Update:Behind the Scenes - July (2006)

Another amazing month awaits those noble rune-clad, hide-wearing, spell-firing, house-building and cat-chasing adventurers. In July we visit the Moon Clan, find out what happened to the Fairy Queen, raid pyramids, unlock a whole new spell list, craft a new range of crossbows and bolts, and use magic fairy rings to teleport about the map.

The observant eagle-eyed players out there (so that’s all of you) will have noticed that some of the updates mentioned in the June “Behind the Scenes” have not yet been released into the game. Don’t worry! We will be releasing those in July too. If you’re unsure what they are, look over the last few paragraphs in last month's edition of Behind the Scenes.

Back in Zanaris, the fairies wait patiently to find out how the Fairy Queen is after her struggle with the Tanglefoot beast. Strangely, the Fairy Godfather and his boys don’t seem in that big a rush to return her to the throne. Perhaps it’s because they are genuinely worried about her health… or perhaps they decided it was time to move in on a more permanent basis.

Players who decide to get involved with helping the Fairy Queen will need to harness the power of the fairy rings. These fungal arrangements will be popping up all over the place, so have fun experimenting to see what takes you where!

Isn’t it frustrating when keen tomb raiders keep stealing your treasure and smashing up all your urns? No? Well, if you were a thousand year old mummy charged with looking after a tomb, you’d be frustrated. Believe us. In fact, there is one Mummy in Sophanem who became so angered by the pesky thieves that he adapted part of his tomb to cater for them. If he can keep them busy, then maybe they will leave him alone! Players have a limited time to pick through tombs, sarcophagi and urns, dodging venomous asps, scarabs and much more. Particularly confident thieves can try to find their way to the higher floors where the rewards are greater AND rarer... but the risks are higher.

The Rellekkans have always bad-mouthed the Moon Clan, but later this month we give you the chance to make up your own mind about this mysterious matriarchal group. New ships dock at the port regularly, but the “Lady Zay” is definitely the most impressive ship ever to visit, and rumour has it that the crew buys runes from this ostracized tribe. What secrets wait across the stormy waters? You will just have to wait and see. Anyone who is actually accepted by the Moon Clan is bound to get some intriguing rewards. Maybe even access to a special set of spells to make mundane tasks a bit more... magical.

Finally, the dulcet sound of twanging crossbows will once again ring true across the lush fields of, well, everywhere! Crossbows have been considered the runt of the projectile family for a while now, so we’ve added a brand new range of crossbows and enchantable bolts, all of which you can make yourself! The “arm” of the crossbow is also created using the smithing skill, so blacksmiths will find use in this update too.

There are more readers' letters this month too, with another rambling reply from the chaos elemental as well as the normal tomfoolery, so get ready to get cryptic.

We hope that little lot keeps you busy... It certainly did for us.