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- “Hmmmm. Could blow us up at any minute? I'd classify that as a threat.”
- “I'm a supply officer,” Nario said the large man standing up, “it's what we do. I'm off to see the C.O.--take what you need and leave me a list.”
- “But don't you think that it would be worth it to find out? A possible food supply and an antibiotic?”
- “Yeah, there's a big-to-do because they're probably a new species. Wasps, at least as we know them, don't make honey.”
- “You've got to be kidding me?” she yelled. “How am I supposed to prevent gangrene without antibiotics?”
- “I wish that was the case,” Zaria said her short black hair swaying as she shook her head. “But its infections that are the problem. With all this damn heat, a bacterial infection can set in and a patient can die from what was a minor wound. Not to mention the whole heat and dehydration thing.”
- “Luckily, no one got impaled this time,” she said moving things around the shelves. “Just some deep cuts. The troops are getting better at fighting them.”
- “Could be a real boon,” Zaria said nodding, pleased.
- Speaking of scrounged materials, he thought.
- Just then a burst of energy by the name of Zaria bolted through the door
- Yes the change is intentional.
Sev~
- “Trying to kill two birds, or wasps, with one stone?” Zaria asked.
- “And you never know,” Nario said leaning back in his seat. “Others outposts might find it as well. Having a valuable supply could help raise the importance of this place. The more value this place has to the higher ups, the less backorders and short ships we'll get.”
- Zaria smirked, her brown eyes filled with an expression somewhere between annoyed and amused. “Excuse me?”
- “What's wrong lass?” he asked, ignoring her rank--such formalities in private were often disregarded. That's one advantage of a backwater post.
- “Be lucky we're on this island, lass,” Nario said. “That jungle out there lets us make up for what we don't get in the supply shipments.”
- “They didn't come,” he said holding up the invoice. “Backordered.”
- She sighed in agreement. “Speaking of supply shipments, where are the antibiotics we ordered? I can't find them.”
- “Because if we've come to the conclusion that this honey might be a resource of value than the other factions will come to the same conclusion shortly, if they haven't already.”
- The scout stood outside the door preparing himself for the news he was about to deliver. It seemed that he was always the one to deliver the failings of the current mission, and feared his commander would begin associating himself with the news. It was better just to get it over with and get out of site as quickly as possible.
“Sir, we have the reports from our efforts on Nyr'leha.“
He stood hunched over the maps on his table, calculating his next moves. This new mission set forth by the powers above was the most difficult one this fledgling society had yet to receive. The dangers that lay on the newly discovered lands was not yet fully known, and sending men there to find out also meant sending men to their death.
As he looked up at the young scout he knew that these new reports would almost certainly be filled with failure and death, a common read since this mission began. If his own morale mirrored that of his troops then hope was fading quickly. The beasts on these islands were more powerful than most of the creatures any of these men had encountered before. Their armor seemed thin and weak like parchment, their weapons and spells seemed but training instruments compared to those of their enemies.
“Bring them here”
As he read over the reports the disdain was apparent in his face. Their beach head on Nyr'leha was being attacked almost daily, the losses were many. To make matters worse the other societies had begun making their own attempts at gaining control of the area.
He had tried to warn Her Mistress that the isle was too dangerous to begin moving troops there, but his protest had been ignored. There is no other choice at a time like this and the orders must be followed, even if they sound foolish and ill-conceived. He wondered if his men understood this, or if they blamed him for the deaths of their friends and brothers.
“And what of our scouts on freebooter isle, what news have they sent.”
The scout seemed to get nervous, his hands could not remain steady and his eyes shifted from the commander's gaze. He knew his commander was not known for his self control and his outburst of anger could mean trouble for the young soldier.
“We haven't heard a word from any of them, and have had no success in attempting to make contact ourselves.”
Color began to wash over his face until it was as deep a red shade as was his gauntlets that slammed into the table in front of him. He strained to control his anger, why did She insist on forcing him to plan these missions. Did she not understand these are normal men, not an ancient or undead race, just men? Now he would have to deal with her wrath, even though he had tried to put a stop to this foolish plan. Perhaps he would try one last assault before passing the news along, he would play his last card from his hand.
“The Mistress will not be pleased to hear this news. I think it is time we put our new recruits to work, dispatch orders that all soldiers are required to report to the beach head and aid in defense there. And send out a party to find out what happened to our scouts on Freebooter Isle, tell them to be prepared. Whatever is out there, it is most certainly dangerous.”
