Gswiki:Featured Article

Ebon Gate

Spooky season is upon us! Join us at this year's Ebon Gate festival in Naidem from Friday, September 29th, until Tuesday, October 31st. There will be a plethora of merchants (living and... not) in Evermore Hollow, fun live games, fishing, GHOUL, and Trick-Or-Treat. There will also be plenty of shopping, with over 20 new shops and more than 70 returning from last year!

Don't miss the Trove, this year's storyline and more. Read the Ebon Gate Announcements for all the details!

Duskruin: Bloodriven Brawl

It's the ultimate showdown in the Duskruin Arena, with the all new five versus five matches! Roll up your sleeves and hop in the arena with up to five fellow adventurers to battle it out round after round with five vicious monsters in a massive brawl!

Join us for the mayhem from Friday, August 11th at 9PM Eastern, until September 3rd in Duskruin Arena. The merchants of Bloodriven Village have new and exciting wares in their shops to part you from your hard-earned bloodscrip!

The High End Scrip Shop will once again be open with new and expanded services to improve your favorite armaments and other gear!

Rumor Woods: The Rolton vs. The Wolf

Join us on June 16th for the annual Grand Tournament at Rumor Woods, featuring the pixie hunt, fox hunt, jousting, and shopping, where you can purchase a rolton mount for yourself! You'll also be able to visit Summit Academy where you can find customizations for spell preps, logon/logoff messaging, signature verbs, features, and more. And, once the event starts, you'll be able to have more than one custom option to switch between for Custom Manna and Custom Major Sanctuaries!

Rings of Lumnis

Discover the myriad secrets of The Isle of Ornath this month during Rings of Lumnis! Scholars, shoppers, and adventurers will converge beginning Friday, April 14th at 9PM Eastern. Each of the five Rings of Lumnis offers unique challenges to solve and the Agora Promenade will be open again with many offerings to spend your silvers upon.

The tunnels beneath Bloodriven Village echo with memories of the past. What secrets will they reveal?

Join us from Friday, February 10th, until Tuesday, February 28th in Duskruin Arena. The combatants of the arena wait to see your finest flexing. The Endless leaderboards have been cleared for the names of new heroes to fight their way to the top! And the finest merchants of Bloodriven Village have new and exciting offerings in addition to perennial favorites.

The High End Scrip Shop will once again be open with new and expanded services to improve your favorite armaments and other gear!

Creating Adventure 2023

Product Manager Wyrom posts his yearly look ahead (and a look back!) in his annual Creating Adventure newsletter. Don't miss the big announcements it contains, plus get to know GameMaster Galene a little better!

Have you checked out our official changelog yet? Written by GameMasters as they update various areas of the game, it's a helpful chart of all major releases for the current year. Check it out by reading the Changelog.

Ebon Gate: The Path to Naidem

Join us from Friday, September 30th, until Sunday, October 30th in Naidem, the realm between the living and the dead. Traveling merchants and denizens of Evermore Hollow await your visit for shopping, games, fishing, GHOUL, and more!

Many new items and services will make their debut along with the brand new realm, read the Ebon Gate Announcements for more details!

Duskruin: The Deepest Depths

Rumors abound that riches are to be found beneath the temple’s burial grounds, but underground something stirs… Will you be brave enough to enter the deepest depths?

Join us from Friday, August 12th, until August 31st in Duskruin Arena. The Arena leaderboards beckon you to make your name known. Fight your way to the top, because bragging rights are at stake once again! The merchants of Bloodriven Village await your arrival, hoping to entice you with new goods and old favorites.

The High End Scrip Shop will be open with expanded services to improve your favorite armaments and other gear! For the first time, enchanting goes beyond 10x!

Rumor Woods: Battle of the Unicorn and the Dragon

Join us on June tenth for the annual Grand Tournament at Rumor Woods, featuring the pixie hunt, fox hunt, jousting, and shopping, where you can purchase a mount for yourself. The rare mounts this year are the unicorn and the yierka! You'll also be able to visit Summit Academy where you can find customizations for spell preps, logon/logoff messaging, signature verbs, features, and more.

Rings of Lumnis: Weddings and Agora Promenade

Built along the cliffs that surround the Needle of Pentas on the Isle of Ornath, Agora Promenade awaits guests with open doors and exciting offerings. Weddings will also make their return to Gemstone during Rings of Lumnis!

