Posts Thanked By User

41

Layonara Server / Version 3.50 is coming!

« on: March 05, 2015, 05:43:40 pm »

Version 3.50 is coming!

Could be tonight, most likely tomorrow night. The server is going to be down for a couple hours as I will need to sync the vaults and do the db conversion. The server is going to be moved to a new IP Address. The DNS for xora.layonara.com will work after it propagates around the internet but in the meantime you will need the new IP Address. I will give that out in a followup post.

 

You will need to update the control hak and the tlk, I'm just making sure there aren't any last minute additions to them after some final testing before I make them available. They're small files though the both of them. I will give links to these files in a followup post as well.

 

Very important note for the next update:

 

The linux NWN server is case sensitive when it comes to your Bioware name. You must use the same upper/lowercase characters for your Bioware login that you did when you created your first character on Layonara. You can't login as Orth for example when you created your first character as orth. If you do you'll see no characters in your vault.

 

If you're unsure the exact case sensitivity you used for your first character and you see an empty vault, Dorg or I can let you know the proper case sensitivity.

 

Fixes:

• AoE Improvements for Storm of Vengeance, Web, Grease, Stonehold
• Fix some of the Goblin creation logic for player Goblins
• Fix Harpies producing TMIs
• Acacea's Irrestible Dance should not work on those immune to mind spells
• Removed Greater Sanctuary from creatures
• Properly close all colour tags on items/placeables/scrolls so the colour doesn't bleed
• Quill System "undo" command was fixed
• GMs no longer "suffer" cold, heh, also cleaned up a lot of their logic to ignore hunger/thirst/cold
• Make quill system persistent across resets
• Fixed some weirdness with the house key dialog showing that you didn't have the right key even though you did
• Rebalancing Mistone Deep areas

Storage System Fixes and Updates:

• The crates will never eat your gold, all gold will always be accounted for and returned after resets. If you deposit a stack with more than 50,000 gold pieces it will be split upon the next server reset.
• Weirdness with stacks is no longer an issue. Stacks are added and removed and logged appropriately with number in the stacks. Players may notice if they remove a stack from a crate it will not merge with a stack they already have when they first receive it. They can stack it right after they remove it though once it's in their inventory.
• Sometimes the server would think you were too far from a crate when on horseback to do the right thing, doesn't happen any more. You probably shouldn't be managing crates on horseback, but I prefered not having weird things happen if you were
• Bank crates now show their contents and transaction log per character upon examine
• Crate and chest appearances can be changed using =c setapp CrateName to # where CrateName is the name of your crate and the # is a value anywhere between 1 and 21. Players must leave and return to the area to see the change though!
• No more bank chest in use bugs!

Additions:

• Dynamic Name System - Read Here
• Random NPC Quest System - Read Here
• Added ability to remove Charles Dawson's Book if you don't want it, use =c noneed chuckdbook
• Use nwnx SetCurrentHitPoints to change PCs HP when logging in instead of the old way that did magical damage
• Added journal entries for using voice activated emotes, sounds and actions
• Updated Mountains of Madness and surrounding areas
• You can store unidentified items on your ox now
• System checks for banned players before they can even login.
• System checks for players attempting to play from same IP and same Client Port and disallows
• Players can set their character's description any time they want. Title any parchment "My Description" then write on it and use =c setmydesc and your player's description will change to what's on the parchment.
• GMs can rename areas.
• Introduction to area tracking logic for PC diversification system coming in a future update
• GMs can now create transitions wherever they want. Whether its a "hole" showing up in the middle of Center or a doorway that leads to a Quest Area, they can plop them down on the fly.
• Use PlayAnimation instead of ActionOpenDoor for player housing as it's quicker and doesn't need to wait for a queue, also made the door stay open a bit longer.
• Player's bic file and portrait are now stored on the db for nicer integration with the web site
• Updated the portal FX

Performance Improvements:

