We received 15 great stories from the Legends shard. Our judges had a wealth of memories to be entertained by and, once again, we ended up with another three way tie!
Here are the 7 winning entries from the Legends shard:
When I look back at the ten years, I have played Ultima Online my favorite memory is of the month I was stuck in the Lost Lands aka T2A. When I think about it, I laugh and laugh. I really was the noobiest of newbies. I am sure you are wondering how anyone becomes stuck in T2A for a month. Well it started with an ostard, yes an ostard. It was 2002 and I was on my tamer Serena hanging out at West Britain Bank like everyone did in those days. A pair of fellow players, whose names have long been forgotten, approached me, wanting to know if I could tame one of them a forest ostard. I replied that I was a newbie tamer, but my skill was high enough to tame a forest ostard. However, I did not have a rune to where the ostards were located. Not a problem, my new friends had a rune and could gate! “Great!” I replied, “Let’s go!” The mage cast the gate spell, and we departed.
Shortly after our arrival, we were accidently separated, but we had partied up so we were still in communication. I gleefully announced over party chat I had found an ostard, where were they. Well, what I had actually found was a FRIENZIED ostard, the psychopathic cousin of the mild mannered forest ostard. Oh yeah, he killed me like a newbie on a mongbat. I told my new “friends”, I was dead and needed a rez. They dropped party and I never heard or saw them again. I was dead, my body had poofed along with it my reagents, my armor, and my glorious finds from the bank floor. I started down the road and on a month long adventure. For several days, I would log in and run looking for a town. One day I saw what looked like “civilization” on my paper map. I ran as fast as my ghostie feet would go to this town. Snake people!?!? Spider people!?!? This is NOT a friendly place! Then I ran to the next town on the paper map. It was infested with UNDEAD!!! What kind of place is T2A? After two weeks, I found the city of Papua, and got rezzed. Well at least, I was among the living again! I decided to sail away from T2A. I took all the gold in my bank box, bought a boat, and for four days tried in vain to sail away from T2A. I did not know about the serpent’s pillars; I was sailing in circles. Disgusted, I put ashore at Papua and despaired that I might never escape this place. Then I saw a glorious sight, a fellow player! I ran up and begged him to tell me how to escape T2A. The wise veteran player told me. There is a pentagram in the mage shop, stand on it, say “recsu”, and it will take you to Moonglow. I could have cried!
I was hanging out at Luna bank when I saw the herald spamming to meet in Jhelom. Little did I know this was the beginning of a long and interesting event arch! Armando Pascal told us about these mystical creatures called Sea Dragons. To some they look like Blue-Green Sea Serpents but soon to us Sea Dragon Herders they became an icon of Legends shard. After many drunken meetings we learned there were 3 Sea Dragons swimming in the vast semi-uncharted waters of Britannia. After many long and uneventful hours, a call came over gen. chat. We spotted one off the shore of Vesper. The coordinates were given out, many rush to see and even help in the capture of the beautiful creature. I and my shipmate Spelosity continue our search, up and down the shores. And again the call came over the Gen chat. Another Sea Dragon was found. Alas the third one was never found or at least I was never sure if it was found. I believe the poor thing was killed by the dastardly pirates. The 2 Sea Dragons we did find and capture started their new lives at Vesper. We use many a boat to block them in the area. After this we begin to feed and care for the Sea Dragons. They stayed only a little while in Vesper. We were give orders by the shady Armando Pascal to move the Sea Dragons to Nu’jelm to the small water way. This was done by “Herding” the Sea Dragons with boats of all size and description. This took a lot of time and patience as we moved one Sea Dragon at a time. We again fed and observed the Sea Dragons. Much to our surprise they were a male and female Sea Dragons. Soon we had a baby to study and protect. Sadly, we were unable to protect the little fella and he died in an epic battle. Not all was lost as we were able to breed the mom and dad again. This time we had two special locations to take them to do this. One was off the Coast of Dagger Island and the other was off Fire Island. We soon had two more babies, a fiery Sea Dragon and an Icy Sea Dragon. We worked as a team to feed and care for the Sea Dragons. The small group of us that constantly fed and checked up on the babies earned more than the title “Sea Dragon Herders”. We built friendships that will last beyond the day they close UO’s doors. The Sea Dragon Herders include Selador, AliceWonderland, Erigo, Bearded McNuge, Jedediah McNuge, Spelosity, and me. (Luc) There are a few honorary Herders too. We even have inside jokes. Our favorite is “last time I saw Bearded McNuge, he was sailing off into the sunset with Scalis on his ass!” This was from an incident involving fabled nets and feeding the dragons If you ever visit Legends you just might hear it.