Rings of Lumnis begins April 15th and continues through April 30th!

Duskruin: Midwinter Mayhem

An icy chill has invaded Bloodriven Village and Duskruin Arena! With the frost comes some new shops and wares, including an update to the Fuzzy Warm Parkas, wintry armaments, and more!

Beginning Friday, February 11th and continuing through February 28th!

Mail System

The long-awaited postal system has arrived, and players can now send in-game packages to one another from one end of Elanthia to the other. Read about the ins and outs of the new mail system here.

Ebon Gate

Join your favorite Caligots and visiting merchants for one last visit to Caligos Isle as we celebrate the festival of Ebon Gate!.

Duskruin: Endless

Duskruin: Endless, begins Friday, August 13th at 9PM Eastern! Witness the fantastic feats of your fellow adventurers from the stands as they battle in the new Endless arena mode, or visit the newly arrived Kraet ship docked at Bloodriven Village, offering new wares from the first contact with the half-Krolvin culture. Perennial Duskruin activities like shopping, arena, the sewers, and the Bank Heist also return!

Rumor Woods

Rumor Woods: Battle of the Lion and the Stag, begins Friday, June 11th at 9PM Eastern! Return to Rumor Woods and Sylinar's Spire and join us for jousting, fox and pixie hunts, character customizations, mounts, exploring, shopping, and much more.

Get in on the ACT

May is Roleplaying Month in Gemstone IV! The ACT verb provides a limitless way to express your character's actions, and has optional parameters for targeting your actions at people and objects, as well as tokens for pronouns to incorporate into longer targeted actions. Check out the ACT article for details on usage to add this to your roleplaying toolkit and really deepen your character's interactions with the world around them!

Rings of Lumnis

The Isle of Ornath will be accessible to adventurers beginning Friday, April 16th at 9PM Eastern. The Needle of Pentas is situated on the Isle of Ornath, and where scholars and adventures converge for the trials of the Rings of Lumnis. Each of the five Rings of Lumnis offers unique challenges to solve! The five rings are Planar, Spiritual, Elemental, Chaos, and Order, and rewards from each will be tracked on a powerful relic, a quintuple orb brooch, received upon entry to The Needle. As trials are completed, the relic will grow more powerful.

Duskruin Arena

Duskruin returns Friday, February 12th at 9pm Eastern! Bloodriven Village can be reached via QUEST TRANSPORT DUSKRUIN. Once there, you can challenge your opponents in Duskruin Arena, search for riches in the Bloodriven Sewers, or rally with one of three opposing factions and organize your very own Bank Heist.

The Return of Briarmoon Cove

Traders from every corner of Elanthia will be represented at Briarmoon Cove. The seaside retreat will be offering select shops packed with goods from all of the most notable towns, from December 4th to 11th.

Ebon Gate

Join your favorite Caligots and visiting merchants on Caligos Isle all month as we celebrate the festival of Ebon Gate!.

Duskruin

Combatants are invited to challenge the champions of the Duskruin Arena! But beneath the grounds, in the labyrinthine walls of the sewers, faint whispers are echoing throughout the dark corridors...

Windfellow's Insurrection

The Dread Lord and the gargoyles of Windfellow's Retreat will be opening the grounds for another Premium Festival, running from July 25th at 9am EST to July 31st at 9pm EST. Come shop, enter the raffles, participate in the storyline, and see if you can get a gargoyle hug!

Rumor Woods

The Battle of the Coney and the Tortoise begins Friday, June 19th at 9:00 PM Eastern! Secure your own giant tortoise or a Megalochelys atlas, or if you prefer riding on the smaller side of life, a pony might be just your style. Test your agility at arena jousting and fox hunting, and if you are able to find a bugle, you can take your very own pet fox home with you.

The Smithy

The WPS Smithy returns for weekend visits! On Saturdays and Sundays from March 27th until May 3rd, the wagon that adds weighting, padding, or sighting to your weapons and armor will be available in various locations around Elanthia, beginning with Wehnimer's Landing. Click here to read all about the services it provides.

Duskruin: The Arena Reborn

Bloodriven Village returns, and with it, the Duskruin Arena Reborn, with new features and a farewell to some old challenges. Test your mettle against the champions of the Arena!