• Remove old unused scripts and resources
• Clean up OnActivate script to be faster
• Login is much faster polling the db a lot less when first coming into the world, you should notice the difference.  Also removed a two functions that were rerunning through every step of the login process (17 times!)
• All strings have been replaced with string references, this improves bandwidth and performance. Think about it this way, when you're in a party of 6 people whenever a PC would damage a Forest Giant Feller of a Broken Glade Clan the server would have to tell each client the name which is 43 bytes of data (43 characters in his name) to 6 players. Now it just tells the players to look up string reference for example, 16774043 from the layonara TLK which is 4 bytes of data. Multiply this by many names and many activities happening and you can see how this improves things.
• The new server's CPU has been isolated so it's completely dedicated to nwn
• The DB has been vastly reworked and improved in performance and integrity. Before many queries to the DB would look up things based upon your Bioware name and Character name. All players are assigned an ID and it's this ID that is used throughout the code now.
• Use new nwnx GetSystemTime() to get epoch instead of polling the db for UNIX_TIMESTAMP(now())
• Removed some unneeded heartbeats
• OnSpawn is faster for creatures as the checks for loot drops have been made more efficient.
• OnAcquireItem is faster for creatures, makes spawning quicker too
• Improved performance so houses being opened won't lag the server
• General improvements in areas where logic should be ignored for GMs
• Move some unused areas out of the module for now
• Creatures don't use up their buffs on module load
• Logic to give the WL their quest items no longer needed as they've all been handed out

 

It feels like we did more, can't wait to get in and play! Thanks to Dorg, rowana and Alatriel for a hand here and there.

-orth

42

Layonara Server / The NWN server is going to be moved again

« on: February 26, 2015, 09:12:38 am »

Hello all,As you know we've been running our server for the past 2 months on a new host and while for the most part it has been acceptable there have been issues with random "blue screen of deaths" killing the entire server as well as intermittent lag spikes. While trying to debug these I started considering another server where I could get an equally good deal and came across one that was Linux though. I wondered to myself how difficult and how capable our current world would be to run on Linux especially with our NWNX plugins. So I tested it locally and fixed a few bugs here and there and things seemed okay. At that point I wondered if there were any new NWNX plugins for Linux that I could tap into to help the world. This is when I really got excited and started greatly considering we'd move from Windows to Linux. There are  many plugins that are now available that can enhance our world.This is how and why I was able to introduce the Dynamic Names system.  Some of the other plugins give us functionality for many other ideas we've always been limited by the capabilities of what Bioware gave us. Not only that, there are performance improvements that these plugins provide to help the world run smoother and faster with less lag.I hope you understand that this move shouldn't be much of a blip on the radar and should hopefully lead to a smoother world with some exciting new features coming as well.Here's a taste of some of these new features:

• GMs can now create transitions wherever they want. Whether its a "hole" showing up in the middle of Center or a doorway that leads to a Quest Area, they can plop them down on the fly.
• Players can set their character's description any time they want. Title any parchment "My Description" then write on it and use =c setmydesc and your player's description will change to what's on the parchment.
• The login process is faster. Some of the checks have been moved to not even allow players in the world instead of booting them after the login. Other processes that only need to be done once a reset are now doing so.
• Dynamic never ending NPC quests.  If a pawn broker over hears you talking about something, you might want to listen to what he has to say. "Speaking of trading, Firg Knucklebar in Fort Llast was looking for some help with making a run to Dregar." (More on this to come!)
• You can now ox unidentified items.
• GMs can rename areas.
• Increasing fortune for diversifying your exploration with groups, the more the merrier.  The more unique areas you visit the higher the rewards become! (more on that soon too)
• Improved performance on NPC creature spawn/loot
• Complete restructure of a lot of the database, much cleaner and faster

I was originally planning to get this entire move and update done this weekend but it may be delayed a few days as I want to get some thorough testing in plus (!!) the missus has been extremely patient with me this past fortnight as I've coded away so I'd like to reward her tomorrow. Some of these features may not make the first update after the move but the framework is laid out and the coding is started.I'll keep you all posted as things progress.All the best,orth

