The Angus Logs

[Fsteckler]

Hello everyone! As my society m8s know I have a log on our society forums in which I recount my day to day activites in Entropia. One day I may start posting them here. But for now I wanted to share a new section of my logs in which I recount, with some added flair, what I have experienced upon arriving at Calypso. I will continue the stories as they come to me and as my further adventures on Calypso unfold. I hope you all enjoy it!

and now....

In the Beginning...Man created......Man

As the dreams start to fade, those dreams that are so vivid yet slip into a vague memory and then just slip away altogether as you are pulled into conciseness....I become aware of voices...at first all I can tell is that its a mans voice and then a womans.

....test on...DNA are green.........coming around.........sir?.......sir?.....si.....
...I dont know whats wrong....wait, look at the readouts...........
Sir? Can you......me?..........
Mr. Macalisdair, can you hear me?

I open my eyes, they seem a little crusty, eyelashes sticking together a bit. I lay there gazing up at the ceiling trying to focus, but my eyes only see a blur. I am very slow to move, I want to lift my arms and rub my eyes, but nothing seems to happen.
I become aware of 2 blurry shapes and a voice...a female voice. "Mr. Macalisdair?.....Angus can you hear me?....doctor I think he is coming around..."
I try to say " yes I can" but all that comes out of my mouth is " agg e in" My mouth doesnt seem to want to work.
I hear the female voice say "Doctor, I think he is responding." I then hear another deep male voice say "good..his stats look good, prep him for extraction"
Extraction? What the hell does that mean?
I get the sensation that what I am laying on starts to lean forward into an upright position. I should be sliding down but I am not. I feel a strange sensation of something pulling at my back, kinda like I have something attached into my back.
My vision is starting to discern more as a female shape appears in front of me.
"OK Mr Macalisdair see if you can put your arms on my shoulders."
It takes a couple of tries but I finally get my arms up on her shoulders.
"Good, now lean on me as we disconnect you."
I lean forward on her. She starts to struggle under my weight.
"My arnt you a big fellow"
Then I feel what is holding me just give way.
I almost overwhelm her but she manages to stand her ground.
In a strained voice she say " All..right Angus, see.....if..you ..can put your weight..on your feet."
I drag my feet under me and steady myself.
"Good..now lets see if you can stand on your own"
At that point she started to back away.
I start to have a moment of panic as my knees buckle and wobble..but in a moment they steady.
"nicely done Angus, now see if you can walk over to that chair."
I dont realize it till now but my vision has improved quite a bit. I gaze over to where the nurse was pointing and saw a well worn red leather chair. Its arms showed signs of many years of use.
I took a step and then another, with each step I was growing more confident.
Within a few moments I made it to the chair and managed to flop down into it.
"Now that wasn't very gracefull now was it?"
Through slurred speech I manged to say "Wha....where am I?"
The nurse said "You are on the Hospital Starship Lexus. We are orbiting Calypso"
the nurse paused and said "The ship you where arriving on was attacked by Pirates...and there were no survivors.."
What the hell does that mean I thought.
"As luck would have it your ship was close enough to a Revival Station that everyones DNA was transfered to it."
"Wha...what? Transfered? What does that mean?"
The nurse smiled and brushed a lock of hair that had fallen into my eyes.
"We were able to reconstitute you. You may have memory issues, but that will pass."
Stuttering I manage to get out "y y you..mean I am a ...a...clone?"
"Yes, and welcome to Calypso!"


Note: Hope you like my ficton, I will add to them as I get the ideas. The next part coming soon.

Captain Angus Mac Macalisdair of the Knights of Calypso... signing off...

[Fsteckler]

note: this is a continuing addition to the log in which I recount things of my past.

and now...

Where am I?

