Unrest Sweeps Britannia

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Ashlynn

Britannia, Trammel, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – February 1, 2012 – by Ashlynn – Riots have broken out in every major city across the realm as commoners took to the streets with pitchforks, scythes and torches to make their list of grievances heard.

While some have opted for more peaceful protest, simply shouting their demands to onlookers, others took a more violent approach by setting fires in the middle of the street and calling for the death of the royal guard and its noble overseers.

The mobs cited a number of reasons for the uprising including the high price of food, mistreatment by the nobility, and a lack of help from the authorities. No doubt the current power vacuum and the political turmoil that has ensued has also made them more willing to express their displeasure with the status quo.

One rioter I spoke to, a smith from Trinsic by the name of Alister told me “It be dem trade guilds an’ all! The thievin’ bastards demand yer join ’em an’ pay dues or they be forcin’ yer outta town. An’ we all know they be in noble pockets!”

An old begger I spoke to on the streets of Skara Brae also said to me “Bin’a long time comin’ fer sure. I sin the coin they want fer bread creepin’ up an’ up. Folk’s unwillin’ to give me even a few crumbs these days.” No doubt the man was something of a soothsayer before he fell upon hard times.

Those affected directly by the riots had other things to say however, with one alchemy shop owner telling me “These curs see naught but a chance to loot, why I had to hire sellswords to fight back a mob o’ the poltroons but last night! I reckon they just be wanting the good stuff I keep in the back. If they’ve real grievences, they should be aired before the council in the proper manner.”

A guardsman officer I asked for comment saw things in a much simpler manner, only stating “Just cut out their tongues, that’ll silence ’em.”

Facing increased difficulties controlling the riotous mobs, each city has organized a temporary command post from where they have been recruiting volunteers and mercenaries to aid in suppressing the unrest. Ropes and shackles have been given out and recruits have been advised only to arrest rioters and clean up their mess, while offering non-violent protesters food and coin to return home.

However there are rumours that some of the more rebellious citizens have been organizing themselves into gangs of raiders, striking residences, shops and other properties. Though I have not seen such first hand, such a turn of events would not surprise me and in light of this, I wonder how long the Guard’s soft-handed approach can last and whether this may grow into something much more terrible. Civil war perhaps?

Posted in Britain, Britannia Towns, Jhelom, Magincia, Minoc, Moonglow, Shard Event, Skara Brae, Trinsic, Vesper, Yew | Comments Off on Unrest Sweeps Britannia

PaxLair Meeting: January 31, 2012

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Winfield

PaxLair Statehood, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 31, 2012 – by Winfield – The next meeting will be held as follows:

  • Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
  • Time: 9:00 PM ET
  • Location: Ruined Town, West part of Homare-jima, Tokuno, Chesapeake
  • Directions: Rune is on the center of main steps into the Tea House in PaxOku, Tokuno.  Also say “Meeting” to the Herald in front of the bulletin board.
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Rejoice Cartophiles!

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Ashlynn

The Woodcut Press of Cartography, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 25, 2012 – by Ashlynn – We are delighted to add a new feature to the PaxLair Times – The Atlas of the Alliance! In this gallery we gather together all maps and plans that (generally) relate to Alliance holdings and associated territories, though this will not be a strict rule. While only containing a handful of images at present, I hope for this to expand considerably in the months to come.

Any map is a potential candidate if it related to alliance and friend’s matters, past or present. If anyone wishes to see a map of theirs added to the gallery, please let me (Ashlynn) know. All styles and types of map are accepted and even accuracy is not a prerequisite. Maps can be as simple or as complex as the cartographer wishes.

You can view the current atlas right here. I hope I see a few submissions from my loyal core of readers in the coming year and I hope others find the maps presented either useful or pleasant (or perhaps both!)

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PaxLair Meeting: January 24, 2012

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Winfield

PaxLair Statehood, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 24, 2012 – by Winfield – The next meeting will be held as follows:

  • Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
  • Time: 9:00 PM ET
  • Location: Mage Tower, PaxLair City, Felucca, Chesapeake
  • Directions: Teleporter is right of the bulletin board at the Tea House in PaxOku, Tokuno.
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The Wedding of Lord Mirt and Lady Emma Silvermane

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Ashlynn

Umbra, Malas, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 22, 2012 – by Ashlynn – Yesterday marked a most joyous occasion for the people of the realm and two individuals in particular – the joining in marriage of Lord Mirt and Lady Emma Silvermane.