Caligos Isle: The Festival of Ebon Gate

Citizens are going missing all over Caligos Isle. Will you help solve the mystery?

And don't forget the rest of the month with shopping, merchant week, and games!

Duskruin: Mystery of the Abyss

Beginning Friday, August 9th, Duskruin returns! Behind the grandiose doors of the Unearthed Temple, something is stirring, and for the first time ever, a passageway is opening.

What secrets lie behind the temple doors?

Elanthian Justice

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Curious about what happens when you break the laws in one of Elanthia's cities? Need to find out what to do if you've been arrested? Check out the page for the justice system and learn how to check if you've been naughty or nice.

Rumor Woods

Join the Grand Tourney! Will you joust for the Phoenix or the Serpent? Will you outsmart the fauna in the fox hunt?

Merchants from far and wide will also be in attendance, with dozens of new and exciting items up for sale.

The Adventurer's Guild

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Looking to add a little purpose to your adventuring? The Adventurer's Guild outposts in each city are happy to assign you bounties with rewards like experience, silvers, and even points you can spend on goods and services (like recharging your enhancives!) Read our Adventurer's Guild article here to learn how it all works.

Duskruin: The Unearthed Temple

A discovery has been made beneath Duskruin Arena! Duskruin returns Friday, February 15th. Adventurers can join us to uncover the secrets of the Unearthed Temple, beginning at 9pm Eastern. Bloodriven Village can be reached via QUEST TRANSPORT DUSKRUIN.

Unarmed Combat

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If the New Year has you wanting to try something new to you, read up on Unarmed Combat and see if jabbing, punching, and kicking the creatures of Elanthia sounds like a good fit for you. Read more here...

Duskruin

Duskruin returns Friday, December 14th at 9pm Eastern! Bloodriven Village can be reached via QUEST TRANSPORT DUSKRUIN. Once there, you can challenge your opponents in Duskruin Arena, search for riches in the Bloodriven Sewers, or rally with one of three opposing factions and organize your very own Bank Heist.

Artisan Skills

Eager to try your hand at one of the Artisan Skills? If you'd like to become a cobbler crafting fancy shoes, a fletcher creating customized master-crafted arrows, or a forger making superb weapons, this resource will help you get started! Read more here...

Carnival of Freaks

The Carnival of Freaks are coming! Starting Friday, September 21st!

Read more...

Summit Academy

Why exercise when you can get muscles in an instant?! Body customizations are premiering at Summit Academy. The event returns December 20th to the 30th for various character customization and enhancive services. Two prior events, Sylinar's Spire and the Summit Expression Faire, have been combined and automated, allowing for an unlimited number of people to participate. The event grounds are free to access via QUEST TRANSPORT and there will be limited shopping available. Character customization and enhancive services can be obtained via token with SimuCoins. The tokens are transferable, the services are not.

Features | Logon/Logoffs | Signature Verbs | Spell Preps | Swears | Other featured articles...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The 2017 Ebon Gate Festival commences Sunday, October 1 in its new venue at Caligos Isle. The grounds will be open through October 31 with merchanting in Platinum Oct. 13-20, and in Prime Oct. 20-27. See the event page for pricing, schedule, and teasers. There are a lot of changes this year including the introduction of the Deep Sea Diving SimuCoin game and the Ebon Gate seashell currency. In addition, there is a new cost structure of separate passes for shopping, games & digging, and merchants & raffles.

The grounds are free for all to access throughout the month, and everyone can also participate in the storyline from October 1-6.

Read more... | Services | Shop List | Deep Sea Diving | Teasers | Other featured articles...

Previous Articles

Old featured articles, and their snippet:

Festival of the Fallen

The second biennial Festival of the Fallen returns to Siren's Wood, located just outside the Annatto Gate of Ta'Vaalor, September 7 4:00 pm ET through September 10 11:59 pm ET. The coliseum has been updated for the gladiator matches with most spells over level 10 now allowed. The tournament will be held in Platinum at 6:00 pm ET on Saturday, and in Prime at 6:00 pm ET on Sunday. A grand ball will follow Prime's tournament at 9:00 pm ET (TBD for Platinum).