“At once sir.”
The messenger turned and left quickly before the commander's anger had a chance to fully set in. The days ahead would be difficult and many good men will fall before the mission is complete.
- “Relax lass,” Nario said. “Learn from the experience for an old dog who's been doing this way too long. If you're in this for the long haul then you need to see the hidden benefits from your problems.”
- “Didn't the latest reports say that these wasps give off honey?”
- “Take that volcano out there,” he said pointing his quill towards the open window. “It's a threat, right?”
- “Hard to think of those four foot horrors as ‘bugs'.” My brain just doesn't want to accept it.” Zaria grimaced as she wiped the sweat from her brow--the heat of the day was affecting her as well. But then, who wasn't susceptible to such temperatures? It made the medics jobs even harder. “But yes, several of our troops were taken out by the Killer Phyntos wasps.”
- And with that the quartermaster left the medic to her scavenging.
- Here are the known issues that will be fixed for January.
~ The gargoyle that summons the entrance to Mhoire Castle can become inoperative if someone uses the gargoyle without a key to Lord Cynreft's Tomb and the quest flag for the Mhoire Castle opening quest.
- “Isn't honey a natural anti-biotic? Keeps wounds from getting infected and helps fights of colds and such?”
- As he drummed his fingers on the rough surface of the palm wood desk, he couldn't help but smile.
- The young Medical Officer had been stationed on Freebooter Isle and had yet to lose her enthusiasm, which surprised him since she looked so frustrated today.
- “But we don't know if this honey is like the honey we're used to.”
- Nario shook his grizzled gray head. “Hard enough to fight a four foot bug, but a flying bug with its own personal impaling blade is just nasty.”
- The gears in Nario's brain began to crank into full gear as he remember a note from a recent report.
- “That's a relief,” Nario said. “It should be smooth sailing once you stitch them up,” he said nodding towards the surgical thread she had placed into her apron. Life Mages were either on active duty elsewhere, or weren't sent to small outpost groups unless they expected to see heavy fighting.
- “I'm a supply officer, I make it a point to know a little of everything about everything,” he said with a smirk, “I also know a guy in just about every line of work out there.”
- ~ Once someone has cummoned the shade of Rytheran from the throne they will not be able to summon him again if they repeat the quest. They will need someone who has never summoned him before.
~ The gargoyle that summons the entrance to Mhoire Castle doesn't take the strange jewel when you complete the initial quest.
~ The Fire gargoyle in the elemental gargoyle test fails on one of the quest paths. It's the path where it's Air Water Fire Earth.
~ Mhoire Castle Portals don't have radar dots.
~ The quest giving Ormend in Mhoire Castle doesn't actually tell you how many rings you need.
~ The Killer Phyntos Queen does not respawn after she is killed unless the landblock is cleared and allowed to reload.
~ Quiddity staff currently strikes for Frost/Fire and should be Bludgeoning. The damage is also too low.
~ Players who ran the Gift Box quest last year may find that they "complete" the quest before discovering all 12. This will prevent the effected players from getting their full number of gift boxes.
Sev~
- “And how am I supposed to see these mutant bugs as a hidden benefit?”
- “How do you know that?”
- “Those damn bugs again?” Nario asked.
- “Why the rush?” Zaria asked.
- Seeing his concentration, Zaria asked, “What are you thinking?”
- “We've gotten another batch of causalities in from yesterday's foraging sweeps,” she said making her way in the back where medical supplies were kept. Usually Nario didn't let anyone touch his supplies, but when medics were in a rush he made the exceptions.
- Nario scratched his sweaty head looking at the paperwork before him. Order partially filled. Ration shortage. Back-ordered. The numbers just didn't work--but did they ever at one of these backwater posts? To be honest, the Celestial Hand did a better job than most in supplying their smaller outposts and he could almost understand the upper brass's point of view on these things. He had been a quartermaster for far too long not to get such things. Sure the Empyreans needed a presence here at Freebooter Isle-- Ley Lines needed to be protected. The other factions needed to be prevented from gaining any footholds anywhere. And Nario knew this was high on the upper brass' agenda. But by the Light, how could they focus on any agenda if they were spending so much of their time just trying to get their basic needs from things they foraged from the island.
- “But that volcano is what makes this island so abundant in plant life which gives us food and trust me if you've ever been stationed in a barrens, you'd understand how lucky we are.”
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