43

Layonara Server / Update on Number of Characters Per Person

« on: March 05, 2015, 07:56:38 pm »

Greetings Everyone!
I'm writing to share with you all that the number of character spots will be extended to eight ( from it's previous limit of six (6). This topic has come up a number of times but the large concerns were always to the matters of character development and strain on the CA team. With regards to the latter, there clearly hasn't been as much so we are going to give this a try.It is very important to note that we wish character development and roleplay to be at the forefront of play here. Empty characters will net little regardless of their accumulated levels. However, the last few extensions of trust have worked fairly well and we are looking forward to seeing what new ideas the community will come up with.

Some important notes: 1) if we decide this isn't working out well we will restore the previous limit. If we do that however, we will not force deletions. You will only have to clear spots if you wish to start a new character at a later date.2) If the CA team gets pretty slammed with apps, please remember that we are running at a reduced capacity with a number of shared duties besides the duties of our RL. If people start bumping posts because their apps are in queue, we will move them to the bottom of the stack (which is what happens as we work from the bottom up as much as possible).3) Please respect the rules of the exotic/monstrous races. Submit only during the open time period(s).Thank you in advance for your patience and consideration. We hope everyone has a good time with this! ~row (and the CA team)

44

Layonara Server / Upcoming update. Complete HAK reorganization. Merging both modules together.

« on: December 20, 2014, 05:12:15 pm »

Hello everyone,I am preparing a big update to clean a bunch of cruft up, make things speedier and merging both modules into one. There are a lot of advantages to merging the two modules into one from both the development side and for your enjoyment. Previous limitations to such a large module have new work arounds plus the limited community size and new hardware it is hopefully not a concern for overlagging the server. At the same time of doing this I've decided to reorganize the hak packs. There was over 11,000 (10%) resources in the haks that were duplicated either because the higher up one was a fix/update or just plain duplication error. Reorganizing them eliminates this duplication.This is going to mean everyone is going to have to download an entire new set of hak packs. I apologize for this but it's a rare occasion and hopefully you can handle a 950MB or so download these days. I know this is a bit of a frustration but I've also made a couple of fixes to things at the same time. The minimaps now work in the forest areas (Dapplegreen, Great Spikes - Ice areas, Blackford Outskirts etc) and I also fixed the minimaps in The Deep. The forest tileset has been updated to the final release as well. I've also added  a couple other things from the vault.If you want to get a head start on downloading the new hak packs you can do so and place the haks in your hak/ folder while waiting for the updated release.They can be downloaded here: http://e5bf79fd7133583b11df-dabb80c66fac67c5c4cbee545d8dd728.r44.cf1.rackcdn.com/haks/layo_allhaks.rarIt is possible that I may end up having to update 1 or 2 of these haks before the release of the module but it won't be as big a download. It may be discovered that the server just can't handle the modules being one and we realize the stress is too high with 1200 areas in one module and we'll have to revert to the old way and run two servers but the new hak structure will still be in place either way.I've no timetable on when we'll be moving over to this. First I need to get some guinea pigs to download the haks and help me test some things but it will probably be fairly soon.All the best over the holidays,orth

45

Ancients Legacy / Plot status -- 11-Dec-2014

« on: December 17, 2014, 10:23:58 pm »

Rowana and I wanted to give everyone a quick update on the status of the plot quest and what's going to happen over the next couple of months. Also, thanks to everyone who has been involved and actively participating so far.The first and most important thing to note is that there will not be any main plot quests for the month of December. This is primarily due to generally full and/or hectic schedules people have during the holidays. The next main plot quest is currently intended for late January, and we'll get that up on the calendar when we're certain of it.Having said this, in the interim, there will be plot-related happenings serving as backdrop and potentially more information. Also, a few of you have some open threads of investigation...some initiated and some not. If we're waiting on you for information or to start the effort, please get that moving. If you're waiting on us, please PM us. Whatever the case, sooner is better.Lastly, some advice...Please remember this is a group effort. I know that some of your characters are not “team players” (you know who you are *winks*), and that is fine, but I highly suggest, if you are not already doing so, share what you have learned individually and do not, if at all possible, wait until the day of the next quest to catch people up. Likewise, if you are lacking information or wish to get caught up, try and meet up with someone else before the next session. Generally speaking, you'll “succeed” or “fail” as a group. Specific results may pivot on the decisions and actions of individuals, but remember this is plot-level, and the outcome of all of this will impact the world, for better or worse, at the end of it all. A few of you have picked up some important clues along the way. A few of you got some very important information on the last quest session, so, like I said, share.

