Ebon Gate 2009/Giveaway saved posts

This is a collection of saved posts regarding the Giveaway leading up to Ebon Gate 2009.

Missing Artifact - Please Help!! (EG)

Category: Quests/Sagas/Events
Topic: Ebon Gate
Message #: 17890
Author: GS4-KAIKALA
Date: 9/19/2009 10:59:33 AM
Subject: Missing Artifact - Please Help!! (EG)

Small whispers have escaped from the village of Velathae that a small artifact from the Tower Hill family collection has disappeared. Although its full properties are unknown (and the Tower Hill family has refused to comment), the "key" is rumored to be a "favorite" of one of the village's famed specters and has, on occasion, gone missing in the past. The length of this disappearance has spanned more time than usual, however, and there is fear that the item is no longer in Velathae. The Merchant Consortium has quietly made promises to reward those who assist in finding this item's whereabouts in the form of reservations and tickets to this year's Ebon Gate celebration by hiding parchments in the areas where they hope to trap the key for retrieval.

The Merchant Consortium's quiet reward offering is limited to the following: Thirty (30) early reservation options for any ticket type; ten (10) discounted basic admission tickets; five (5) tickets for FREE admission into the festival grounds and auction.

The Merchant Consortium has warned that the key can be sly, so even if it disappears before you are able to pick it up, don't give up -- keep looking for it. The Consortium has also clearly stated that when the true key is permanently retrieved, a proper announcement will be made in order to make clear that the rewards are no longer available.

Reward Rules

• When the key whisks you away, be sure to pick up a parchment. You will have one (1) week to write to the e-mail address given on the parchment, from the time that the key moved you, to state whether you wish to keep or return the winnings. If no contact has been made in that week's time, it will be assumed you do not have interest and you will not be able to claim your reward after that time.

• The special reservation and free admission offer are not transferable between any accounts, and the special reservation and free admission offers are limited to one per account.

• For further details, please visit the Ebon Gate folder!

Clarification

Category: Quests/Sagas/Events
Topic: Ebon Gate
Message #: 17891
Author: GS4-KAIKALA
Date: 9/19/2009 10:59:33 AM
Subject: RE: Missing Artifact - Please Help!! (EG)

Just a few extra details on these (and I'll try to answer questions as they come up):

First off, while these may appear at random in front of you from time to time or be laying on the ground in stark light, more often they'll be not so obvious. They are NOT in huge mass quantities, so don't feel like you're going to be running into these every 30 seconds.

A certain number of the prize-laden ones will go out each day (though they won't necessarily be found that day!), so someplace that previously didn't have one might have one the next day.

Yes, of course this applies to Platinum -- however, only the discounted tickets and free tickets are being offered there. The early reservation ones are kinda a moot point in that instance.

If/as you have more questions, post 'em here and I'll get them as I'm able.

~Kaikala

LOOK for them

Category: Quests/Sagas/Events
Topic: Ebon Gate
Message #: 17893
Author: GS4-KAIKALA
Date: 9/19/2009 10:59:33 AM
Subject: RE: Missing Artifact - Please Help!! (EG)

>>So they can be hidden like REAL Gems?

They can be, yes.

~Kaikala

Success

Category: Quests/Sagas/Events
Topic: Ebon Gate
Message #: 17906
Author: MAZZAC
Date: 9/19/2009 11:21:18 PM
Subject: Darn Key! But I won! An auction at that!

In the Common language, it reads:
To return to where you came from, try turning me about.
>get journal
You reach your hand toward a small leather-bound journal to turn one of the pages, but rather than succeeding, a single parchment piece comes loose in your hand.
>read parch
In the Common language, it reads:
Congratulations! For your effort to help the Merchant Consortium, you are being offered with a FREE AUCTION AND FESTIVAL TICKET option for the Ebon Gate celebration this year!

You have one week from the time you picked up this parchment to write to [Kaikala] and [Sirina]. If no contact has been made in a week's time, your reward cannot be redeemed. This reward is not transferrable to any other account and is limited to one win per account.

Success Speculation

Category: Quests/Sagas/Events
Topic: Ebon Gate
Message #: 17910
Author: MAZZAC
Date: 9/20/2009 12:36:05 AM
Subject: Darn Key! But I won! An auction at that!

I searched in Sol Haven and found a small rusty key 3 times. I searched for it like a real gem (behind, under, in items around town). A couple of times it was just lying in the street.

I think they are hidden at first. Then if you grab at it and don't win, then it just bounces around int he open. Least that is what happen to me in Sol Haven.

Then I tried in Ta'Vaalor and found a key behind a bench. When I grabbed it, it didn't vanish but transported me to a room. It was a small rusty key in Ta'Vaalor as well.