A clone.....I thought..great....my head feels like its stuffed with cotton. I find it very hard to focus on anything.
The nurse leads me down a great metal hallway into a room that is filled with small metal beds with a very thin mattress on them. As I look about the room is see about 15 other people in various states. Most seems a bit confused, just like me.
"Here you go Angus, you can rest here."
She leads me to one of the beds and I slowly sit down on it.
"I bet you are hungry..ill have someone bring you something to eat."
The nurse left out the doors we came in.
Looking at the people in the room, I had the feeling like I had seen some of them before, but I really wasn't sure so I sat quietly until a man in a white came in with a tray fill with something.
"Hello, Mr. Macalisdair, Im George and I have brought you some food. It may not be much but we find its easiest to eat after you all come here."
I looked at the tray he put down. In the center of it was a small metal bowl with what looked like oatmeal. I leaned forward and took a smell...it didn't have any.
"Its a pudding made from some fruit from down below...I think its Carroot. Enjoy!"
George walked off and I stared at the Carroot Pudding for a while before poking it with a spoon I found on the tray.
I took a bite and....it tasted like wet cardboard with something medicinal in it.
I was able to choke down half of it before I got very sleepy. I lay down on the bed and was out like a light.

Waking up I felt oddly rested. I felt like no time had passed at all.
As I sat up I noticed that allot of the people in the room were now dressed in orange jumpsuits. I looked at the end of my bed and sure enough there was a shirt and pants (orange) and a pair of shoes. I tried my best to get these clothes on with flashing anyone..but i don't think i was very successful, as I heard some giggling from behind, coming from a group of 3 women.

Shortly after I got into my orange jumpsuit. George walked back into the room.
"OK..Attention everyone! Attention..I have an announcement to make."
"The shuttle going down to the planets surface leaves in 30 minutes. Please get dressed if you havn't already and go through the green door on the other side of the room. You will receive further instructions there."
"Have a good flight everyone and good luck!"
A couple of people started to raise their hands like they had a question, but George just turned about and headed back from where he came from.

A couple of people started to head through the green door, so I thought I might as well do the same thing, as I might get some answers to what is going on here. I got up and I must admit, I felt OK. I still was a little fussy headed and couldn't remember much, but I was sure that my name was Angus Macalisdair....but that was all I was sure of. Heading through the door I was met by a rather thin man in a tan uniform.
"Name?" he ask
"..ah er...Angus....Angus Macalisdair...sir?"
He looked at me and seemed to react funny to the sir comment.
" Allright Mr. Macalisdair, you are assigned seat 11254. Please proceed down the corridor to your left and find your assigned seat. Move along...move along."
As I turned to head down the corridor, behind I heard the thin man say "Name?" and then someone mumbling his reply.
The corridor was smooth metal with giant red arrows pointing in the direction I was going. At the end of the hallway was a small room with 3 doors. Standing next to an open door behind a little podium was a cheerful looking blond woman.
I walked up to her and she smiled at me and asked
"What's your seat number honey?
"ah...11254" I replied
"Great, proceed down the ramp and once your enter the spacecraft keep to the right. Your seat is half way down on the right."
"Thanks" I mumbled.
The ramp kind of looked like you were in a large accordion. At the end of the ramp I stepped into a small lobby area where another smiling woman was directing traffic.
Ahead of me was a portly fellow. He walked up to her and she asked.
"Seat number please?"
He replied "11253." Oh great he is sitting next to me, I hope there is room between the seats.
"Down the side about half way." She answered
I stepped up and said "11254"
She smiled and said follow that fellow, and gave me a wink.
As i got into the area with the seats, all I saw was a sea of people in orange jumpsuits...and yes they were packed in like sardines. Great just great!
I follow behind the portly guy until we get to our seats.
He then notices that I am trying to get to the seat next to his.
"Ah excuse me m8, is that your seat?"
I replied "I think so."
"Great, they tell me my name is Bob, what did they tell you your name was?"
"Hi, Im Angus"
"Nice to meetchay matey!"
It turns out that Bob is a talker. For the next hour more people shuffled onto the ship and found there seats. And all the while Bob kept talking, and what was strange is that like me he couldn't remember much, but somehow his mouth kept going.