I was boating one day for a change of scenery when I noticed the island just southwest of serpents hold had activity on it. Not planning to see any players on my journey I was quite excited and docked my boat as fast as I could. As I approached the other player, introducing myself and starting a conversation, I noticed the house he was standing next to was IDOC. A sense of fear overwhelmed me, as I am not usually a visitor to felucca. The other player was being very nice though so I decided to stay and chat for the duration of his IDOC and maybe I would even grab an item or two. All of a sudden a third player showed up and we were under attack! Apparently he was not planning on sharing the riches. Surprisingly the other player helped me defeat the attacker and we resumed our conversation. Just then the house fell! We hurriedly picked up items when our attacker appeared once more, we prepared to defeat him once again when he laughed and ran away just as a harbinger appeared! My new friend and I forgot about the IDOC, we had already decided neither of us wanted a house in that spot, and turned against the harbinger. It took hours to defeat the horrendous monster that had been spawned upon us, but we stuck through it to the end, healing and resurrecting each other countless times. We even carried out our conversation, in shorter bits and pieces of course, throughout the fight. Much to our attackers dismay, we defeated the harbinger and although most of the IDOC items decayed and neither of us received a conjurers garb, the friendship we had made throughout that morning was infinitely more valuable. We have remained friends to this day all thanks to that one player determined to win the IDOC.
I was wandering just near the city limits of Skara Brae as I noticed forces
gathering just West of the famous “Hedge Maze”.
Pack horses stood, their bags bulging with materials and resources.
Many warriors, mages, and crafters stood nearby ambitiously awaiting orders.
As the anticipation grew amongst this group, individuals began emerging from the
nearby woods bearing town sigils.
As an eighth person emerged, the group was ecstatic.
Then what appeared to be the leader of this group shouted “Move Out”
The group immediately began marching towards the docks of Skara Brae, a ferry
awaited their arrival.
The speed at which all were transported, was quick indeed.
The march then continued to Skara Brae moongate.
At this point, the same individual that had ordered the group to “Move Out” then
instructed all to “Move onward to Britain.”
From Britain moongate the group moved North along the road and then through town as
a tight knit unit, finally arriving at Castle British.
All of the crew immediately took position inside the East Castle wall.
As the last member of this group stepped foot inside the courtyard, the portcullis
was dropped with swiftness.
The crew then rushed into the throne room and split into two groups…
Craft persons within the first group, warriors and mages within the second.
The crafters immediately began constructing a barrier at the entrance of the throne
room.
The second group moved towards the monoliths within the throne room and began
placing their sigils upon them.
As the eighth sigil was placed upon a monolith, this group of warriors and mages
took stand back at the throne room entrance, watching the crafters cautiously.
Upon completion of this barrier, the crafters amongst the group made way to the
hallway just West of the throne room.
In this hallway they made use of their remaining resources by creating parts
required for yet another barrier.
The mages and warriors within the group remained at the barrier located at the
entrance to the throne room.
Hours had passed. The crafters had finished building their materials, their
resources devoured.
They stood silently, awaiting orders to tend to the barrier.
Just then, the portcullis rose.
A group of mages approached.
Followers of Minax.
The Followers of Minax proceeded to rush the throne room entrance. They then began
dismantling the barrier in place.
The warriors and mages within the throne room attacked back with might to slow down
their attempt to remove the barrier.
The crafters amongst the group made swift repairs to the barrier for hours as this
fight progressed.
What happened next was amazing to say the least…
What appeared to be reinforcements of the group inside the throne room, pushed in
through the castle gates.
The Followers of Minax were instantly slaughtered by forces attacking from each side.
My best hunting experience happened a night I was running with my two best mates, Leoltus and Junebug. Two buddies were never more opposite than these guys. Junebug was a bit of a reckless clown, he was never much worried about dying. He even preferred wearing a jester’s hat to advertise his jaunty air. Leoltus was the opposite- always very serious in his honorable mage role and took character deaths personally. Inevitably he’d revert to railing at anyone around that could have contributed to his toon’s demise. This was compounded by the fact that it often was one of Junebug’s kamikaze stunts that had reduced us all to gray screens and text limited to OOooOOs. One might think a team like this is a recipe for disaster, but beneath the very different play styles was a streak of strong respect and downright affection. The night in question, Junebug had managed to talk Leoltus into actually doing a Fel hunt. This was no small feat since Leoltus had just regained his Lord title from his last unfortunate fatality caused by our flaky friend. Fel was not something we normally did. We were bona-fide, unashamed Trammies, baby! Yet, Junebug was persuasive with his arguments of much grander treasure and glory than our normal hauls. Also, it was a weekday night so surely all those mean little kids playing reds were already in bed- we hoped. We were going to do an ‘easy’ peerless we had done dozens of times in Trammel, Lady Melisande. It was gonna be a cinch, according to Junebug, anyway. Five minutes into the hunt we rediscovered the nasty little Fel fact of life that Trammelites always forget- the stamina issue. Surrounded by monsters and tripping over each other, we were soon wiped out from our own inexperience. I couldn’t help but chuckle seeing Leoltus fire off an angry string of Oos and Junebug’s LOL. After regrouping, rezzing, and body retrievals we were back to the business of key gathering. A few more accidental deaths, loss of Leoltus’s prized title and much chortling by Junebug and we were finally ready to go in. Unfortunately, we were cursed with even more bad luck that night, as who would pop up but a few reds! Leoltus immediately fell dead (again) as Junebug transported us into Mel’s lair. I landed in a pile of satyrs and died. For once, Junebug managed to save the day and we were soon all back in the fray. After the battle I was astonished to open Mel’s corpse and snag my first ever crimson cincture! Junebug got the most coveted of hair dye. Even no-longer-Lord Leoltus was crowing about the final piece of set armor he’d needed and had just scored. I’ve never heard of anyone else bagging such awesome loot off the same boss, and we never had it happen again. But man, was that the best hunt night we ever had, made even better by sharing it with my best friends.
