rewards Program Exclusive Items (Winter Holiday Theme!) Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 73 are winter holiday themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 73! Candy Cane Wand Ceiling Yule Tree Desktop Elf Statue with Yule Hat As usual we will be giving out prizes at 4:15 and 4:45! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store or log into the game and type “The weather outside is frightful” in the chat window (no purchase necessary). Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 4 PM CDT! Are You a Livestreamer? Get this exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Livestreamer Program! Lot Deed Upgrades & Crown Sale + New Winter Vault Round! Greetings Avatars, To celebrate the winter holidays Crowns and Lot Deed Upgrades are on sale for 20% off through the end of the year! We have also added another round of Winter and Yule themed items to the vault, including some of the very first Yule themed items we ever created! Snow Pavers: Put pavers down that make it look like it has just snowed, just in time for the Winter Holidays! You can find these pavers in the Crown Shop. NOTE: We are updating the visuals of these to look like solid snowfall versus partially melted snow. Lot Deed Type and Size Upgrading with Crowns Sale: Upgrading Lot Deed Type and Size in-game with Crowns is on sale for 20% through the end of the year! Originally patched into Release 62, you can upgrade your deed “type” and size for Crowns in-game via right-click. This means, for example, you can upgrade from a Taxable Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed to a Taxable Player Owned Town Water Village Lot Deed, adding the ability to claim a water lot. You could also upgrade from a Village Lot Deed to a Town Lot Deed. This was previously available in the Game Services store but can now be done directly with Crowns. You can also upgrade from Taxable to Tax-Free deeds, with the exception that other types of deeds cannot be upgraded to Founder deeds. NOTE: you can only upgrade types, not downgrade, so you cannot go from a Tax Free deed to a Taxable deed, for example. Also you cannot upgrade to Tax Free Founder Keep or Castle, or Tax Free Keep or Castle (these were pledge exclusives). You can still upgrade to all other Keep/Castle types, including Tax Free Player Owned Town Keep, for example. The Vault: Current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, December 19 at 10:30 AM Central Time. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc 2015 Menorah 2015 Ornate Snow Family 2016 Yule Gift Boxes 3-Pack 2016 Yule Stockings 3-Pack Taming Reindeer Call 2015 Holly Wreath with Candles Hat Replenishing Snowball Box 2017 Ornate Wall Garlands 12-Pack Viking 2-Story Stronghold Village Home December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers Sunday will be the first day to login and obtain the December login reward! To celebrate the Winter Holidays, every player who logs in during the month of December will receive a unique Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers! To receive the rewards simply login to the game before the end of December and check your rewards tab! Release 73 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Winter Holiday Theme! Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 73 are Winter Holiday themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 73! Candy Cane Wand Ceiling Yule Tree Desktop Elf Statue with Yule Hat NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s exclusive rewards. The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive exclusive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following: 900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month) Exclusive Title every 3 months 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith 6 Months: Keeper of the Word 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including: Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of the Portalarium Offices, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold! Complete List of Rewards: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land! Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle Unique Lord of the Isle Home (to be revealed later) NEW: A Festival of the Avatar FULL ticket (which includes admission, King’s Dinner, Barons Men Play, A Heraldry Banner) and one additional guest at a discounted rate. PLUS Choice of any 1 House currently available in the store Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot) Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (to be revealed later) 140,000 Crowns 999 Bank Slots Pick 12 Prosperity Tools 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later) Early Access to Episode 2 Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team 1 hour one on one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference) One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8 In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version) Tour of Portalarium Offices Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC. NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD. NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Portalarium for Tour & Dinner. Player GM Tools & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube) The Release 72 livestream was incredibly informative! Here is the livestream from our YouTube channel in case you missed it: Atos and others also sometimes livestream and you can check those out on our YouTube channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Note that if you subscribe to the channel you will be notified when they go live. Upcoming Events Calendar Be sure to check out the Forums Recurring Events section for other events! Dec 20 – Release 73 Livestream Dec 21 – Release 72 Dance Party 2020 Jan 18 – Release 73 Dance Party Jan 30 – Release 74 Feb 27 – Release 75 Mar 26 – Release 76 Apr 30 – Release 77 May 28 – Release 78 June 25 – Release 79 July 30 – Release 80 Aug 27 – Release 81 Meretz: Win a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition) Win a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition) & earn free SotA in-game items daily! Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy! Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries, Relics by Rild giveaways, and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away a Viking Three-Story Stronghold (Vault Edition)! You can also enter to win a Relics By Rild $50 Gift Card and other cool prizes. AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes. What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY! Community Event: Release 72 Dance Party [Forum Post by Alleine Dragonfyre] Release 72 Dance Party & Stress Test @ Blue Lotus in Rinzai with DJ @DarkStarr on Virtue Radio hosted by @Griffler & the Residents of Rinzai Saturday, December 21st 2-4pm NBT Rinzai is nested in Desolis. Once in Rinzai, the Blue Lotus is the first lot on the left. Community Event: Welcome Quest Release 73 – Ordinis Mortis [Forum Post by Duke Gréagóir] By Appointment to His Majesty Lord British Welcome Quest Makers​ You are invited to join the Welcome Quest in Release 73. This is a Player ran event – Portalarium (makers of Shroud of the Avatar) is not represented. This is NOT a PVP event. Please don’t plan on PVPing at this event. It will be held on Sunday, December 15th, 2019 starting at 12pm (noon) central time/New Britannian time and lasting an hour. Greagoir Pendragon will be active 30 minutes before the event and during the event. So you can teleport to Greagoir Pendragon if you wish. We are traveling to the town of Ordinis Mortis which is located to the south east of Central Brittany. This town is governed by @Minerva . You can also search for the town in the SOTA Map web site – https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/map/ Are you with us? Purpose: The Welcome Quest is a quest for all people to see many towns and establishments. It is created as a way for people to visit many player-ran locations. It involves each town and establishment to give the quest person some information and then instructions to go to the next location (a town or establishment) to do something. The path may be sequential from place to place or in parallel to multiple places at the same time. The goal is for towns and establishments to showcase their places, educate the people, and work with other player-ran towns/establishments. We do the Welcome Quest 4 items a year, one in each season. We are proud to be the first player-ran quest in SotA! We do it for all of you. More information is located at http://sotawiki.net/sota/Community:Quests/Welcome_Quest#Welcome_Quests_in_Releases Welcome Torch changes – testing and answers due to burnout With Release 38, all torches changed physically. The durability started to decrease when the torch is held onto. This change also affected the Welcome Torch you receive from the Welcome Quest. With Release 41 you now can repair your own Welcome Torches with a carpentry repair kit and a carpentry table. Map: Community Event: Hit me with your Best Shot Holiday Giveaway [Forum Post by Lace] Greetings Avatars Rather than our annual stocking stuffer hangover event (where you can steal the prizes someone won before you) we are doing a giveaway of “A few of our Favorite Things” for this Holiday Season. You can pick up a backpack of goodies from the public cache located on Lace’s Holiday House (Village Lot in Novia Market) and after Thanksgiving weekend at the Crafting Pavilion in Diamond Fields on the East Side. Here is a map to the Novia Market location and the contents of the swag bags: *Note that beer and wine selection varies between bags The Contest These items should help get you in the holiday mood, and give you a leg up on decoing your house for the season. In addition we are holding a contest where you need to “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” (yeah yeah Lace is excited about the nomination for Pat Benatar for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) This is where you take a screenshot of one area of something you have decoed (including yourself if you wish) and post it on this forum thread. ONE SCREENSHOT ONLY! — That is the hard part picking the area, the angle etc. If you post multiple pictures you will be disqualified. WE WANT YOUR BEST SHOT!. You have until midnight server time on Friday December 27th. Along with the screenshot designate where you lot is located so others can go and take a look for the full effect as well. Prizes 1st Place 3000 Cotos 1000 Cotos to 4 runners up Bonus Category 1500 Cotos Crafted Only Display (please designate in your post, so the items pictured can be verified) And as a personal favor to Lace, if you have the time give Pat Benatar some love in the fan vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please head to the link below to see the current standings, then follow the link to vote. You can vote once a day until January 10th. (which happens to coincide with her birthday)–Note they ask for an email but don’t make you confirm or anything, but maybe use a unattended one in case they spam you lol) https://vote.rockhall.com/results/ Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway [Forum Post by ldykllr] Announcing the 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway! When: December 1st, midnight NBT – December 31st, midnight NBT Where: Novia Market, located just south of Britanny along the road What it is: For the ENTIRE month of December, ANY purchase made at an eligible vendor (see map below) will enter you into a prize drawing! 1 entry per purchase at an eligible vendor PER day (example: 15 participating vendors, if you purchase an item from each = 15 entries for the day). The PRIZES include: 1 MILLION in GOLD prizes (and not just small amounts – 2 x 250k is up for grabs!) Furniture (including sets!)