Eventually a couple of flight staff came down the isles and made sure everyone was buckled in.
Then an overhead speaker bleared to life and scared us all half to death.
"HELLO EVERYONE!" a cheery voice said through the speakers.
"The flight crew hopes everyone is comfortable. We will be departing the Hospital Starship Lexus in about 5 minutes. Our flight down to the surface should take only 30 minutes. We will see you on the ground..enjoy your flight"
After 5 minutes passed the lights dimmed and we all felt a little shutter and then nothing. This was the only time Bob was not yabbing in my ear. But then he started up again.
I really didn't sense that we were moving until we entered the planets atmosphere. Then the ship started to jiggle. As we descended farther and farther the sharking became worse. Then a loud "Boom" followed by a metal twisting sound happened.
The ship started to shake violently from side to side.
I looked up towards were some flight attendant were sitting and noticed they looked a little panicky and were starting to cry.
Cry? now thats not good. I don't want to die....again.
The overhead speakers blared to life, scaring us even further
In a very flat monotone voice "It seems we are having a little engine trouble. Nothing to worry about. So sit back and try and relax we will be on the ground shortly"
Then somewhere behind me someone said..
"or in the ground!"
Nervous laughter erupted around him.
This ship seemed to be shaking a little more and I looked back at teh flight attendants and now they were holding each other with tears streaming down their faces.
Now that is really...REALLY! not good.
But them the shaking started to subside and a collective gasp came from everyones mouths.
We might make it after all. I then became aware that Bob was very quiet and pale.
"Hey Bob you all right?"
He turned his head and looked at me with his bulging eyes.
"....nnn...nnnnnnNNN...NO!"
I then became aware of a very bad smell. I looked around and then it dawned on me and I looked at Bob.
He cut is eyes my way and very quietly said.."..sorry..."
Great, just great!
As the flight smoothed out the attendants stopped hugging each other and wiped their tears from their faces.
"Attendants please prepare for touchdown" came from the speakers overhead.
Just then the sounds of engines, or engine blasted to life and I could feel the gforces increase as our decent started to slow.
It seemed like the father down we went the loader the engine sounded. Then a violent impact and all went quiet.
The lights then became brighter and the Flight attendants got up out of there seats and the overhead speakers came to life
"I am happy to say that we have landed safely."
"Welcome to Port Atlantis!"

note: Stay tuned as the adventure is just getting started!

Captain Angus Mac Macalisdair of the Knights of Calypso... signing off...

[Jacke_liten]

This rocks!
I've read it on our Forum, really good!

+REP!

[Johned]

I did not see this until today. Great story - I hope you keep writing like this.

[Fsteckler]

I have been doing a log on the Knights of Calypso's forums for a couple of months now. Back in early June I started adding creative fluff to my adventures. I have decided to share these adventures with you, the good EF reader.
There is some mining/hunting/crafting data in with the stories but the data will always be a month or so old. Some of the info may be changed from the original as it may contain info for our society eyes only.

Without further ado...we join our intrepid adventurer in progress.....

6-11-2008
The Sqwishy Kind...

note* I will be trying to add a little more flavor into my log by injecting some roleplaying which will appear in italics. Other comments and data will remain in regular fonts.

I woke up on one of the benches inside Sakura City Trade Center. Man I need to get an apartment as soon as I can, this is killing my back! I checked my wrist com and checked out some of the forum messages from the EF channel.
I noted a advertisement for LA 45, also known as Miners Mountain. Lots a good comments ill need to check it out. It seems to be located SW of Oshiri beyond the Molisk LA at 3200,35000. Ores and Enmatter seem to me abundant and there are no indigenous life forms in this area....a peaceful mining, I like the thought of that!

A quick check of my Bomb and Probe levels showed me it was once again time to dump some product. I dialed up Wyn to see if he was available and he was. I shuffled out to the TP (man the sun is bright today!) and headed to the nice air conditioned TP portal at Twins Mall. I found Wyn in the auction room of the 3rd floor. I quick exchange gave me the peds I needed to resupply my mining gear.

