Announcements - 2010/11 - From Darkness, Light
November 2010 - Patch Page
Original Link - http://asheronscall.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=614-from-darkness-light&catid=81-2010&Itemid=68
From Darkness, Light
Her first memory was of unending pain. She had no idea how long she had been trapped in that place between worlds, feeling the power of her lifeforce slowly being drawn from her, but it seemed like an eternity. Now that the pain was gone, she felt hollow inside. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't stuck between worlds anymore. She opened her eyes slowly, almost afraid to look. What she did see was far beyond her hopes and fears. It was simply a face, an older man with a white beard that looked familiar to her, but she was still too dazed to place it. All he said was, "Rest now, Nalicana. Welcome home."
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He woke up in a bed. He thought that strange for a moment, for he had no recollection of how he got there, nor of where he was. He rose quietly and looked at his surroundings. Arrayed around him were rows of beds filled with sleeping Empyreans. A strange light emanated from their eyes, even closed. Whatever the ordeal was that they had all been subjected to, it had changed them all drastically.
He glided out of the room as quietly as he could and out into the courtyard of a castle. It took him a few moments to realize where he was, but once his eyes settled on the two moons in the pre-dawn sky he knew he was finally home. He floated up to the top of the courtyard wall and quietly watched the sky as the sun rose, filled with joy for finally being free.
While he watched on, a great warmth filled his entire being. He felt a voice echo within the core of himself, "Too long have the Children of the Light been apart from this world. You are called upon to fill the missing seat of the Haebrean Seer, Lord Tyragar."
Quietly, still filled with the joy of being home, he replied, "So it shall be."
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Deep in the rooms of Ithaenc Cathedral, out of the empty tomb that stands as a memorial to the Lady of Ithaenc, a glowing mist seeped into the world. Over that time, the mist coalesced into the form of a matronly woman, whose eyes radiated a calmness rarely seen in a shade. The misty silhouette floated about the ruins, taking in all that had changed since her death so long ago.
With great sadness in her heart, the shade of Lady Adja rose up to the open courtyard atop the ruined cathedral, to greet the rising sun. She bowed before the Light and said, "Summoned, I come. The sands of time have been twisted and Darkness has touched all. The Seers shall bring Light into this Darkness and set things right."
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Deep in the Blackmire Swamp, three Falatacot stood speaking in hushed tones while gazing into a basin filled with blood.
"The young emperor has braved the secrets of the Book."
"He has. He is using the Book to alter the timestream like a toddler will use a piece of chalk to scribble upon a rock."
"Can his actions be used to our benefit?"
"Of course, sister. The Book will not work to ends that will hamper us. His actions are far more heavy-handed than we would prefer, but when the axe falls, as they say, it will be on him, not us."
"His actions have stirred the Light itself into responding. I will soon need to fulfill my duty as Seer, as well as my duties to our people."
"Do not worry, sister. We will drive things from the shadows while you stand once again in the Light."
With that, all three fell to silence. Soon after, Ka'hiri bowed to her sisters, and walked out into the swamp. "I will have to raise myself a fitting abode, I guess. It wouldn't do to have students standing around in the muck. The living are so easily distracted by discomfort..."
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Deep in his crypt, far below the icy halls of Frore, Liam of Gelid slept. A stirring of power flowed through his tomb, waking him from a sleep that had lasted since the coming of the Olthoi to his world. He rose slowly, shifting off the cover to his resting place, and let himself reach out and touch the Light he was so strongly bound to. For the first time in a very long time, he could feel all of the other Seers within the world. He spoke quietly to the room, "Finally, after all this time, we are reunited. The time has come."
The golem in the room stirred to life, heeding the call of its master.
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In his darkened throne room, Emperor Geraine sat quietly, paging through the Book of Eibhil. He mused to himself about all the book showed him.
Rollout Article
Original Link - http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=617-journal-of-a-soldier&catid=81-2010&Itemid=68
Journal of a Soldier
Day 1
I arrived at this facility, located in the middle of nowhere, this past afternoon. I had been recruited to provide protection/security for the project here without being given much of any other information.
Upon arriving I reported to the one known as Saelar. He informed me that I was to report to him only and that he would take the information to the one who was in charge, but refused to share any more information with me.
Day 2
I have seen many things throughout my life as a soldier for hire, but even I am shocked by what is going on here. There are cages filled with Mattekar and I have been tasked with bringing these creatures up to the rooms where the experiments are being done.
These creatures are being put through terrible magics for a purpose I do not yet understand. I do know, however, that so far these experiments have not worked. The creatures often end up mangled and destroyed through painful means, after which they are simply tossed to the side and discarded.
I will admit I took pleasure in seeing one of these beasts break loose and maul one of the workers performing the experiments.