The ceremony was held at a beautifully decorated chapel just outside the City of Umbra. Many guests from across Sosaria and lands from other shards made their way to watch the event and I wondered if there was enough food to cater for such a high turnout.

The ceremony was led by EM Drosselmeyer who had brought two specially made rings for the joining of the couple, and he led the pair through a set of beautifully crafted vows. After the ceremony was done, there was much celebration for a good while before people began to make their way home.

We here at the Times wish the happy couple all the best now and in the years to come.

Posted in Player Event, Shard Event | Comments Off on The Wedding of Lord Mirt and Lady Emma Silvermane

PaxLair Anniversary: Anniversary Day!

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Ashlynn

PaxOku, Tokuno, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 20, 2012 – by Ashlynn – On the fifth day of the anniversary week (which is the actual anniversary day) I had to actually run something and that I did! A mushroom-themed hunt with a slight twist.

Everyone gathered at the Tea House before I dragged them all to the Shrine of Sobriety. Informing everyone that they would be handed tasks and successful completion of the tasks would offer the opportunity to pick a prize, I then announced the twist. There were two boxes, one containing mental challenges and one containing “endurance” (or in some cases patience-testing) challenges. Participants chose their category and then picked a random number corresponding to the tasks inside.

Some were simple gathering excercises, some tougher than others. Some asked the entrant to write a mushroom haiku, while others asked for anagrams to be decoded and the items brought back. Those who successfully completed a task could pick a box and a colour and would receive a random prize.

Notable tasks completed included a series of questions on mushrooms my Lord Maedhros, a mushroom haiku submitted by Lady Winmere, and I must commend Lady Oni who diligently spent quite some some decoding an encrypted phrase.

After an hour was over, we all made our way to a new construction behind the Tea House where an informal feast was prepared. Governor Winfield gave us a lengthy speech and the celebrations began. Even the Harbinger decided to make an appearance and it took us quite some time to eject him from the venue.

Lady Lenora then announced the winners of the literary contest earlier in the week. There were six categories and a grand prize for the best entry. The results were as follows:

  • Best Song or Poetry: Imagine by Severus
  • Most Humourous: Nite Before Xmas by Balor
  • Most Creative: Fungal Folly by Ashlynn
  • Best Historical Contribution: Nidaros History by Maedhros
  • Best Bar Story or Fishing Song: Balance is Restored by Winfield
  • Reader’s Choice Award: Fungal Folly by Ashlynn
  • Grand Prize for Best Contribution: Night of the Apple by Maedhros

After some closing words, awards for those who completed Governor Winfield’s “Balance Quest”, a gift for all the participants, and a little more revelry, everyone began to disperse for the evening bringing a fun and successful fourteenth PaxLair Anniversary to a close.

Posted in PaxLair Anniversary, PaxLair Statehood, PaxOku, Player Event, Speeches | Comments Off on PaxLair Anniversary: Anniversary Day!

PaxLair 14th Anniversary Speech by Governor Winfield

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Winfield

PaxOku, Tokuno, Shesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 19, 2012 – by Winfield  – Below is the PaxLair 14th Anniversary Dinner Speech given by Governor Winfield.  He gave a speech on the final day of  PaxLair Anniversary week at the PaxLair dinner.  This speech was given in PaxOku at a new building next to Benito’s Ale House and Brewery, WNW of the Tea House and PaxOku Banner.  Venger of Nidaros also crafted and donated the official Anniversary gifts.

PaxLair Opening Speech

PaxLair Opening Speech

 

PREFACE SPEECH (spoken as people assembled for dinner)

Welcome everyone!

I’m Governor Winfield and your host this evening. Welcome to our PaxLair 14th Anniversary Dinner!!

I hope you will have fun during the next hour. There is plenty to do. This is not a sit-down, get-waited-on type of dinner this time.

You’ll have to get up and grab your own food and mingle around with others. But if you really want to be waited on, we can send you over to the Kaar Barashalu Orc Fort in Felucca. The orcs there will certainly wait on you! They have Horse Stew for dinner.

Yet here, we have much more to eat! I thank Queen Zen and Lady Winmere for preparing the food for tonight. The food is laid out on the serving tables in this house. So please come up and enjoy the food!

Also, please sign our Guest Messageboard in the center of this house.

*goes through some notes*

We have 6 things going on at this dinner tonight, so please pay attention.

First, for about 15 minutes, you have time to grab food and drink, chat a bit with everyone, and await any late-comers.

Adventurers and guards, I have a task for you though. During this time, look to the north for any threats. Bring a few Ronins, Ninjas, or local beasts into our festival area and then kill them off. These enemies are plaguing us here, and we need to show them we are strong to resist them. Just don’t get our guests killed. When I announce to stop combat with the enemies, please stop and don’t bring any more.