>>Ores sold (as Ingots)and Enamtter (in a refinded state): 937 Oil, 15 Melchi Crystal, Garcen Lubricant, 97 Lysterium, 2 Cumbriz, 2 Caldorite and 1 Gazzurdite with a tt value of 25.52 peds. Sold all for 26.15 or 102% (too much low% items and not enough high% )

So with the infusion of peds I considered where to mine next. I recalled some conversations about where super miner Jeff squall mines, which was North and South of Fort Argus. So back out into the outback I go. Upon arriving at Ft Agrus I noted the nice cool sea breeze coming from the North. Looked like some fog was on the horizon but by the time I got there it had burned off.

So I wanted to try a slightly different tactic in mining. I would drop a bomb, run for 10 seconds and then drop a probe and repeat, bomb, probe etc.. Seemed to work really well out here, I will have to try it again at other locations.

So for the first run I headed N then NE - E and then S and back West. One of the interesting thing i came upon was an area where the dirt gave way to what looks like a man made (alien?) subsurface. What is so special about this area? I found the same thing on the other side of the mountain. weird!

Mini Run 1
>>Mining Results:
Ore V - - - - III IV - IV - 40% Hit Ratio Note I am using a OF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter II - - - - - - III II - II - - III - II - - - III II - - II - - 36% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Ore finds
III Cumbriz @ 263m
V Belkar Stone @ 310m
III Lysterium Stone @ 244m
IV Iron Stone @ 177m
IV Iron Stone @ 304m
Enmatter finds
II Crude Oil @ 203m
III Crude Oil @ 333m
III Melchi Water @ 234m
II Crude Oil @ 313m
II Crude Oil @ 391m
III Melchi Water @ 218m
II Melchi Water @ 438m
III Crude Oil @ 369m
II Crude Oil @ 345m
II Crude Oil @ 384m

Enjoying the scenery of the Valley headed back east towards Argus I didnt see the warrior Generation 1 Bot until I actually ran into it (I think I need to pay attention to the radar better ) He cut me down pretty quick

After the white glow of revival receded I found my self at the far outpost NE of Ft Argus. But that was OK, it was on my route so it actually saved me time..and I continued to drop probes.

Mini Run 2
>>Mining Results:
Enmatter III - II II - - II - - 44% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter finds
III Crude Oil @ 364m
II Crude Oil @ 205m
II Crude Oil @ 326m
II Crude Oil @ 310m

On my way back to Fort Argos I noticed some traffic on the TKoC comm channel. It was Rake asking is anyone was holding armor for the society. I sent him a message that I was collecting Armor and other small good for the TKoC Giveaway events and told him to meet me at Ft Argus.

+ rep to him for donating 5 pieces of male and female pixie armor to the cause. Once again a great example of a very knightly deed!

Rake asked for a suggestion of what to hunt today and I suggested Combibo's as they have been good to me. As he headed off I thought, well i'm down to a couple probes so I should see if he wanted a hunting buddy, and he did. We met in PA and headed to the Stables North of PA. Man it smells out here, too many critters dropping too much poop, and not enough good poop, like the kind you can collect and mix with Growth Molecules to make Fertilizer. No its the sqwishy kind that you cant quite pick up...yuck.

So we hunted and I ended up dropping the last of my Probes and although we didnt get any super great loot I did get 1 more Enmatter claim right next to the stables (under a pile of poo! Just kiddin :wink: )

Mini Run 3
>>Mining Results:
Enmatter IV - - 33% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter finds
IV Crude Oil @ 437m

Current Mining Skills:
Surveying 342 > 354
Drilling 336 > 343
Geology 291 > 301
Mining 309 > 313
Prospecting 287 > 293

So once I ran out of ammo I knew it was time to head back to my favorite city..Sakura! I wished Rake luck and headed on my way. ahh back in Sakura City I headed back into the temperature controlled room of the Trade center. I sorted through my collected goodies I put aside 38 Oil and 38 Lysterium so I could do a minor Basic Filter crafting run and then call it a night.

>>Crafting Results: Basic Filters, Did 38 clicks (1 Lysterium Ingot, 1 container of Oil) I ended up with 90 Basic Filters, 6 Metal Residue and 16 energy Matter Residue and my BP QR went from 26.7 to 27.0

Hope you liked my new format, let me know what you think, good or bad!