Siren's Wood shops and games will also be open with merchant services and plenty of raffles throughout the weekend.

Read more... | Shop Listing | Teasers | Other featured articles...

Demystifying Unusual Loot

Did you find a funny looking statue in a box? A piece of jewelry? An enchanted weapon on a creature that didn't crumble? A new cloak? Back in 2008, the treasure system was updated to include highly desired properties, such as weighting, padding, and enhancive, on automatically generated boxfound items and creature weapons, shields, and treasure drops. In 2013, Starchitin's player wrote straightforward guide on how to determine which items to keep, and how to find out the items' properties: Demystifying Unusual Loot. Starchitin's player has updated the guide, and GSWiki is pleased to feature it as a helpful resource.

Read more... | Other featured articles...

Return to Delirium Manor

Return to Delirium Manor takes place June 16-25, 2017. The Manor grounds can be accessed from anywhere in town via QUEST TRANSPORT DELIRIUM. Search the Manor to find Whax dolls and other jackpot prizes! Also in the hopper are all sorts of doll accessories, SimuCoin items, and automated lightening and deepening certificates! Existing Ebon Gate tickets will convert to general tickets for use at the Gift Shop and for future similar events.

Read more | Whax doll | Whax doll accessories | Other featured articles...

Player Shops

Do you own a player run shop? The shop system has been fixed and rent will be collected beginning May 15, 2017. Shops not visited/interacted with for 90 days will be closed and the eviction process will begin in June. Shop permit sales (method TBD) will commence soon after the eviction process has been completed.

Read more | Other featured articles...

Lumnis Contest

Sunday, March 5 00:00 through Sunday, March 19 01:00 ET will be the second ever Gift of Lumnis Contest. The experience system will not revert during the 2 week contest period and you will continue to get the same Gift of Lumnis bonus experience in effect since the end of the first contest. However, the system will track your experience gain as it would have under the old system to determine if you will place in the contest. Come together as a community to help each other out with bounties and everyone benefits! You might even meet some new people and make some new friends. Keep those crystal amulets on!

Read more | Experience | Other featured articles...

Summit Academy

Why exercise when you can get muscles in an instant?! Body customizations are premiering at Summit Academy. The event returns February 24-26 for various character customization and enhancive services. Two prior events, Sylinar's Spire and the Summit Expression Faire, have been combined and automated, allowing for an unlimited number of people to participate. The event grounds are free to access via QUEST TRANSPORT and there will be limited shopping available. Character customization and enhancive services can be obtained via token with SimuCoins. The tokens are transferable, the services are not. For your added enjoyment, Sylinar has created MAGICAL CUBES that contain silvers and gems -- and might hold some unique customization offerings.

Features | Logon/Logoffs | Signature Verbs | Spell Preps | Swears | Other featured articles...

Creating Adventure Jan 2017

We say goodbye to another year, but welcome what the future may bring! Our Creating Adventure piece will be returning for 2017! Check out what we've done in 2016 and our new Spotlight on Staff, featuring GameMaster Estild.

Read more... | Previous Creating Adventures... | Other featured articles...

The Great Auction of 5116

The event of the year is here! The Great Auction of 5116 will be held Saturday, December 17 starting at 11 am ET in Prime, and on December 18 in Platinum (subject to change). The event will go all day long until all items have been up for bid. Passed items will not get a second chance in this venue. This is a free event for paid accounts with about 100 one-of-a-kind items, and the chance to create your own powerful, unique item (subject to limitations).

Great Auction of 5116 | Other featured articles...

Ebon Gate Festival

2016

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The 2016 Ebon Gate Festival commences Friday, October 14. The grounds will be open through October 31 with merchanting in Platinum Oct. 14-21, and in Prime Oct. 21-28. See the event page for pricing, schedule, and teasers. There will also be a separate companion event, Delirium Manor, which is similar to the Duskruin Arena sewers, and will be running concurrently.

Ebon Gate 2016 | Delirium Manor | Shop listing | Other featured articles...

Frontier Days

Frontier Days is happening now in Wehnimer's Landing! The 11th annual Frontier Days Festival kicks off on September 6 with a week of special events by various CHE and MHO player groups. Shops are open for business right now and merchants will be working September 14-17. In addition, The Albatross is docked at the North Dock for the duration of the festival.