46

Layonara Server / The NWN Servers are going to be moved

« on: December 04, 2014, 06:55:48 pm »

Hello everyone,I hope you and your loved ones are all well.I've recently been able to secure a great deal for the NWN Server on a much faster machine on a Black Friday special so we're going to be moving it over there some time in the near future.I'd like to get the server up and tested this month so we can confirm that everything is okay to go and I can cancel our previous account before the end of the month. I haven't yet set an exact date and time but I'm thinking maybe late Friday or Saturday night this week.Players shouldn't notice any difference, you will still connect to xora.layonara.com (5121 or 5122).  The IP address will change if you use that but I'll inform you of the new one when the time comes.This may also mean we can revert to automatic cross-server portals without crashes which might be nice but we'll have to test that.The new server will only cost $40 a month in donations so we can hopefully extend NWN Layonara at a fairly inexpensive price for as long as folks still enjoy coming here.For those curious and in the tech know:Existing server is a 4GB RAM, Dual 2.53GHz CPU, 250GB SATA HD running Windows 2k3 Server dedicated system.New server is a 10GB RAM, 10 2.3GHz CPU, 100GB Turbo SSD HD running Windows 2k8 Server cloud server.My initial tests have the servers starting up in half the time the old ones did. I'm not sure how much this will help lag and larger groups but we'll hopefully be able to test that.All the best,-orth

47

General Discussion / Orcs gone wild

« on: October 13, 2014, 11:44:48 am »

Mangus and a bearded,  peg leged dwarf with a patch over his left eye are seen wandering off into the woods outside of Vehl  singing some  almost entirely unintelligible lyric having to do with Leningrad  and a bag of stones  rhyming occasionally with sack of bones. They are carrying several bottles of some toxic concoction each  and draped over Mangus's left shoulder is a freshly killed deer carcass  with its head still attached.... \\\\Hi there gang. Sorry I've been So quiet lately. I've been producing a haunted house for a nearby country club, it's a one day event but it is requiring an extraordinary effort. As soon as the haunted house is over, I will be going on holiday for an honest three or four weeks. Sadly I'm too wrapped up  to go be Mangus steadily until  December.. I sure do miss him and all the WONDERFUL people here. So don't count me out!  I'll be poking my head in during the first few weeks of November then I will flitter off again for a few more weeks in December.  Then I will jump right back in and send Mangus to the first pub he sees in Fort Vehl!((in case any of you forum lurkers are reading this, this is a great website, these are great people, you should definitely jump in and join us!) See you all soon!\\\

48

Rumour Has It / Rise of the Bear Gods

« on: October 04, 2014, 04:58:36 pm »