Captain Mac signing off...

[Fsteckler]

6-12-2008
Atrox Dreams

As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes I could hear the sound of early risers working away on the crafting machines. They always start early at the Sakura City Trade Center, of course you might say, they actually never stop.
Then all of a sudden I was jerked fully awake at the sound of angry Atrox!! ANGRY ATROX ARE IN THE TRADE CENTER!!
Then the room erupted in laser fire as several crafters whipped out an assortment of Carbines and Pistols and started
blasting away at these fearsome beasts. I initially dived for cover and fumbled to get my carbine out. Once it was firmly in my hand I jumped up and joined the others in dispatching these vile beasts. Luckly no one was hurt badly and no one had to make an unnecessary trip a new feet to a revival station :wink:

With the Center secured I did my normal comm check and inventory tally....hmm low on peds and no bombs or probes. I quick check on my personnel finder showed that Wyn was not currently available. Looking back at my inventory I noted my pile of over 6K Force Nexus.....I need to Sweat...

Resigned to sweat with about 600 rounds for my Opalo carbine I set out to East Scylla Mountains. Going through a TP is like opening a door to the out side, new smells, the air feels different. I especially like this area high up on the mountain tops, where all you can hear is the wind and the occasional moan of the Snables and Exos. I always keep my eye out here as I have found allot of Dung, Fruit and Stones.

So weaving through the sparely situated trees I started to pick out my first targets. Coming up to an area I call the bowl I noted many High Maturity Snablesnots, including Dominant and Guardians. 1 or 2 tries at sweating is all I can get off these ones as they get irritated rather quickly. I sweated and blasted my way through 5 or 6 of them but only got a small amount of sweat and found almost no goodies in their nesting areas. I moved onto the younger varieties and they were in the same state.

I found this very interesting as checking EntroiaTracker I found that Hunting, Mining and Crafting were all in the negatives.. and my findings while hunting really supported this. Very poor loot. Today was not the day for profit.

Since I was now running low on ammo I thought I needed to head back to civilization soon. Not long after that thought I ran out of ammo while blasting away at a Young exo ops: So there I was, staring at a very angry Exo full of holes that I had put there. Glancing at the ammo level indicator on the Opalo I knew there was only one thing I could do....RUN FOR IT!! I whipped around and promptly stepped in Snable poop, and almost fell down. Scrambling I got my legs under me and made a bee line straight towards the Scylla TP.

As all I do on this planet is run, with a occasional chip TP, I have gotten very good at running and soon outdistanced the angry Exo. As they are very dumb creatures, he lost interest in me and stopped running. No doubt to lick his wounds, eat some grass and take a nap.

As I arrive at the TP I thought that it would be nice to sleep under the stars tonight. I headed to the raised platform by the mobile Service building and got comfortable. I like these raised platforms and bugs and snakes dont normally mess with me when I am up here.

and here I lay drifting of to sleep, slipping into a nice dream of finding that elusive ATH HOF....

Captain Mac signing off...

[Fsteckler]

6-14-08
RUN, DIE, RUN DIE, RUN
Another small VU update..interesting, I wonder what they are tweaking?

As I slowly came out of a deep...DEEP slumber, I felt like something was odd. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and gazed across the fields of Scylla. Man I slept in my armor again! I took off the well worn Goblin harness and stretched. I turned onmy comm unit and I couldnt beleive what I saw....I slept through yesterday! Wow, cant make a living sleeping all the time. I inspected my armor for damage from the last time I was out. Hmm a few acid pits from the Snables, couple of dents from the Exos and...wait whats this....ahh man, while I was alseep someone had written "shoot me" on the back of my harness.... :roll: Great, its like being back in grade school.

So after eating a little I checked to see if Wyn was available ... and he wasnt. So I gathered my goods and headed to twins. Steeping out of the teleporter on the other side the sounds of the bustling amrket at twins increased in volume until it reached a symphony of human interaction. I checked out various goods laid out on giant blankets and then found Sara Imotep offering to by ores and enmatters. We dealed!