Read more...

Duskruin Arena

Blood Allies

Duskruin Arena returns August 18-31, 2017 with BLOOD ALLIES. Premiering this run are team matches, both 3 on 3 and 2 on 2. Also premiering are Mystic and Arcane BloodRunes for MoonShard pendants. During the April run, achievements started being tracked, and titles based on those achievements will be active as soon as the event begins. Check the TITLE verb in game when the event opens if you participated in the April run (Arena and/or Sewers).

Within the Bloodforge are two new areas: the Smelter and Smithy. The Smelter has a dwarven miner who sells ore that can be smelted into rare forging slabs. The Smithy is an all new, invite only, workshop that offers weighting, padding, and sighting for your gear. Earning invites to this exclusive area is done through impressive battles in the arena. The new weighting and padding system will also be released during this time.

Bloodriven Village will now be open through September 4 for shopping. Purchase any desired arena/sewer entry books/jars before 11:55 PM ET on 8/31 if you wish to run either during the extended period.

Read more... | Bloodriven Village | High End Scrip Shop | MoonShard pendant | Other featured articles...

Bloodforge

Duskruin Arena returns April 21-30, 2017. Hitch a ride to the updated Bloodriven Village and defeat deadly foes while writing history of your combat prowess within the arena! Fight to the death, facing powerful creatures in the arena and possibly one of the new automaton bosses. These metal monstrosities are new lethal combatants, and some may even carry pieces of metal to be used in the recently discovered BLOODFORGE.

Within the sewers are two new legendary BLOODRUNES for your MoonShard pendants -- the TROLL KING and CAVE TROLL are COMPLETELY EXCLUSIVE to this run only! There are several new classic bloodrunes out there as well, which are a bit more plentiful.

Read more... | Bloodriven Village | High End Prize List | MoonShard pendant | Other featured articles...

Duskruin Dig

Dig! Dig! Dig! The Duskruin Dig starts December 2nd and remains open until December 11th. Dig to complete your moon-filled pendant, or find an exclusive bloodrune and other unique treasures. The shops of Bloodriven Village will also be open (same as last run).

Duskruin Arena | Moon-filled pendant | Digging prize list | Bloodriven Village | Other featured articles...

Bloodrunes

Duskruin Arena returns August 26-September 5, 2016 for BLOODRUNES! Prove yourself worthy and earn bloodscrip to spend in Bloodriven Village, with new inventory in Spellbound, Gamac's Goods, Skyfire, The Written Word, Bare Aggression, and The Mar and Scar.

Entry to Bloodriven Village and watching arena matches are free to everyone, but entry tokens must be purchased from the SimuCoin Store to otherwise participate in the Arena and the Sewers (digging will be closed). The Scrip Shop from the April high end service bloodscrip redemption event will be open from August 27 through the end of the event with new and returning gear and services.

Once considered trash, runed rocks from beneath the cobblestones of Bloodriven are now being hailed as precious treasure. Scholars from across the lands have come to study their strange markings and chisel away at the mystery of ur-barath totems. Unravel the secrets that link MoonShard pendants to BLOODRUNES.

Read more... | Other featured articles...

MoonShard Hunters

Duskruin Arena returns with a special storyline! Between April 22-May 1, 2016, you can prove yourself worthy and earn bloodscrip to spend in Bloodriven Village. This will be the only run until at least December. Entry to Bloodriven Village and watching arena matches are free to everyone, but entry tokens must be purchased from the SimuCoin Store to otherwise participate in the Arena or the Sewers. On May 1 there will be a high end service bloodscrip redemption event.

Beneath Duskruin...
An Ancient Discovery!

Unearthed after thousands of years, an underground temple devoted to the Arkati, forged in combat and blood, awaits exploration!

Legend tells of a mysterious pendant, a divine Arkati artifact, fashioned from the rarest of materials: Moonshards! SHATTERED and lost to the great sewers of Bloodriven, it is now up to you to find and reunite the Moon Pendant. Enter the Arena, brave the dangers within, seek the Moonshards, and unlock the mysteries to become a Champion of the Arkati!

Read more... | Other featured articles...