!!!!! Over 10k in COTO’s! Artifacts Rares and other nice things — (Empty Land rows, Homes, Tax Free Village Lot deed, Eternal Patterns, Seasonal Deco, Dungeon set pieces, etc.) Resources and rare crafting mats! Pets! GM crafted items! …and much, much more! (I would list everything, but there is so much!) The drawing for prizes will be held January 3rd @ 1900 NBT (location inside NoMa TBD!) Additional vendors may be added to the map, so check back before shopping! Vendors and Map: 1. Robyn Hood, Adam Crow, Lace Delamorte (Lace – Armor and Weapons vendors only) 2. Kron Caledon 3. shawn 4. Yigg Endimion 5. Swish 6. D’Laein Lachlan 7. Bjorn Dyonysis or Terrence Phillip 9. Corina Napar 10. Taikee Vetrae 11. Tardis 12. Scanphor 13. Emmory Watson 14. Bookin Air 15. Phenyx 16. Lace Delamorte Community Event: 5th Annual New Years Eve Party [Forum Post by Mal Hari] Come Join us this New Years in the Jade Valley Tavern for our 5th Annual New Years Eve Party. Project to Support – Crowfall Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion! Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power! Project to Support – Pantheon Rise of the Fallen Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen takes place on the high-fantasy world of Terminus, a wildly diverse land formed from fragments of many different realms and times, bringing with them their unique civilizations and deities. Explore long lost realms, as their people and cultures vie for power and form alliances, struggling to gain a foothold in an unfamiliar world. Uncover civilizations and awe-inspiring locales that offer incredible adventures for you and your friends to experience. Enter a world where the environment itself tells the story and where content is always king! UPDATE: We were stunned to learn of the untimely passing of Brad McQuaid this week. He was one of the true pioneers and visionaries of our industry who brought Everquest to us. We have few words that can express how much we respect him; so we choose to honor him with a flaming sword tomb in Brittany Graveyard that reads: “Aradune: For the Brightest Flame Burns the Least Long”. Project to Support – Avatar Express [Forum post by Vladamir Begemot] The Avatar Express is a Shroud of the Avatar fan news site! I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site. —– If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening. You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like. Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game. It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts! So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us! Resources – Players Helping Players The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website. Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community. View the full article

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the next instalment of this wonderful story by Draxenath. It is entitled “Interview with the Dragon Goddess”. Background music by Smartsound Part 12: The Avatar’s Lament I proceeded with my next question. – Has there ever been a civilization that improved so much in science that it accidentally destroyed itself? Draxenath repeated the question to herself a couple times as she pondered. After a few minutes, her eyes lit up. – Let us have our barbecue out in the world, there is a place you need to see for yourself. – She picked up the spit with the roasted beef and opened a portal. I noticed the beef was already about middle term, it had cooked much faster than I expected, it probably had to do with the magical blue fire from the spit. We went through the portal and were transported to some ruins. Plants and animals had already made their home in them. Draxenath placed the spit on the ground and lay down on the grass, then continued speaking. – These are the ruins of Curiosity, the most technologically advanced city before my absence. They worshipped Amaxis’ wife Humenalia more than any other deity. As I said before, she was very curious and smart, and would constantly question her knowledge and put everything to test and experimentation. I mentioned before that she suffered a lot as Amaxis was abused by the other gods, she felt powerless for some time, but then she researched for ways to protect him and give him an edge. Amaxis had ideas of the tools and weapons he needed, but it was Humenalia that had acquired the scientific and technical knowledge to develop them. He couldn’t have done it without her. Take a look around, you may find scraps of the wonders they created. I will be waiting here. I was amazed, the legends spoke the truth, this place existed! I followed Draxenath’s suggestion and walked around for a bit. There were remains of walls that could be seen through, and humanoid constructs of strange material that wasn’t metal, wood or stone. They were broken and not functioning. Their faces, although worn out by the weather and the passing of centuries, looked so human and lifelike, it was scary, like looking at a corpse reanimated by a necromancer. Their innards had numerous tendrils of another strange, flexible material. Inside the tendrils, smaller such tendrils were found. The roads had ruined vehicles, which were probably scavenged after the city was destroyed. They were built of strange materials as well. Their innards also had tendrils much like the ones from the humanoid constructs. There were also massive, snake-like vehicles full of seats, capable of transporting hundreds or even thousands of people at a time. Besides that, there were so many things I am unable to describe properly. Strange boards with numerous small bumps that would sink when pressure was applied, and pop back once the pressure was gone, thin slabs and tablets hanging