>>Ores sold (as Ingots)and Enamtter (in a refinded state): 576 Oil, 156 Melchi Crystal, Garcen Lubricant, 53 Belkar and 14 Iron with a tt value of 26.40peds. Sold all for 27.98 or 106% (I need too find better areas with higher markup enamtter :wink: )

Bringing up a vid display of Calypso, I studied it for a while and decided that a return trip to Fort Argus was in order. Flying out of the TP almost at a full run I headed South and East towards Camp Echidna. With a pocket full of ammo, I started taking pot shots at some of the snables standing around.

During this process I hit level 5 Grenadier (DMG) Profession Little did I know that I was about to embark on a multi run mining expedition as with indigenous life took an offense at my mining and obviously took great joy in killing me over and over again

Mini Run 1
>>Mining Results:
Ore - - V - - VI 33% Hit Ratio Note I am using a OF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter II - II - - - - - 25% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Ore finds
V Gazzurdite @ 306m
VI Blausarium @ 98m
Enmatter finds
II Melchi Water @ 156m
II Crude Oil @ 270m
Killed By: Argos Guardian

Mini Run 2
>>Mining Results:
Ore - 0% Hit Ratio Note I am using a OF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter - - II II III - - - II 25% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Ore finds
Giant Goose Egg @ 0m
Enmatter finds
II Crude Oil @ 164m
II Crude Oil @ 300m
III Crude Oil @ 172m
II Crude Oil @ 110m
Killed By: Merp Provider, Snarksnot Young and a Guardian

Mini Run 3
>>Mining Results:
Enmatter - - 0% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
I did get a new rank in Surveying, at least that was something
Killed By: I dont know, The phone rang and I got up to answer it and when I got back I was at a revival station

Mini Run 4
>>Mining Results:
Enmatter - - 0% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Killed By: Angry Agros

Mini Run 5
>>Mining Results:
Enmatter - - 0% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Killed By: Angry Agros Again

Mini Run 6
>>Mining Results:
Ore - 0% Hit Ratio Note I am using a OF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter - - II 33% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Ore finds
Giant Goose Egg @ 0m
Enmatter finds
II Melchi Water @ 297m
Killed By: Angry Agros and a Old Prancer

Mini Run 7 (Last Run)
>>Mining Results:
Enmatter - II - - - III - - - - - VI - 23% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter finds
II Crude Oil @ 169m
III Crude Oil @ 400m
VI Melchi Water @ 366m
Killed By: NOTHING !!!!!

Current Mining Skills:
Surveying 354 > 365
Drilling 343 > 349
Geology 301 > 306
Mining 313 > 317
Prospecting 239 > 293

As I was running along cross referencing my maps I decided to head towards what look like a great crater. As I dodged the many large Snarksnots in the area I finally approached the crater rim. A feeling of anticipation arose in me...something new, someplace I have never been, what will it look like? Is it a good mining spot? I scrambled up the side, loose rocks cascading down the mountain as I went. Then finally I crested the top and..

It was like a lost valley. I wondered what had made this. Maybe it was a meteor from space? or perhaps a overloaded power source that blew up? or maybe ground zero of a powerfull attack! We may never know. Standing there lost in a daydream, my radar squeeked up! A green dot...then 2 more..headed into the center of the crater! I grabbed my gear and ran down as fast as I could to the center, so that I might be the first one to strike a claim! I made it and let loose with a probe before anyone else did..or so I thought...There was nothing here

As I was running North along a hillline towards Fort Argos to the North, I crested a small hill and ran into the middle of a grouping of stanging stones. They looked very old. I wonder who..or what put these here?

As I finished my last run and the day gave away to the night I found myself settling down in an outpost out in the middle of nowhere. Al least the outpost will keep me safe and dry...

and thats that!

Captain Mac signing off....

[Fsteckler]

note: this is a continuing addition to the log in which I recount adventures of my past.

Landfall!