Rumors have been slowly but steadily filtering into Mariner’s Hold and the Silver Buckle over several weeks. Rangers have been whispering among themselves of a Bugbear prophet appearing on Bear Island. Travelers on the Falls Forest road began to disappear soon after; the only evidence found being empty campsites, some with food still cooking over their campfires.…and today, a soldier from the Mariner’s Hold Ranger Corps slid into a seat at the bar in the Silver Buckle. He sat in silence for a long time. After a few strong drinks Captain Baronis motions over the bartender. “Please convey a message to the proprietors. Today we found a supply wagon bound for this establishment heavily damaged on the Falls Forest road. The shipment was missing. The evidence also suggested great violence, but no bodies were found. The manifests were still present and indicated the Teamsters were Jorgain and Steaphen Stilers. The bartender turned a little pale and responded, “They were good men. They carried medical supplies to be used in several local orphanages. That is bad news indeed. I will pass on the news immediately.” He then headed to the back rooms.An old man sitting at the bar turned to the Captain. “Hichutnach is back again eh?” The Captain jerked his head up. “How do you know that name old man? It was spoken by a captured Bugbear right before the soul mother cut his thread” The old man frowned and replied, “I am a scholar of local history. The name is one taken by the great prophets of the Bear Island Bugbear Clan. There have been many over the centuries, none of them the same creature.” The Captain pulled his seat closer with great interest and slid some gold coins across the countertop. “Consider yourself now employed by the City as a consultant. Please go on.” The old man grinned. “Every 50 to 75 years it seems, a great Bugbear prophet named Hichutnach arrives on Bear Island with his most devout followers and attempts to raise the twin Bear Gods Ichnuthet and Grienthicut from their long hibernation. It is said that those primal nature gods sleep deep beneath the old abandoned temple in the island’s forest. They are more likely than not creatures from another Pit though. The legends foretell of a great cleansing of all enemies of the Bugbear Clans when they rise. Lucky for us all they have never been conjured forth from the void.”Captain Baronis thanked the old man and quickly departed to put together a strike force. -------------------------------//This is a static quest and it has been placed in-game. Feel free to use this thread for RP/Forum posts. Significant posting will also be rewarded at the conclusion of the quest. Use caution, it is a very tough one. The soul mother is active and a balanced group is advised. Rewards have been placed as well. Good luck! PS - It is also advised that all solo players avoid Bear Island until the area has been pacified. Also, DO NOT sneak in invisibly and steal the quest rewards. You will be punished if you do so in a creative and not-so pleasant manner. At the conclusion of the quest, please PM me and let me know what loot you found to confirm fair play.-Rave

49

Rumour Has It / More Trouble in the Whitehorn Forest...

« on: September 26, 2014, 11:48:38 pm »

Skinny Ken the woodsman ran into the Leringard Arms full tilt, overturning two tables in the process. His hair was disheveled and he had a mad look to him. “Ya got to help me! They got Benny!” The bartender calmed him down, filling his shot glass several times.  “Who got Benny Ken?” Skinny Ken was shaking like a leaf. “Big giant floating eyeballs! We were in the cave in the Whitehorn Forest near where all the bears live. We were thinking of stealing a cub to train. The eyeballs were eating the bears! Had them spelled up or something cause they weren’t running… then before we knew it, they saw us… and they got Benny!” //This impromptu may be another tough one. Use caution… the soul mother is active. No date or time, quest is static and set. There is a reward.

50

Rumour Has It / Ravaging Beast - Whitehorn Forest

« on: September 17, 2014, 10:43:51 pm »

Reports begin to circulate that an extremely agressive Owlbear has taken up residence in the Whithorn Forest. Several woodcutters have been mauled and three others are missing. Authorities have offered a 1,000 True reward for elimination of this threat.--------//Please be aware the soul mother is now active, and this impromptu quest will be difficult. You have been warned. If the threat is eliminated, please provide a screenshot and IC description of what occurred to claim your reward. It is suggested OOC that you bring a few friends...     ;-)-Rave

51

General Discussion / Howdy All!

« on: August 30, 2014, 12:40:13 pm »

Dunno if anyone remembers, but I figured I'd check in and say hi, after being gone for so long. Life has been moving along, I finally got my first Fulltime job, I'll be starting it soon. It's exciting, I'll be working as a QA Software Dev. I'm also moving into an apartment finally, among other things.  Unfortuatly, I won't be coming back to layo, but I do miss you guys! I wish you all the best! Link092

52

General Discussion / Under - Fun

« on: August 01, 2014, 10:28:05 pm »

I just wanted to send out a thanks to all the intrepid higher levels that ferried Mimir through some nasty Under Places last night. Lots of fun (except for the period of looking at my corpse ha!) Thanks to Mangus for raising me and for everybody coming back - Gromak, Rasa, Grog, and Kalberen (sp.)The funniest moment for me (and I wish I could have gotten a screenshot) was everyone standing around looking  at Mimir's prone form and Gromak asking Mangus - the party medic - "Are you sure that was the right spell??" Next time I promise to stay away from the mage...