CHEs and MHOs

Are you looking to meet people in GemStone IV? Are you looking to become more involved in the community? Is hanging out in your local town square not your cup of tea? If you answered yes to any of these questions, check out the many options of the Co-operative Houses of Elanthia (CHE) and Meeting Hall Organizations (MHO). Paid subscribers may join one CHE and as many MHOs as they wish. CHE and MHO purposes range from "providing a nice place to live" to "serving the masses with massies," from education and culture to much darker intentions, and everything in between. F2P characters will find that many groups will welcome them at events and meetings, even if they cannot join officially.

If you wish to become even more involved, many of these groups are looking for willing officers. Officers might run events, recruit members, build structures, or design prize closet items. All is done in coordination and cooperation with fellow officers and dedicated CHE or MHO GameMasters.

Are you an officer of a group without a GSWiki presence? Please help the community by creating or updating the page for your group.

Co-operative Houses of Elanthia | Meeting Hall Organization | Other featured articles...

Hot Summer Nights

Our highly anticipated Hot Summer Nights (HSN) are coming back this year, and we’re excited to offer you several months of new releases! Starting June 21st, we plan on bringing you a content-enriched summer you won’t forget! While we don’t want to spoil what is to come, what’s an announcement like this without some teasers?! We plan on bringing you new login rewards, spell updates, lore changes, changes to death messaging, documentation, and even a new end-game hunting ground! Be sure to book your summer vacation in Elanthia this year!

Read more...

Player Guides

With the advent of the Free to Play subscription, the GemStone community anticipates an influx of new and returning players, and we have prepared for it! We have come together and developed new guides for each starter town and almost every profession. These guides lead new players through the character manager, basic training tips, and how to navigate through the first few levels, as well as respective local customs. Click on Read more... below to access the New Player Category, which features articles specifically chosen to introduce people to the world of GemStone.

See Also

• New Players' Guide
• A beginner's guide to Wehnimer's Landing
• A beginner's guide to Icemule Trace
• A beginner's guide to Ta'Vaalor
• A beginner's guide to playing a warrior
• A beginner's guide to playing a rogue
• A beginner's guide to playing a paladin
• A beginner's guide to playing a sorcerer
• A beginner's guide to playing a ranger
• A beginner's guide to playing a bard
• A beginner's guide to playing a wizard
• A beginner's guide to playing an empath
• A beginner's guide to playing a cleric

Unarmed combat system

The Unarmed Combat System encompasses a unique combat style which features four types of attacks: Jab, Punch, Kick and Grapple. This system replaces Voln fu (Kick, Punch and Throw) as the primary unarmed attack method used against Undead creatures. Unarmed combat attacks are not, however, limited to the undead. They can be used against all creatures and characters.

Effectiveness with unarmed combat depends significantly upon a character's brawling skill. Although similar to AS/DS in its functionality, unarmed combat replaces melee and ranged weapons with the hands and feet, and AS/DS mechanics with Unarmed Attack Factor (UAF) / Unarmed Defense Factor (UDF).

See Also

• Jab critical table (UCS)
• Punch critical table (UCS)
• Grapple critical table (UCS)
• Kick critical table (UCS)
• Minor Mental
• Monk

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Adventurer's Guild

The Adventurer's Guild is the in-genre name of the Bounty System. This organization is comprised by the assignment of certain heroic or adventerous tasks that characters within Elanthia can participate in. There are no level, race, or profession requirements to participate in this guild. Adventurers successfully completing tasks will be rewarded with experience, silver, and bounty points with which they can earn rewards.

Receiving a bounty task is as simple as going to the local town's bounty office and asking the Taskmaster there for an assignment. Based on the type of task assigned, you may also need to go to the local jeweler, furrier, herbalist, or town's guard to receive the details of your task. Once assigned a task, you cannot be assigned another for 15 minutes (real time not game time).

• ASK TASKMASTER ABOUT BOUNTY : to receive a bounty task or turn in a completed one
• ASK TASKMASTER ABOUT REMOVAL : to turn in an incomplete task
• ASK TASKMASTER ABOUT EASIER : adjusts the level range of tasks you can be assigned (only available after level 15)
• ASK TASKMASTER ABOUT HARDER : adjusts the level range of tasks you can be assigned (only available after level 15)
• ASK TASKMASTER ABOUT ADD <person>: to add another character 10 levels below to 5 levels above your level to your current task

River's Rest

River's Rest is a small town near the mouth of the Tempest River on Maelstrom Bay. It is a part of the Turamzzyrian Empire and the County of Torre. Though, due to the town's size and relative isolation, it is generally ignored by both county and imperial authorities. Due to this, River's Rest is considered a safe haven for those wishing to avoid the law. Its isolation also results in a small but tightly-knit player community.