Walking down a ramp and having my foot touch an alien world, now that is something. As I steeped out from under the shuttle and looked around I found myself is a large courtyard of concrete surrounded by 8 foot high walls. I noted that the concrete in front of me was well worn my hundreds of thousands of feet. The most worn areas almost looked like it was polished.

As i took a deep breath I could smell...smell....exhaust, people funk and garbage...eww. Looking around I saw 4 booths with some people gathered around them. Above each was the word Information. I walked up and started a conversation with the attendant when I became aware that they were not human, but automatons. I got a couple of simple questions answered, was given a cheap hand held communication hand unit and then headed to the worn concrete path in which several of the people from my shuttle were using to go deeper into PA.

As I walked past a good sized Mobile Service center I noted a steady stream of people going in and out of the structure. Many were wearing the same orange jumpers I had, a few were wearing bright outfits, hats and coats, and even some appeared to be just wearing their underwear....thats odd. Those folks looked like where the people funk was coming from. And a very few were wearing different colored full suit armor. Those guys were toting some really big guns and backpacks full of stuff. Some seemed to be dragging bags full of rocks and such.

Then something caught my eye to my right...it was Bob the talker. He was standing there, wearing his shirt, underwear and shoes, looking bewildered. I walked up to him.
"Hey Bob, that was a bit of a rough trip wasn't it?"
Bob replied "I don't want to talk about it"
"ahem" was my response.
"Where are your pants?" I asked
He looked at me and said.
"I went to use the restroom and when I took off my pants, they fell apart."
"really!" I said.
I took my shirt off to look at the label. It said Made in China, Earth.
"Figures"
When I went to put the shirt back on my hand punched through the right arm sleeve...
"Great!"
Bob started to snicker.
I looked at him and busted out laughing.
I thought it would be a good idea to rip off the other sleeve, but when I tried the whole back ripped out.
So now I am standing there with no shirt talking and laughing with an overweight guy with no pants..
"WELCOME TO PORT ATLANTIS" I yelled!
Bob said that he heard the marketplace square and teleporter were beyond the next wall.
So we headed past the wall and a large open courtyard came into view.
It was filled will people. Kind of the same mix of folks that were going in and out of the mobile Service Center. In every corner of the square, by the TP, along some boxes in the corner and at the base of a statue were people selling stuff. There were groups of people bunched together talking and always someone was either running into the square to the TP or arriving out of the TP and running off somewhere else.
It was almost overwhelming.
Some of the people were yelling "Buying Sweat at .5....Buying Sweat at .5" or "Get your Pixie Armor here, +1 over market"
and many others yelling about buying or selling various items. Most of which I had no clue what they were talking about.
In the center of the square was a strange device. It looked like an upside down gigantic bowl with 4 entries. A spinning blue symbol was rotating above it. The device was constantly glowing white with people entering and exiting the light quite frequently.
i was wondering what to do next when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and looked and it was a small impish man in a bright blue and orange outfit.
"Hey Buddy, you looking for a Mentor?"
"Whats a mentor?" I replied.
"A mentor teaches you how to get along here." he said
"hmm..that sounds good"
He then whipped out a contract and said sign here. I took the contract and started to read it.
"You don't have to read the find print, just sign it!"
I looked at him and looked back at the contract and read on.
"What's this about giving you half of the Sweat I collect?" I asked
He said "Well thats how you can make some peds to buy stuff and pay for your training"
"What is sweat?" I asked
"the creatures native to this world have special sweat that you can collect and sell here at the market."
"What is it used for?"
"Its used to make Mind Essence, which people use to work mind devices"
"Wow this is getting very confusing, you know what I don't think I need a Mentor right now...thanks anyways" I said
"You sure buddy, its a good deal I am offering"
"Maybe later"
"OK suite yourself" and he turned and walked over to Bob and started talking to him. They chatted for a while and then shook hands.
Bob walked over to me and said.
"I took Jonna up on his offer, so he is going to show me the ropes. Ill catch up with you later Angus"
"Allright Bob..good luck"

I never saw Bob again....

note: Stay tuned as the adventure continues!