53

Trade and Market Hall / House in Dalanthar

« on: July 22, 2014, 11:10:56 pm »

Businessman seeking to downgrade his dwelling size. Interested in trading a large and spacious remodeled two story facility in 
Dalanthar, complete with large common areas, five bedrooms, meeting room, kitchen, and downstairs storage area for something much smaller on Mistone. Some furniture left for the new owner can possibly be part of the deal. Will also pay the prospective trader 100,000 true weight coins on top of the trade.This building would be perfect for conversion into a tavern, inn, guild headquarters, or merchantile shop. Sits next door to the bank, and a public portal and market place is a hop, skip, and jump away.If interested, please pen here and we can meet to discuss.S.A.

54

Poetic License / The Ballad of Gromak and Harri as sung by Mangus Crunch

« on: June 24, 2014, 03:05:28 pm »

The Ballad of Gromak and Harri as sung by Mangus Crunch

 

Sung to the tune of...

 

...well...

 

...let's not kid ourselves. Where Mangus's singing is concerned there isn't much in the way of tune involved.

 

...let alone tone.

 

Just try to imagine a drunk half naked Orc dancing on a table at the One Eyed Harpy singing this song. 

 

...Actually, maybe you shouldn't try to imagine that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Er went on er journey

In search er some bounty

With me mateys er Gromak an' Harri.

Dem giants an' ogres 

We felled dem real slow 'cause

We wasn't in too much er hurry!

 

Dem giants, dey frowned,

Said, "me smash yew down!"

But quickly we flanked'm an' parried

An' Er runs around   

Lay me club to dey crowns

An' beats'em with Gromak an' Harri!

 

An' Er git's...

 

Silver an' gold, 

silver an'gold, 

dese is deh things 

what makes er Orc happy" 

Silver an' gold

Never git's old

Fer me an' Gromak an' Harri!

 

Den iron an' platinum,

Will easily fatten an

Orc with deh coin he will git!"

An' Gromak and him

An' Harri will win

More on er really good bet!"

 

At Leningrad 

We'll win at cards

An' drink away all our lute

An' den eef we wins,

We'll repent our sins

At houses of ill repute!

 

An' we git's...

 

Silver an' gold, 

silver an'gold, 

dese is deh things 

what makes er Gnome happy" 

Silver an' gold

Never git's old

Fer me an' Gromak an' Harri!

 

An' me an' Gromak an' Harri

We will take a ferry

Off to Leningrad

To spend all our money

On cards, booze an' honeys

An' any thing else what's bad!

 

An' iff'n we looses

We'll finish our boozes

Without deh slightest worry

Cause we kin do it again

Ogres, an' Giants an den

To Leningrad in er hurry!

 

An' git's...

 

Silver an' gold, 

silver an'gold, 

dese is deh things 

what makes er Elf happy

Silver an' gold

Never git's ooooold

 

//Big finnish!//

 

Fer me an' Gromak an' Harri!

 

Hahaha hahahaaaa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55

Layonara Server / GM breaks and player bonuses

« on: June 01, 2014, 12:49:40 am »