History of River's Rest

River's Rest, while a small town today, is heir to a long rich tradition of history. The founding date of the town is unknown, but the town is believed to have received its name from a corruption of the trollish name for the island, "rhee v'reskha" which means turtle's egg. The island town was one of several towns that came to compose the Kingdom of Elanith which later was absorbed by the Kannalan Empire. Within the empire, River's Rest flourished due to its location at the mouth of the Tempest River, which at the time facilitated trade deep into the interior of the continent. In time, River's Rest became the cultural center of the empire, reknown for its architecture, most notably, four great bridges which extended to the shores of the river. As well as the epic center for poets, artisans, and intellectuals. The collapse of the Kannalan Empire in 3961 dramatically altered River's Rest fate...

Wizard

Wizards are one of four pure professions in GemStone, and are considered to be masters of the sphere of elemental magic. Wizardly offensive spells are primarily represented by bolt spells of a particular elemental energy, and are complemented by a wide array of defensive magics and utility spells. A common mutant Wizard sub-type is the War Mage, which relies on hasted physical attacks in combination with various utility spells.

Wizards can enchant weapons and armor by means of the Enchant Item (925) spell to give bonuses to attack or defense, respectively. Wizards can also imbed their spells into certain imbedable items by means of the Create Magic Item (420) spell, and recharge some of these items by means of the Charge Item (517) spell to keep their magic strong.

Finally, Wizards are able to summon a magical familiar by means of the Call Familiar (920) spell, which they can use for various non-combat purposes.

Patriarch

The Patriarch is the highest position of authority in Faendryl society. The word of the Patriarch is considered absolute law. The duty of the Patriarch is to guide the Faendryl to overall betterment as a culture, but can serve the community in any way he or she sees fit. Traditionally, the place of Patriarch is chosen by lineage, most often the closest relative of the previous Patriarch, but there have been political coups as well. While both males and females could technically hold the position, it is generally expected that it will be a male, which is why only three "Matriarchs" have ever been in power. Plotting against the Patriarch is considered the worst treason, as the Patriarch is viewed as the appex of Faendryl society, and as such, hurting the Patriarch is a betrayal of the entire house.

History of the Patriarch

The first Patriarch was Korthyr Faendryl, who also founded what was to become Ta'Faendryl, as well as leading the Faendryl House out of the forests towards their future as one of the seven Houses of the Elven Nations. After Korthyr's death, his great nephew Khalar Andiris Faendryl took his place, setting the precedent for the Patriarchy being held through lineage. After Khalar, the role of Patriarch lost its respect, with a chain of ten Patriarchs being killed in succession, until the first Matriarch, Geniselle Anaya Faendryl, put her son Yshryth Silvius Faendryl into power as the fourteenth Patriarch. On his coronation, he unified the nation through a legendary speech, and made plotting the overthrow of a Patriarch the worst form of treason, helping to reestablish the power of the position.

Vornavis

The Barony of Vornavis consists of two cities: Vornavis itself and Solhaven, which is located right outside of the walls of Vornavis. Access to the City of Vornavis is strictly controlled, guards controlling who may and who may not enter the gates. Usually, only citizens are allowed into the city. Vornavis is known for its tolerance toward the non-human races, which has caused some issues with the much less tolerable Barony of Jantalar.

History

Dwarves settled in the area first in the year 3725, having found opal-laden cliffs along the eastern end of what is now Solhaven Bay. Fifty years later (3775), the community established within the caverns near these cliffs was completely wiped out, the only thing remaining of the population being dwarven limbs and blood. This event is why the nearby falls are called the Cascade of Tears.

Roughly 200 years later, in 3961, an elven family, called Wildwood, settles on an island in the middle of the Cairnfang River, close to where modern Solhaven is. Due to increasing attacks by humanoids, the family, among with many others that were attracted by the island's relative safety, begin constructing a castle and battlements.