Hope that helps.

Vrair

Storyline Teaser

Category: Quests/Sagas/Events
Topic: Ebon Gate
Message #: 17996
Author: MAZZAC
Date: 9/23/2009 8:49:06 PM
Subject: Storyline, edited

[Ta'Vaalor, Garden of Ancients]
A small niche has been carved into the high city wall, providing a resting place for a small statue of an elven woman. Thick ferns cluster about the foot of the wall and the bases of the nearby trees. A small stone bench provides a resting place for quiet contemplation.
Obvious paths: north, south
>.l ben
[Script L is running, Esc to cancel, Shift-Esc to pause]
>look behind ben
>look under ben
Behind the stone bench you see a small rusty key and a crude bone key.
>look in ben
There is nothing under there.
>look on ben
[script done]
There is nothing in there.
>
On the stone bench you see a small wildflower bouquet.
>get key

As you pick up the key, tendrils of fog slip around you, momentarily obscuring your vision. As a chill gust of wind blows them away, the world seems to have shifted dramatically.

[Divasten Tower, Bed Chamber]
Swathes of burgundy fabric are arranged in an alternating pattern with creamy whites and create a striped swirl across the ceiling that is anchored at the seam of each wall, before falling in unfettered folds to the floor. A series of portraits trapped in golden linden decorate the walls amid the elegantly folded fabric, armoires, and settees, while an ornate canopied bed draped in silks occupies one section of the round room. A pillar candle, resting on the nightstand, illuminates the leather-bound journal near it.
Obvious exits: none

>read key
In the Common language, it reads:
To return to where you came from, try turning me about.

>get journal
You reach your hand toward a small leather-bound journal to turn one of the pages, but rather than succeeding, a single parchment piece comes loose in your hand.
>read parch
In the Common language, it reads:
Congratulations! For your effort to help the Merchant Consortium, you are being offered with a FREE AUCTION AND FESTIVAL TICKET option for the Ebon Gate celebration this year!

You have one week from the time you picked up this parchment to write to [Kaikala] and [Sirina]. If no contact has been made in a week's time, your reward cannot be redeemed. This reward is not transferrable to any other account and is limited to one win per account.

Wracking sobs punctuate the air, which suddenly shimmers and shifts as the light changes. You find yourself watching a young woman as she weeps piteously, sitting upon a bench at the edge of a small lake. Her face is a wreck, her hair disheveled, and her clothing wrinkled. Rising to a deafening cacophony around her is the sound of horns, dogs, and horses as they answer the call of the hunt. The sound only seems to deepen her sorrow and her tears grow overwhelming. Slowly, the scene fades away.

The air shimmers and wavers with a strange light, causing your surroundings to become distorted for a brief moment. As the light fades, the image of a wooded glade meets your senses, and you watch as hounds burst through the foliage. Men carrying torches, some of them on horses, quickly follow behind them and streak off into the distance, their angry cries of pursuance falling on your ears.

Abruptly, the world shifts again and you find yourself unmoved, as if you were just seeing ripples of the past.

"Do you think they'll come?" asks a quiet female voice.

"Yes, my love," comes the reply.

Harsh angry words rain down upon your ears as the image of an angry elderly man comes storming toward you, his form haloed by a silver nimbus. "I will kill him for ruining you!" he screams, his fist flying into his thigh. "You are my child, and he has taken your virtue from you, tainted you with that... that... growth!"

His parting words echo around you as he begins to fade. "To the Hunt, men!"

Wavering light floods your senses, and your vision briefly swims with strange scenes of people entering and exiting the area that you are in. Oddly, you note that all of the people coming and going are moving backwards, as if time is flowing in the opposite direction. A woman dressed in a burgundy gown grows heavy with child and then progressively gets skinner, only to eventually grow younger until she is nothing more than a child.

Bright white light flares across your eyes, momentarily blinding you. As the light fades, you find the world around you slightly changed.

You are standing before a lake. A young woman walks in, her hand curled around that of an elven man. They move to a bench and you catch small snippets of their conversation.

"I don't care what my father says," you hear the woman say, which causes a small smile to form on the elf's lips.

Abruptly, the image distorts and your surroundings return to normal.

Bright white light flares across your eyes, momentarily blinding you. As the light fades, you find the world around you slightly changed.

You are standing before a lake. A young woman walks in, her hand curled around that of an elven man. They move to a bench and you catch small snippets of their conversation.

"I don't care what my father says," you hear the woman say, which causes a small smile to form on the elf's lips.

Abruptly, the image distorts and your surroundings return to normal. > "Do you think they'll come?" asks a quiet female voice.