from the walls, with purpose unknown to me, and many other things unimaginable. I came back to the spot we arrived at, Draxenath was now sitting, next to her was a beautiful human woman with pale skin and auburn hair, resting her head on the Goddess’ lap. There were dozens of birds standing all over the Goddess’ body, chirping and singing. She opened her eyes, and the birds ended their song and flew away. – Rise, Avatar! – said the Goddess with a firm, commanding voice. – He has returned and will want to hear your tale about the fall of Curiosity. In the meantime, I will be taking a stroll. The woman got up and bowed to Draxenath. – As you wish, My Mistress! – she said, as Draxenath walked away, the birds following her and resuming their song. Now she turned her attention to me. Her amber-colored eyes looked at me with interest. – You must be VERY special! I had been trying to reach My Mistress for a thousand years with no success, to find out a mere human was able to bring her out of her hiding place! And she wants me to tell you the tale of my last great failure, where I lost our husband, almost had our sons killed and saw my hopes and dreams crushed! I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say, I just remained silent. She ripped some meat from the roasted cow and sat down, eating it. Then signaled me to sit down beside her by patting the ground down. I did as she requested. She looked at me as she chewed the meat and started talking. – Before that tale, I think you need to know some more context. What do you know about Sari, My Mistress’ firstborn? – she asked. – I didn’t know his name until now that you brought it up, I know that he was betrayed and murdered, but nothing more, I don’t know any details.- I answered. – Sari was one of a kind, very wise and powerful, could not have been otherwise, being raised by Draxenath and the second son of Amaxis. – said the Avatar. I was surprised by that revelation. She continued talking. – Amaxis was meant to be the inspiration of all other gods, but he became the most hated instead. Strangely, his second son did not turn out like him. He was mortal, however, he was virtuous, compassionate, and felt empathy for the other gods and creatures. He was liked by everyone, even esteemed by all the gods. He slowly became what Amaxis was meant to be: an inspiration and source of wisdom for gods and mortals. At the same time, the punishment he inherited from his father got weaker. He awakened his draconic traits and was able to use his divine powers with more strength with every passing day. – He won My Mistress’ heart, as well as mine. Then they had Sari. As Draxenath’s Avatar, I had the opportunity to live by his side and give him more children. I became his mortal wife. I appointed the eldest and strongest of our children as Sari’s retainer, her name was Merealla. The difference between them was too notorious, however. Merealla could never shine and stand out at Sari’s side, she was always overshadowed by her powerful godly sibling. Merealla grew to hate Sari, and plotted the conspiracy and betrayal that ended Sari’s life and made My Mistress abandon us. – It is my fault, I carry that heavy burden in my heart, and have spent these years trying to make up for it with no success. Preventing the destruction of Curiosity was the best chance I had, and my greatest direct failure as I also lost our husband. She looked very frustrated. I tried to comfort her with some human wisdom. – You have lived for a very long time. Humans like me are short-lived. As such, we have to understand that there is too little time to feel bad about our failures, if we are not ready for the next chance, we will miss it. Many more chances will come to you since you live longer, just be ready when they do. She said nothing for a few minutes, then decided to start with her tale. – Curiosity was a city of science and technology and the main place of worship for Humenalia. After My Mistress abandoned us, Humenalia decided to join us in freeing the other gods, the slaves and opposing Amaxis. She and the people from Curiosity developed technology and weaponry so advanced it could kill a god. – Our plan was to use those weapons as leverage to force Amaxis to do as we asked. Humenalia wanted to support her son as best as she could, but that doesn’t mean she intended to kill her beloved husband. Our demands infuriated Amaxis. How could we dare to threaten him? So he decided to destroy Curiosity by himself. We gathered to fight back. It was Humenalia, my husband, three of my sons and me. – The fight didn’t go as planned. Amaxis had all the intention to kill us. His attacks overwhelmed all of us except my husband. He was the only one with the power to face him, the only one with the chance to defeat him. Their fight was long and exhausting. Then Humenalia took Amaxis by surprise, restraining him. She asked my husband to kill them both by driving his weapon through their heart, that was her desire. He charged, with the weapon in hand, ready for delivering a killing blow, but missed. He could kill neither of his parents. Amaxis broke free and ripped my husband’s heart from his chest. Humenalia tried to restrain him again, but he overpowered her. I used the distraction to grab my husband and sons and escape. Humenalia was probably imprisoned like the other gods. Curiosity was destroyed. – I fled to a secret underground temple we had in a hidden place far away and put my husband’s body in magical stasis to preserve his body, in case there is a way to properly bring him back to life. My sons were alive, but just barely, so I put them in magical stasis as well, in different hidden temples scattered around the world. She had a grim look in her eyes. – That’s how the tale ended for Athaldar the Invincible Demigod, Zohorone the Fearsome Necromancer, Athel the Ferocious Shapeshifter, and Pram