Greetings all!As summer is nearly upon us, we would like to announce a couple of things that will be happening over the next couple of months.For starters, beginning on June 1st, the GM team as a whole will be taking breaks. These breaks are voluntary, and we're placing no requirements on people to do so or for how long their breaks will last. The point of this is to let our GMs refresh, take time, and have a period where they are not being held to the responsibilities and expectations of being a member of the GM team. This is something that used to happen with some regularity, but we managed to get out of the habit. This oversight has taken a toll on some GMs. For others, just having a break will be a nice breather, while others may take advantage of the time for summer activities, vacations and time spent with family.The nature of these breaks is that, firstly, they are completely voluntary, though they are also strongly encouraged. GMs are free to take advantage of time off at any time during this period, as many times as they wish and for as long as they wish. For you, the community, this may translate into seeing fewer quests on the calendar during this time. As for the overall duration, this will last until at least the end of July, possibly into August for at least one of our GMs. On the other side of this break period, it is our plan to put the finishing touches on planning for a new plot quest series.I do want to mention that despite these rolling breaks, there will be a GM presence, if no other place than the forums and IRC. If anyone needs help, has a question or whatever, someone should be available to lend assistance.Having said all this, during the same time (June 1-July 31), I will set up the servers with XP and Fortune bonuses as well as gold (and possibly loot) bonuses. As an added benefit, I am throwing in one additional bonus:For this period of time, no Soul Strands will be cut.This is not an IC thing, so like the last time when I kept it a secret, it should not be acknowledged in-character or in-game at all. I of course request also that it is not used as a license to be reckless or exploitive. The key purpose in this is to let people have fun and not worry about character loss.So there it is. Enjoy!

56

Rumour Has It / All in the Name of Love

« on: June 25, 2014, 05:35:37 pm »

Bling Bling, the ugly orc sister of Moreg, a gate guard at Fort Vehl, was pining away. Moreg looked disgusted and yelled at her, “Why you sad?! You thinking about wild little halfling?! You crush him with you love. He too small.”She yelled back and pouted, “He say me Pretty!”Moreg rolled his eyes and slapped his large forehead with the palm of his hand. “Forget him. He nothing but little flea.”Big tears developed in her eyes. “No, he say me pretty! He say he come back and talk on conquest and battle. He bring trophy!”Moreg laughed, “You never see him again... He not come back to you. If he do, he probably bring twiggy man and you break in half.” When he slammed the door and left she started crying again.

57

Roleplaying / Impromptu

« on: February 08, 2014, 12:23:12 pm »

Over-joyed this morning to randomly log in and be invited into a little impromptu quest.I arrived late but still a pleasure to see one.Brewmaster ... the GMT group salute you!

58

Poetic License / A poem about a blizzard

« on: December 27, 2013, 01:25:18 am »

I see it's been about three years since someone posted something here so I figured "what the hry" 'll drop one of mine here.... This one is about a blizzard.... Bleak and crushing is the majestic cold

Speaking a language from the days of old

Beating a drum

"Thump thump thump!"

Breathing a deaths breath, cruel and bold

Fleeing from branches flurries of Brown and gold,

Heading the drum,

"Thump thump thump!

 

Laying waste to any place

Where painted flowers graced 

A beleaguered landscape.

And eager hands shape

The land in a quickened pace.

Spraying  bits in a spritely race

Like a flittering cape

In a whirlwind escape

 

Making every vista change.

Making familiar places strange.

Freeing the drums!

"Thump thump thump!"

Breaking wildly over the range!

Rearranging the rearranged!

Being the drum!

"Thump thump thump"

 

A haggardly, angry old man,

Entering in to a blithering rant,

Feeling his age, 

Feeling enraged,

Sinister, bleatings of fantastic plans,

Rendering beatngs with pummeling hands!

a hammering sledge 

dredging up sludge

 

And breaking the kindling

While gracefully  mingling

The beating drum's

"Thump thump thump!"

With a hasty tangling

Mess of everything!

Here it comes!

"Thump thump thump!"

 

He is your master! Bow to him!

Here is your chance to sing his hymn.

A screaming omen

Of freezing homes and

The crashing of his careless whim

The catastrophe of his  barreling vim

Hear the weary tone

Of his metered drone 

 

 Crushing even the sweetest sweetness

Coming from the deepest recess

Of the beating drum

"Thump thump thump!"

Because his wrath is fierce and ceaseless

Torridly tossing piercing pieces

One by one

"Thump thump thump"

 

Against the walls of tiny homes

And through the windows pieces roam

Breaking shattered 

glass is scattered

All around a shrinking room

Morphing to a stinking tomb

Making patterns

Of sheer disaster!