"Yes, my love," comes the reply.

Suddenly shimmering into existence, the silhouette of a young woman surrounded by a silvery nimbus glides through the room, her hands resting upon her child-heavy stomach. Another image coalesces into existence behind her, his features angular and alien when compared to hers. Smiling, he hugs her from behind and rests his cheek upon her head. Her eyes close, a look of contentment on her face as she leans into his arms.

Slowly, the pair dissolves into mist.

Oppressive heat blasts across your face and the air around you shimmers with a dizzying effect that leaves your senses reeling. Moments later, you find yourself standing upon a high tower, gazing out at the city of Velathae. A commotion at the foot of the tower draws your eyes downward, and you watch as a shacked elven man, his back bent under the weight of the chains, is brought into the lower section of the tower.

Abruptly, the world shifts again, ending the vision.

Wavering slightly, the image of an elderly man lying on a bed begins to solidify before you. Several women rush to his side and attempt to stop the bleeding from a large gash in his side, but they are unable to do much more than make the man comfortable.

Feverish, the man snatches at the hands of one of the maids and says to her, "You must go to the town and bring me a sorcerer. His punishment must be done before I die!"

Slowly, the image fades away.

>look at portrait
Painted upon a backdrop of deep blue, the portrait is that of a young woman with her hair drawn back from her face into an elaborate chignon, which was probably at the height of popularity some three centuries ago. She is adorned in a regal gown of deep burgundy, with a frilled collar of ecru lace covering her neck. Her hands are neatly folded in her lap, though they are partially obscured by the same lace that adorns the neck of her gown.
There appears to be something written on it.

>read portrait
In the Common language, it reads:
~*~ Divasten Hieress - Abilinthe ~*~

>look at portrait
Painted upon a backdrop of sanguine, the portrait depicts an elderly man sitting beside a woman of advancing years. The man's eyes remain solidly fixed upon the woman's face, though she appears to be glancing out of the portrait to the left. The grin that parts his lips is half lust and half pride, while the small smile that turns hers is a mixture of sorrow and shame.
There appears to be something written on it.

>read portrait
In the Common language, it reads:
~*~ Count and Countess Divasten ~*~

>look at portrait
Painted upon a backdrop of viridian, the portrait depicts a man that, while tall and broad of shoulders, maintains a hold on youthful wonder. His bright green eyes are slightly slanted, and the quirk of his lips suggests a good natured disposition. Garbed in a simple leine of burgundy, the young man sits tall and proud within his painting.
There appears to be something written on it.

>read portrait
In the Common language, it reads:
~*~ Saelinthe Divasten ~*~

>look at portrait
Painted upon a backdrop of white, the portrait depicts a man whose silver eyes have an aged, century-old look to them that is belayed by the youthfulness of his face. Displaying a nearly alien quality, especially when viewed in comparison to the other portraits in the collection, the man's features are sharp, angular, and innately regal. His clothing is simple, but his carriage suggests the silent watch of centuries rather than decades.

look at armoire
Verdant green paints decorate the sides of the armoire, their hues blending to create a woodland scene that surrounds an icy blue lake. Thick carvings form a bas-relief image of wild animals as they come to drink at the cool waters, their images coiling around to the face and becoming the delicate doors of the piece. Wrought iron handles and keyholes decorate the doors, while matching hinges bind the pieces into place.

>look in armoire
In the golden linden armoire you see a yellowing white skeleton.

>look at skeleton
Yellowed with age, the skeleton has nothing about it that identifies it as any particular race, though it is clearly long enough in limb to rule out any of the shorter races. Devoid of anything that might distinguish who it once was, the thing looks as though it has been sitting here for hundreds of years waiting for someone to find it. A thin-chained silver placard is the only piece of jewelry or adornment that it wears.

>read placard
In the Common language, it reads:
Every family has at least one of these hidden in their...

>look on skeleton
On the white skeleton you see a thin-chained silver placard. > >look at bed
Intricate scrollwork decorates the spindled arms of the bed, their lengths wrought in the image of drakes coiled about trees, which in turn form the upper braces. Viridian silks drape across those braces to create a verdant canopy, while the thick featherbed mattress is adorned with cool icy blue hues. The head and footboard are carved with the image of badgers, bears, deer, and squirrels, all of which have their faces lifted upward as they watch the antics of the drakes.

Crafted of linden, the nightstand bears the same intricate scrollwork as the spindles on the nearby bed. Wrought iron handles allow the drawers to be pulled free, while a filigreed keyhole sits above each handle. The glossy surface of the piece is simply covered with a white pillar candle set within a crystalline holder and a small leather-bound journal.