the Mighty Dragon Prince. And it keeps going as an uneventful story for Wallanime the Avatar of Failure… do you think there is a chance left for me? That was a tremendous surprise to me, I was sitting right beside Wallanime Draconia, and had just heard what happened to her three sons. – The Goddess seems very proud of you and your three sons. She never called you a failure or blamed you for Sari’s death. She never spoke ill of you in our chat. She even wondered if you would ever forgive her for abandoning you. More than worrying about your failures, she is worried about having failed you. Her look was less grim than before. – You are very kind, I have been needing that for far too long… let’s eat some more, then find out where My Mistress went – she said. Echoes From the Caverns The post Interview with the Dragon Goddess 8 – by Draxenath appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 73 are Winter Holiday themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items... Release 73 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Winter Holiday Theme!View the full article

Avatars, Please read this entire message, as well as the linked Player Guide and Known Issues. Release 73 of Shroud of the Avatar goes live this Thursday, December 12, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (15:30 UTC). Release 73 includes... Release 73 InstructionsView the full article

Avatars, Please read this entire message, as well as the linked Player Guide and Known Issues. Release 73 of Shroud of the Avatar goes live this Thursday, December 12, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (15:30 UTC). Release 73 includes some exciting updates including Player Game Master Tools (Phase 1), Lua Integration (Phase 1.1), Tartarus and Soltown polish, Release 73 Winter Themed Rewards, and more! I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to the players who tested the items listed below on our QA server. They found many bugs and also provided editorial feedback on this post so that it is easy to read and actually matches what is in the game. Before offering feedback and/or reporting a bug, we kindly ask that you read this whole message and the linked Player Guide and Known Issues to get up to date on the current game state. To keep up to date, please check out the Patch Notes. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and effort can be focused on new “unanswered” questions and addressing critical issues that impact each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide. Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is also working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. Be sure to check the schedule for player-run events (via the player-run websites: NBNN Community Calendar & Avatars Circle). You can also get the latest official events on the Main Website. Without further ado, here is a list of what you can expect to see in RELEASE 73, December 12, 2019. NOTE: This release is much earlier than our normal end of month releases due to the winter holidays and our desire to give our team much deserved time off. That is also why this release may seem like it has less than the normal amount of content. Story and Scenes: Soltown Polish: Polished the main paths connecting where players arrive to major quest points focusing on areas like signs. Tartarus Polish: A general polish pass was made to one of our newest dungeons including the addition of discoveries, more resurrection ankhs, adjustments of creature locations, improved lighting, improved sound effects, additional thematic decorations (including lootable dead bodies), and the removal of some inappropriate quest-related loot. User Interface: Player Game Master Tools (Phase 1): We have our first phase of Player Game Master Tools live! Players will need to apply for a VIP flag (message Atos in the official Shroud of the Avatar forums or with Discord to apply). Once approved, they will then get a single no-trade potion per event they wish to run that lasts 4 hours. Note, all commands are logged to an internal channel monitored by our developers. The GM potion temporarily grants the following powers from the player console: gmghost: Become invisible! slew: “Free camera” mode similar to what dungeon owners and POT owners currently have, but with the bonus of teleporting to the location of your camera upon exiting the mode. teleport to player: Quickly move to another player’s location. summon player: Instantly move another player to your location. set weather over ride: Set the weather for all players in the scene to a new value. Options are: Clear LightClouds HeavyClouds LightPrecipitation HeavyPrecipitation Storm Foggy Custom1 Custom2 summon monster: Summon a monster from a preset list (NOTE: there is no loot nor experience points gained from killing these monsters to prevent exploits). To use simply type /summonmonster # monsterName where # is the number you wish to summon. For example, “/summonmonster 3 bear1” will summon 3 of the lowest tier bears. Currently available summons include the following and will expand over time: Spider1-5 KoboldArcher1-5 KoboldMage1-5 KoboldWarrior1-5 Dragon1-5 Bear1-5 Llama1 timescale: Changes the time scale in the entire scene. Legal values are 0.25 – 4 resurrect: This give player GMs the ability to resurrect players in their scene. The valid options are: me – resurrects the player GM selected – resurrects the player the GM has targeted all – resurrects all players and creatures in the scene Lua Integration (Phase 1.1): Phase 1.1 of Lua Integration includes a further iteration of our integration of this full-featured but simple-to-use scripting language that can be used to create new features, simple UI, or other client-side add-ons with just a few lines of code. Players have been incredibly busy creating all sorts of amazing data queries already since we released Phase 1 of