Day 5
The experiments have begun to work. The Mattekars have been transformed into a new beast that we are calling Gurogs. What is being done to these Gurogs is possibly more terrible than what has been done to the Mattekars.
In order to discover the true strength and resilience of these new beasts, they are being chained in place and attacked with all manner of weapons. Over and over these creatures are stabbed, burned, shocked and finally killed. There is no respect for life in this place and it is wearing on my soul. I hope my contract here is completed soon so that I may leave this place with the hopes of forgetting all that I have seen
Day 7
The Gurogs have started resisting the workers here and lash out every chance they have gotten. They have killed several workers today already which put a temporary halt to the tests being performed on them.
Hopefully whoever is behind this place will see this as a reason to stop these experiments and
Release Notes
Original Link - http://asheronscall.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=613-november-release-notes&catid=81-2010&Itemid=68
November Release Notes
Greetings and welcome to the November update for Asheron’s Call! The team has been working exceptionally hard and we are very excited to bring you one of the biggest updates we have done. So without further delay, let’s get right into all of the new content and systems for this month!
Olthoi Play
For years, our PvP players have been asking for ways they could jump right into the action and make an impact. After much debate and many a sleepless night, we are proud to release Olthoi play! At character selection, you can now choose to be an Olthoi Soldier or Spitter. Once you choose which kind of Olthoi you want to be and customize your look, you can jump right into the action of the Olthoi home island. Here your queen will provide you with buffs and send you out to explore the island. You can gather materials you need to help make your Olthoi stronger as you prepare to fight the people of Dereth. Playing as an Olthoi can be a harsh life, as you will always be a Player Killer, but only other PK’s will be able to attack you.
If you do get killed in battle, you must burn off your Vitae before the queen will allow you to leave your island again for the rest of Dereth. If you are not in the PK state (red) you cannot leave the island. As an Olthoi you will also not be able to communicate with the citizens of Dereth, you will only be able to speak with the other Olthoi who are playing at the time. Here are a few other important guidelines to remember about Olthoi Play.
- If your account is not at least 15 days old, you will be restricted to the Olthoi Home island.
- Most / or @ commands do not work.
- You can only interact with special Olthoi Vendors and the Queen.
- Olthoi earn pitted slag from killing players and creatures, this is their currency.
- Each time a player is killed he is less likely to drop pitted slag. This chance goes back up with time.
- Olthoi drop top tier loot when they die, but not if they have vitae.
- No matter where you log out at, when you log back in you will be by the Olthoi Queen.
- Players don’t drop slag if they have vitae.
- Players cannot go to Olthoi Island if they have Vitae.
Empyreans
In our continuing efforts to expand the options that players have, we have added yet another playable race to those we have already released previously.
After many years of being trapped in Portal Space, some Empyreans have managed to escape back to Dereth. Players can now select an Empyrean from the list of playable races.
Void Magic
Void Magic is an entirely new school of magic based on damage over time spells as opposed to traditional, straight-up damaging magic. More specifically, Void Magic uses Nether damage on all of its attacks. This damage is done by direct cast damage over time, projectile damage over time, standard projectile attacks and debuffs. You find out more about Void Magic here!
Luminance
With the release of the Empyreans from portal space, much has happened around Dereth. The newly released Empyrean adventurers are not the only Empyreans to travel the lands of Dereth after their long internment. Trapped with the Empyreans were members of an ancient council -- seers seeking wisdom to read the signs of Light and Shadow and perhaps gain secrets about what was, what is, and what will be. These Seers were visionaries and pariahs, forever separated from the people they represented by their quest for knowledge. You can find out more about Luminance here!
Creature XP Adjustments
Due to many development teams and the length of the game, our creatures are far from balanced with one another. Some give a fraction of the XP as another creature which is just as difficult and others that are listed as the same level are vastly different in difficulty. The goal is to even this out across the creatures.
Updated Quests
The following quests have been adjusted. Make sure you check them all out!
- Mage Academy: 150+
- Hamud’s Pyreal Katar: 100+
- The Floating City: 150+
- Asheron’s Invasion: The portal level restrictions are now 40+ 60+ 90+ 120+.
- Tumerok Vanguard Outposts: 50+
- Eastham Sewer: 50+
- Spear of the Given Heart: 115+
- Crystal Minds and Shattered Souls: 115+
- Iron Golems, The Warlock of the Blood and The Champion of the Blood: These have been upgraded to level 160 creatures and replaced with other creatures in low level areas. Quests involving Iron Golems have been adjusted.
New Hunting Area
A new level 200+ Hunting area has been added to the game. You can find this area in the northern mountains of Dereth.
Miscellaneous changes and updates
- Due to several factors including players asking for it, we have added an 8th spell tab!
- The character creation screen now lists the alternate racial skills and all skills are listed in the top of the description instead of the bottom.
- All gems which create a portal now have a 30 second cooldown timer associated with them.
Developer Comments
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