Nightmare Casino
I was but a peasant on the shard of Legends; unremarkable by any measure.
I lacked the wealth of the Sorcons of our world, the wisdom of the Devils Owns, the fighting talent of the… ahem… well let’s just say Legends has never been known for its fighting talent. Even in the lands of Britannia, I wasn’t good at anything. I was a lost soul, or at least I felt like one. Until one day an opportunity like none other presented itself.
I was sitting by West Brit bank when an enormous bog thing appeared out of thin air. He was dark as night and spoke as if he’d seen one too many Tim Burton movies. He was new to town and taking job applications for the Nightmare Casino. The jobs sounded awful; casino manager, games dealer, bartender. Who would apply to be part of such a despicable part of Legends? THIS GUY WOULD! *Points to self.* This quickly became the pinnacle of my UO experience. Everything I had worked for; all the hours of working the grind finally paid off. I BECAME A PART-TIME BARTENDER IN A TRASHY CASINO. EeeeeHEEHEEHEEEEEEE! My life was complete.
After a brief training session, I started my first shift. My job – hand out rotgut wine to all interested patrons. Now, as any EM will tell you, running events and managing item hand-outs is a big responsibility. And, as a player given the enormous responsibility of handing out event items, I can honestly say, IT. IS. AWE-SOME!!! For that week as a part-time bartender in a trashy casino on Legends, I felt like Lord British. The entire shard must have been at the casino, with me being the center of attention. The bar was always packed with patrons; the casino floor filled with risk-takers ready to win it big. It truly felt like the Legends community had come to experience this great event together; that guilds and factions set aside their differences to have fun as one unified community. *
*
The morale citizens of Legends couldn’t handle the sinful nature of Nightmare Casino for long. After a week of watching their colleagues lose their livelihood, the casino was burnt to the ground. There was so much rotgut wine in the fire, flames burned from the rubble for years to come (no seriously – it took like four years for the EMs to put out the fire).
I visited the site of Nightmare Casino the other day; the foundation still exists. To me, it’s a reminder of one of the greatest weeks I’ve had in UO and a reminder as to how unique this game and community truly is. As UO turns 15 this month, I turn 30. I’ve graduated from high school and college, worked in three industries, and lived in five cities. The one constant throughout my life has been UO. I’m privileged to have been a part of this community for half my life, and look forward to many years to come.
Thank you, UO, for your contributions to my life over the years
I looked at him nervously as the gate opened. The blue orb loomed in front of me, advertising this adventure a complete stranger had invited me on. With a slight nod to him, I stepped through the gates, where I was barraged with the cold winds of what I recognized to be Ice Island. In front of me lay a vast castle, inside of which I could make out the figures of countless people moving. My escort, a young warrior named King, stepped through the gate and offered our entrance fee to the greeter outside. With a nod, we were given access.
It was explained to me that the goal of this adventure was to discover the identities of the delegates from each city in Trammel, through bribery, chatting, and anything else we could think of. The prize has eluded my memory. All that I know is it was substantial at the time. However, you only had one guess. If you failed, you were kicked out and unable to return. The castle was decorated lavishly with all the supplies necesarry for such a feat. Game boards littered the hallways. A kitchen with an in-house bartender was right above the meeting area, where every night of the event it would be announced who had made a guess and failed.
We set out with the intent to bribe our way to all the knowledge we needed. It soon became apparent that we didn’t have the funds to fuel this mission, and we had to fall to other, more devious ways. I discovered that the yellow-robed man was from Britain after a couple rounds of a drinking game. King wagered all his armor in a game of chess and won against a blue-robed woman who admitted, as per the terms of her loss, that she was from Moonglow.
Every Saturday night for almost a month I met King at this gathering. After the second week, it stopped being about finding out who the delegates were and started being about making friends. In hindsight, I realize the connection between the delegates’ robes and their city of origin, but at the time we were too young to notice. Eventually, we stopped going to the event altogether. A small group of us founded a guild, called Knight or something else equally short. We began honing our skills together. Me, the tamer whose magical powers helped keep the team alive. King, whose skills with a blade rivaled that of all the well known masters. A sibling team that used their skills with a harp to calm or turn enemies against each other. This became my family for a few years, helping shape me into the woman I am today. I don’t have faces to associate with their names. Aragon, Arwen, King. I just have memories of pixels flying across the screen. Those pixels, however, were just as important to me as the ‘real-life’ friends I made that carried me through my childhood.