our Lua integration in Release 72. Join the Lua Discussions forum to find out what everyone is making! Also, those on Discord can join the Lua-scripting-api channel for real time chat and information! Look for more features to be exposed. Crafting and Economy: Garden Gnome Recipe: Craft a delightful garden decoration! This recipe can be purchased from Brittany Decoration Merchants. NOTE: This was actually patched into Release 72. Player Towns and Player Housing: Krampus Statue (January Login Reward): Just login during the month of January to receive this free reward! Snow Pavers: Put pavers down that make it look like it has just snowed, just in time for the Winter Holidays! You can find these pavers in the Crown Shop. NOTE: This was actually patched into Release 72. New/Updated Player-Owned Towns: Bard’s Rest: Added new Village (nested in Brittany Fort). S Mart Factorium: Moved to north of Solace Bridge. Performance: Load Times: Release 73 brings several improvements in load times. The average load time per level should be between 2 and 5 seconds faster depending on the speed of the computer. This optimization will show the biggest improvement with the slower computers. This optimization did come with a cost of roughly 5.9GB extra disk space for the initial installation. This will also cause a single large patch but going forward, patch sizes and speeds should actually be smaller and faster than before. Release 73 Rewards Program Items: To receive these exclusive rewards, all you need to do is join the Rewards Program during Release 73 and login to the game during Release 73. Candy Cane Wand Ceiling Yule Tree Desktop Elf Statue with Yule Hat Thank you so much for reading all the way here to the end! Join in 2020 for a lot more exciting content including Lua integration (Phase 2), Player GM Tools (Phase 2), Player Vendor Polish, More Trophy Data (Agriculture, Trophy Heads), Property Rating System, More Creatures/Bosses/Tameables, New Skills, Bards, and more! There will also be Episode 2 which will have a new story, new lands, a revamp of the Quest and Journal system, a Theater System, Treasure Hunting with treasure maps that show up as loot, Item Affinity, Taming system expansions, Custom NPC Conversations (Inky Integration), and expanded permissions for containers and doors! As a reminder, here are links to Player Instructions and Known Issues. Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with, and we are proud to be on this journey with you. Sincerely, Starr Long aka Darkstarr Executive Producer View the full article

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is today, Friday December 13, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! This week we are going to give a few sneak peeks of upcoming content including the Episode 2 map, Bards (a new skill tree), and maybe more if we have time! We will also be answering questions and as always handing out prizes! Release 73 Rewards Program Exclusive Items (Winter Holiday Theme!) Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 73 are winter holiday themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 73! Candy Cane Wand Ceiling Yule Tree Desktop Elf Statue with Yule Hat As usual we will be giving out prizes at 4:15 and 4:45! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store or log into the game and type “The weather outside is frightful” in the chat window (no purchase necessary). Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 4 PM CDT! Are You a Livestreamer? Get this exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Livestreamer Program! View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: News Announcements Release 73 on QA Player GM Tools Livestream Today Lot Upgrades & Crown Sales + New Winter Vault Round December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers Release 72 Reward Program Items: Fall Theme 2 Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles Release 72 & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube) Upcoming Events Calendar Community Updates Community Event: Hit me with your Best Shot Holiday Giveaway Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway Community Event: 5th Annual New Years Eve Party Project to Support: Pantheon Project to Support: Crowfall Project to Support: Avatar Express Resources: Players Helping Players Release 73 on QA (Live next week) An early version of Release 73 is on the QA server! Release 73 has some fun updates like Player GM Tools! An early version of the Release 73 Instructions is also available for review. We could really use everyone’s help to test all of this amazing content before it goes live next week! Player Game Master Tools Phase 1 Lua Phase 1.1 Scene Polish: Tartarus, Soltown R73 Rewards Program Items: Winter Theme Snow Pavers January Login Reward: Krampus Statue Performance Improvements More Bug Fixes and more! Please join us in testing on the QA server (instructions are posted each release in the bug forums) so we can make each release the best it can be. By helping us test prior to the release we can insure there are less bugs, more stability, and more balance. Participating qualifies you for the Testing Incentives Program! We will reward you for your efforts because we do understand that time spent on QA is time lost on advancing your character on live. Each release we will randomly reward the following rewards (one prize per player): 500 Gold Crowns (4 prizes) Ant Farm (4 prizes) Antennae (4 prizes) Bug Cloak (4 prizes) Set of Bug Paintings (4 prizes) Bug Sprayer with emote (1 prize) Insect Leg Table (1 prize) Corpion Chair (1 prize) In order to qualify you must meet the following requirements: Install the QA version of the game Login and play on QA for at least 4 hours per release Report at least 1 bug in the QA section of the forums Note that players will only be submitted for the lottery once per QA cycle. Continued bug reporting will not count toward additional submissions into the lottery. Thanks Avatars! Player GM Tools Livestream Today! Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is today, Friday December 6, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! This week we are going to talk about the multiple phases of Player Game Master Tools, Phase 1 of which is happening in Release 73! Release 72 Rewards Program Exclusive Items (Fall Theme 2!) Autumn is finally here so we decided to make the Rewards Program items for Release 72 fall themed again! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 72! Autumn Leaf Mask Autumn Leaf Shield Autumn Leaf Trident As usual we will be giving out prizes at 4:15 and 4:45! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store or log into the game and type “Leaves are falling all around” in the chat window (no purchase necessary). Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 4 PM CDT! Are You a Livestreamer? Get this exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Livestreamer Program! Lot Deed Upgrades & Crown Sale + New Winter Vault Round! Greetings Avatars, To celebrate the winter holidays Crowns and Lot Deed Upgrades are on sale for 20% off through the end of the year! We have also added another round of Winter and Yule themed items to the vault, including some of the very first Yule themed items we ever created! Lot Deed Type and Size Upgrading with Crowns Sale: Upgrading Lot Deed Type and Size in-game with Crowns is on sale for 20% through the end of the year! Originally patched into Release 62, you can upgrade your deed “type” and size for Crowns in-game via right-click. This means, for example, you can upgrade from a Taxable Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed to a Taxable Player Owned Town Water Village Lot Deed, adding the ability to claim a water lot. You could also upgrade from a Village Lot Deed to a Town Lot Deed. This was previously available in the Game Services store but can now be done directly with Crowns. You can also upgrade from Taxable to Tax-Free deeds, with the exception that other types of deeds cannot be upgraded to Founder deeds. NOTE: you can only upgrade types, not downgrade, so you cannot go from a Tax Free deed to a Taxable deed, for example. Also you cannot upgrade to Tax Free Founder Keep or Castle, or Tax Free Keep or Castle (these were pledge exclusives). You can still upgrade to all other Keep/Castle types, including Tax Free Player Owned Town Keep, for example. The Vault: Current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, December 19 at 10:30 AM Central Time. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc 2015 Menorah (digital) 2015 Ornate Snow Family (digital) 2016 Yule Gift Boxes 3-Pack (digital) 2016 Yule Stockings 3-Pack (digital) Taming Reindeer Call (digital) 2015 Holly Wreath with Candles Hat (digital) Replenishing Snowball Box (digital) 2017 Ornate Wall Garlands 12-Pack (digital) Viking 2-Story Stronghold Village Home December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers Sunday will be the first day to login and obtain the December login reward! To celebrate the Winter Holidays, every player who logs in during the month of December will receive a unique Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers! To receive the rewards simply login to the game before the end of December and check your rewards tab! Release 72 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Fall Theme 2! The Release 71 Autumn themed items were so popular that we decided to make the Rewards Program items for Release 72 fall themed again! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 72! Autumn Leaf Mask Autumn Leaf Shield Autumn Leaf Trident NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s exclusive rewards. The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive exclusive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following: 900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month) Exclusive Title every 3 months 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith 6 Months: Keeper of the Word 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including: Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of the Portalarium Offices, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold! Complete List of Rewards: UPDATED: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land! Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle NEW: Unique Lord of the Isle Home (to be revealed later) UPDATED: PLUS Choice of any 1 House currently available in the store Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot) NEW: Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (to be revealed later) 1400 Crowns 999 Bank Slots Pick 12 Prosperity Tools 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later) Early Access to Episode 2 Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team 1 hour one on one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference) One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8 In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version) Tour of Portalarium Offices Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC. NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD. NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Portalarium for Tour & Dinner. Release 72 & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube) The Release 72 livestream was incredibly informative! Here is the livestream from our YouTube channel in case you missed it: Atos and others also sometimes livestream and you can check those out on our YouTube channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Note that if you subscribe to the channel you will be notified when they go live. Upcoming Events Calendar Be sure to check out the Forums Recurring Events section for other events! Dec 