Second, at 30 past the hour, Lenora will announce the winners of the PaxLair Mage Tower Library’s Literary Contest! She will do this from here. Several books were submitted and deserve recognition. So please be here for this.

Third, Ashlynn will summarize her Quest and make any announcements about it. I know it was a difficult quest, and few may have finished it.

Fourth, we will gather in two lines for those who completed the PaxLair Mage Tower Quest. This was a quest started by “tipping” Commander Thaddeus atop the Mage Tower in PaxLair City. Those who succeeded should be ready to wear the appropriate garment as instructed by the quest.

Fifth, after these Quest presentations, I will give my Anniversary Speech right in the area here.

Finally, after you patiently suffered through my speech, everyone can line up to receive a commemorative box of items crafted by Venger for our 14th Anniversary.

Then we will conclude our week-long celebration and enter our 15th year of PaxLair, our cities, and our allies here on Chesapeake.

So welcome everyone! And enjoy the festivities tonight! Adventurers and guards, see if any enemies are lurking in the woods. And others enjoy the food and drink. We assemble again in about 15 minutes.

PaxLair Speech Continued

PaxLair Speech Continued

ANNIVERSARY SPEECH

Welcome everyone once again! I hope you are having fun tonight. Now you get to pay for all that fun, by listening to me for a moment or two.

As most know, PaxLair was founded 14 years ago today. It started in the Feluccan meadows west of the Compassion Shrine. Today, PaxLair City continues to stand as the capital city of a very active group of people. These people have cities and guilds that make up the PaxLair Statehood and Alliance.

Our Statehood has PaxLair City, Dragons Watch, PaxOku, and Nidaros. The PaxLair Alliance adds Gyldenfeld, Pitmuck, and Aryslan. We also ally with more guilds such as the Kingdom of RivenMyst and Crimson Fist of Mazrim.

Together, we adventure across the realm becoming involved in Quests and Adventures of all types. We faithfully gather every Tuesday for a one hour meeting to make sure we know what’s happening around us.

And through this comraderie and loyalty, we constantly help each other, our friends, and new people and veterans-returned to this realm.

Our future continues to look bright.  We’ve done a lot. We helped save the Empress of Zento a week ago. Perhaps she will look favorably upon us here in the future.

Nidaros ale and alcohol production is up to keep up with the high demand. Fishing and shipping activities are at an all time high with many voyages between our ports.

Dragons Watch’s weekly adventures keep us battle ready and our backpacks filled with loot. And we trade some of that loot through Aryslan’s silent auction.

We readily clear the oceans of deadly monsters and pirates using our powerful nets, ships, and boarding parties. We’ve proven our horses and ships are the fastest on the land and at sea.

We are an inguisitive people creating and following quests, like Ashlynn’s and the PaxLair City quests this week. We are pretty literate too, as proven by Lenora’s Library contest.

And we share our ideas and knowledge to others, especially through Ashlynn’s fantastic reporting in the PaxLair Times. Thank you Ashlynn.

Our craftsmen also help all they encounter. I personally thank Queen Zen for her cakes and cookies tonight. I also thank Venger of Nidaros  who crafted and engraved the honorary 14th Anniversary swords for each of you, which I will hand out to you in a moment. Please thank them both for their gifts.

So we have a lot to be thankful for. We have a lot to thank of others. And we have a lot of enthusiasm for the future.

Thank you all for coming this year to PaxLair’s 14th Anniversary. Dragonspeed to you all!

Now if you can all line up on the golden tiles leading to the balance scales, for a gift.

Reference: Speech given for the PaxLair 14th Anniversary by Governor Winfield of PaxLair, January 19, 2012 in PaxOku, Tokuno, Chesapeake

Governor Winfield thanking everyone for attending

Governor Winfield thanking everyone for attending

PaxLair 14th Anniversary Boxes created by Venger of Nidaros - thanks!

PaxLair 14th Anniversary Boxes created by Venger of Nidaros - thanks!

 

Anniversary Sword crafted and donated by Venger of Nidaros for all guests

Anniversary Sword crafted and donated by Venger of Nidaros for all guests

Posted in PaxLair Anniversary, Speeches | 1 Comment

PaxLair Anniversary: Day 4

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Ashlynn

The Press of Fun and Games, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 19, 2012 – by Ashlynn – On the fourth day of the 14th PaxLair Anniversary the games just did not stop. Once again a two-event format with a little culture provided by Lenora and her assistant, Nadine of the PaxLair City Library.