 

Then nothingness!

Amid distressed

Pounding drums!

"Thump thump thump!"

Amid the mist

And duressed

Pumping drums

"Thump thump thump!"

 

Unwanted clatter! Ever beating!

Among the clutter not receding.

Neither easing,

Nor releasing

His  angry grip. His meaty 

Fists of blizzards greeting

This freezing

Season,

 

With rapid assuredness.

He raps out the burdens 

Of the the  drum,

"Thump thump thump!'

It slowly becomes a wordless

 permanent abhorrence!

It has begun!

"Thump thump thump!"

 

And then as if to calm the bluster

flakes of ice in tiny clusters

Fall floating from the sky

Al over. Imminently high

Above the crystal luster

Of a newly whitewashed duster.

A whisking wind blows by,

And fleeting flurries fly...

 

At last the master is it ease.

His dizzy belligerents is pleased

And his drum's

"Thump thump thump"

In the onward grinding breeze

Is lost to the stillness of the freeze

Replacing "Thumps!"

With a steady "Hummmm..."

 

 

 

 

 

59

Introduce Yourself / Brutus Clawfoot Lives!

« on: December 22, 2013, 11:17:44 pm »

...Or atleast he wants to anyway! Aw shucks! Its been WAY too long! I sure do miss you guys! I'm assuming Seteece has long since vanished. Damn happy to see that Orth and Shifdragon seem to be still alive and well'ish. I recall Brutus attended a wedding between (I think)  Planareus and... Brisbane? Sooo long ago! Too bad Ozzy split! That dude could RP! So could Talan Vlash! I miss you Talan! Wherever you are. I think I see that Bjorn is still semi alive... Bjorn, If your out there, a big "howdy''  to ya! And yes Fien. Whether you like it or not I miss you too. Dear god there are so many others!Ugh! My typing is so out of practice!I have been following your progress from a far. It sounds like your new engine is atleast on life support. I'm still hopefull that all pans out properly for you guys. Its a brilliant I dea. But it also apears that your NWN engine is somehow still floating. I'm awfully glad to see that.  And Im noticing there are a semi stable amount of new faces (newer) Thats a positive sign!  Well, Simply put, I just wanted to say; Your friendly neighborhood, beans eating, Half ork says "hi" and while RL truely ripped me a whole new one (and permadeath tried to jump in on the action as well) I'm very happy to see that Layonara is still chugg'n along and in particular it is reasuring to see that calender still has new dates (campaigns) being added regularly!I hope to see you all in game soon!  Now, down to business.... Orth, If you will have me, In the comming weeks I should very much like to breath life back in to Brutus. I know he"s got a whole lot of death tokens on him (9 as I recall) I Wouldn't dare ask you for help with that. I'll just be so happy to RP him. I'll take him just the way he is. I dont have my new computer up and running yet but I expect to soonish. I DO have a new email address which you should be able to see when you look me up asI am logged in here now. And I have no idea what my password was back then. (let alone my old email address) but I'm pretty sure my login was brutusclawfoot.  So I'll be kind of starting from scratch.Is there any way I can slip back in to my old account using my new information? I also Played Boris Clawfoot, and Trip Nivendorf. But It's Bruty I miss the most!I do hope there is. RL has'nt been real kind the past several years but I'm finally getting my "mojo' back and I would love to bring some good old fashoned RP to Layo again.Feel free to PM me from here on end. I'll likely PM you as I get closser to "go"timeThankd so much Orth!And again "cheers' to all the rest of you! As well as all you newbies (well...newbies in my eyes. My erra was around the days of yore during 2005)But you all sound like a great bunch! Game on!

60

Important Layonara Announcements / Donation Link

« on: December 04, 2013, 12:08:22 pm »

Please use this link for donating to NWN server fees:http://layonara.com/donateAlso, you can access this page through the "On Neverwinter Nights" navigation menu.Please note: The tracker on that page shows the total after PayPal fees have been deducted. As a result, the net effect of your donation will be slightly less than the donation itself.