12 – Release 73 Dec 20 – Release 73 Livestream Dec 21 – Release 72 Dance Party Jan 30 – Release 74 Feb 27 – Release 75 Mar 26 – Release 76 Apr 30 – Release 77 May 28 – Release 78 June 25 – Release 79 July 30 – Release 80 Aug 27 – Release 81 Community Event: Hit me with your Best Shot Holiday Giveaway [Forum Post by Lace] Greetings Avatars Rather than our annual stocking stuffer hangover event (where you can steal the prizes someone won before you) we are doing a giveaway of “A few of our Favorite Things” for this Holiday Season. You can pick up a backpack of goodies from the public cache located on Lace’s Holiday House (Village Lot in Novia Market) and after Thanksgiving weekend at the Crafting Pavilion in Diamond Fields on the East Side. Here is a map to the Novia Market location and the contents of the swag bags: *Note that beer and wine selection varies between bags The Contest These items should help get you in the holiday mood, and give you a leg up on decoing your house for the season. In addition we are holding a contest where you need to “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” (yeah yeah Lace is excited about the nomination for Pat Benatar for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) This is where you take a screenshot of one area of something you have decoed (including yourself if you wish) and post it on this forum thread. ONE SCREENSHOT ONLY! — That is the hard part picking the area, the angle etc. If you post multiple pictures you will be disqualified. WE WANT YOUR BEST SHOT!. You have until midnight server time on Friday December 27th. Along with the screenshot designate where you lot is located so others can go and take a look for the full effect as well. Prizes 1st Place 3000 Cotos 1000 Cotos to 4 runners up Bonus Category 1500 Cotos Crafted Only Display (please designate in your post, so the items pictured can be verified) And as a personal favor to Lace, if you have the time give Pat Benatar some love in the fan vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please head to the link below to see the current standings, then follow the link to vote. You can vote once a day until January 10th. (which happens to coincide with her birthday)–Note they ask for an email but don’t make you confirm or anything, but maybe use a unattended one in case they spam you lol) https://vote.rockhall.com/results/ Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway [Forum Post by ldykllr] Announcing the 2nd Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway! When: December 1st, midnight NBT – December 31st, midnight NBT Where: Novia Market, located just south of Britanny along the road What it is: For the ENTIRE month of December, ANY purchase made at an eligible vendor (see map below) will enter you into a prize drawing! 1 entry per purchase at an eligible vendor PER day (example: 15 participating vendors, if you purchase an item from each = 15 entries for the day). The PRIZES include: 1 MILLION in GOLD prizes (and not just small amounts – 2 x 250k is up for grabs!) Furniture (including sets!)!!!!! Over 10k in COTO’s! Artifacts Rares and other nice things — (Empty Land rows, Homes, Tax Free Village Lot deed, Eternal Patterns, Seasonal Deco, Dungeon set pieces, etc.) Resources and rare crafting mats! Pets! GM crafted items! …and much, much more! (I would list everything, but there is so much!) The drawing for prizes will be held January 3rd @ 1900 NBT (location inside NoMa TBD!) Additional vendors may be added to the map, so check back before shopping! Vendors and Map: 1. Robyn Hood, Adam Crow, Lace Delamorte (Lace – Armor and Weapons vendors only) 2. Kron Caledon 3. shawn 4. Yigg Endimion 5. Swish 6. D’Laein Lachlan 7. Bjorn Dyonysis or Terrence Phillip 9. Corina Napar 10. Taikee Vetrae 11. Tardis 12. Scanphor 13. Emmory Watson 14. Bookin Air 15. Phenyx 16. Lace Delamorte Community Event: 5th Annual New Years Eve Party [Forum Post by Mal Hari] Come Join us this New Years in the Jade Valley Tavern for our 5th Annual New Years Eve Party. Project to Support – Crowfall Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion! Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power! Project to Support – Pantheon Rise of the Fallen Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen takes place on the high-fantasy world of Terminus, a wildly diverse land formed from fragments of many different realms and times, bringing with them their unique civilizations and deities. Explore long lost realms, as their people and cultures vie for power and form alliances, struggling to gain a foothold in an unfamiliar world. Uncover civilizations and awe-inspiring locales that offer incredible adventures for you and your friends to experience. Enter a world where the environment itself tells the story and where content is always king! UPDATE: We were stunned to learn of the untimely passing of Brad McQuaid this week. He was one of the true pioneers and visionaries of our industry who brought Everquest to us. We have few words that can express how much we respect him; so we choose to honor him with a flaming sword tomb in Brittany Graveyard that reads: “Aradune: For the Brightest Flame Burns the Least Long”. Project to Support – Avatar Express [Forum post by Vladamir Begemot] The Avatar Express is a Shroud of the Avatar fan news site! I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site. —– If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening. You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like. Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game. It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts! So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us! Resources – Players Helping Players The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website. Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community. View the full article