The first event of the evening and probably one of the most creative and interesting I have seen in a good while was “Dungeon and Dragons” hosted by Lady Phoenix. Essentially a board game played with people, players took it in turns to move along a path of squares, a distance determined by the roll of a dice. (or more specifically, a d6 for those who needed to know!) Whoever reached the end first won a prize.

Of course, it wasn’t an empty path. Land on a red square and you found yourself missing a turn. Land on a hidden teleporter and you might be taken closer to the goal… or right back to the beginning. Landing on a book might require you to trade places.

Two rounds were played, myself winning the first one and Lord Maedhros winning the second. Already ideas for adapting such creative use of goza mats are swimming around my head.

Next it was time to read the entries for the literary contest and then vote for our favourites. There were about ten entries with some very good submissions. I had a hard time voting. However, I shall save the results for another article as they are not yet decided I believe.

Should anyone wish to view the submissions, they can be found at the library in a box within the PaxLair City Mage Tower.

The night ended with a horse race called “The Ilsh Run” and hosted by Lord Maedhros. Horse race would be liberal use of the term however as not everyone rode a horse and many of us who did rode spectral or… decaying horses.

The track had to be altered from it’s original course due to recent rockfalls blocking off central Ilshenar. As a result, we were to take a more lengthy path, starting at Compassion Shrine and ending at Valor Shrine.

Though I started off well, my horse’s decaying bones began to unravel and half-way along the course it became slow going. The ultimate winner was Governor Winfield leading some to question his moniker of “Old Man”. He claimed it was experience, but I suspect some kind of necromancy or perhaps a magical portrait. Who can say!

For our troubles, we all received a special robe and I then had to retire for the night as I could feel the daemons of sleeping clawing at me.

Posted in Dragons Watch, Ilshenar, Nidaros, PaxLair Anniversary, PaxLair Statehood, Player Event | Comments Off on PaxLair Anniversary: Day 4

PaxLair Anniversary Dinner to be held in PaxOku, Tokuno

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Winfield

PaxLair, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 18, 2012– by Winfield – The 14th Anniversary PaxLair Dinner will be held on Thursday, January 19, at 9 PM ET behind (NW of) the Tea House, PaxOku, Tokuno.  Reach PaxOku by the Luna Township Banners.

See the full scheduled here.  http://www.paxlair.com/times/?p=2110

Posted in PaxLair Anniversary, PaxLair Statehood, Player Event | Comments Off on PaxLair Anniversary Dinner to be held in PaxOku, Tokuno

PaxLair Anniversary: Day 3

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Ashlynn

The Press of Wonders, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – January 18, 2012 – by Ashlynn – On the third day of celebrations, two more highly entertaining events were held in the form of an archery contest and mage poker. Lady Lissa Eldi, with prizes and scrolls in tow, was the host of mage poker while Lord Se’an Silverfoot hosted the contest of marksmanship.

Mage poker was first on the agenda, hosted just outside the famous Red Wolf in Gyldenfeld and many were the participants. For those with no skill in magery (like myself), a pile of scrolls was supplied to make use of the proper Summon Creature magicks. A number of rounds were to be held, until an hour was up or the prizes ran out – whichever came first.

In order to even things up a little for those of us who fizzled the casting most of the time, Lady Lissa also asked various trivia questions and I even managed to get one right, earning myself a prize! Sadly, I was unsuccessful regarding any of the “animal hands” but plenty of others walked away with a prize too.

Following a brief break, everyone gathered at the archery range at Luna Faire in preperation for Lord Se’an’s annual game of marksmanship. Rules were the same as previous years, a double elimination format with prizes for first, second and third place as well as a high score prize.

Eight people decided to pledge their bows: Salty Dog Carlac, Venger, Moloch Darkbane, Fruit Loop, Niva, Tatania, Iifer and myself (I even brought along my faerie bow just for the event, though little good it did me).

There were some good marksman this year, but sadly, no record breakers. At the end of the game the results were as follows:

  • First Place: Venger
  • Second Place: Iifer
  • Third Place: Fruit Loop
  • High Score: Venger (with 560 points)

I had to retire soon afterwards, but everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. Day 3 was also the deadline for submissions for Lady Lenora’s Literary Contest, and passing by the Mailbox, there appeared to be quite a few entries which I look forward to reading on Day 4!

Posted in Gyldenfeld, PaxLair Anniversary, PaxLair Statehood | Comments Off on PaxLair Anniversary: Day 3