Next time ... Combibo Island!

Captain Angus Mac Macalisdair of the Knights of Calypso... signing off...

[Fsteckler]

6-15-2008
To the Castle and Beyond!!!!

As I awoke, a dream of a giant HOF fading from my mind, I realized that I was still on the Outpost NE of Argus. I rustled through my pack and saw I was out of Mind Essence...darn, Im going to have to hoof it out of here. I knew from yesterday that there was allot of Feffoids to the west, right in my path, so as I gazed at my maps I knew that North to the sea and then West was the best way to go.

As I arrived at the buildings to the north, I noticed, in the distance, a building...no wait..it was too big to be a building...wait...well ill be, It was a castle. I had no idea someone had a castle up here!

I steadily made my way up the hillside until I stood before this impressive castle! I checked the electronic deed, but the darn thing was broken and wouldn't display any data. I knocked on the doors but no one answered, then of course curiosity got the better of me and I jiggled the doors. They were firmly locked. I check around the perimeter but found nothing. Oh well at least it was a photo moment!

My run along the sea shore heading West was uneventful. I didnt even have to run into the sea to escape a nasty mob. As I arrived at Fort Argus I took note of my inventory and checked to see if Wyn was around. He wasnt, so off to twins I went.

Wandering the plaza of Twins I ran into Tarmogoyf Tomba Guevara who was looking to score some Ores. I showed him what I had and he said he would take the lot. we agreed on a prices and made the trade.

>>Ores sold (as Ingots)and Enmatter (in a refinded state): 301 Oil, 174 Melchi Crystals, 37 Blausarium and 5 Gazzurdite with a tt value of 21.17peds. Sold all for 22.4 or 106%

I loaded up with probes and some bombs and headed back to Fort Argus. I checked my maps and thought I would give the West of FT Argus a try all the way to Fort Ithica. The first probe hit a IV of Garcen Grease and I thought to my self, self this looks like its going to be a good run.......Boy I was wrong! I suggest no one goes west from Argus looking for Enmatter! At least I didnt find anything much except alot of Plumas. Of note I rung the neck of one Old Pluma and on close examination of its nest found a nice pile of collected goods including 444 Med Laser Rounds, 255 animal Muscle Oil, 214 Animal Hides and 2 Animal Oil Residues all with a tt value of 13.75.

Before I got too the river separating West Argus from Ithica Island I only hit on more level III Oil. Once I hit Ithica Island things got a little better but i had dropped so many probes behind me that only a huge find could allow me to make a profit...it never happened. But at least I never died, I guess thats something. At least I did get one decent find, a level VI Oil

>>Mining Results:
Ore - - 0% Hit Ratio Note I am using a OF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter IV - - - - - III - - - - - - - - - - - II - - - - VI - - - - - II - 16% Hit Ratio :x Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter finds
IV Garcen Grease @ 177m
III Crude Oil @ 351m
II Melchi Water @ 370m
VI Crude Oil @ 158m
II Melchi Water @ 174m
II Crude Oil @ 266m

Once I reached fort Ithica I took note of the amount of probes I had left, I counted 8, well that was enough for a little run. Check my log I decided that due to a decent run South of Fort Troy I would try some other areas around there.
Arriving at the Ft Troy TP I was hit with the smell of the swamps, drifting up from the south. I headed out due East to the sea and ran into a large group if Diakiba's and Exos. I dropped a probe and got a little hit and then decided to start refilling my sweat supply of these critters. Sweat, Dry, shoot....Sweat, Dry, Shoot. One of the Mature Exos even sought fit to give me a brand new Emik S30 (5.20 peds), couple of Exo skins and some other assorted goodies!

I got bored after a while and resumes my run headed to the south. I found a whole lot of nothing. I even ventured into the purple zone. Cresting a hill, my hairs stood on end, I could feel waves of power running over my skin. I had found the Fort Troy Orb!

I only had 2 probes left and I thought, I wonder if there is any Enmatter under that thing? I jogged towards the Orb and my eyes began to water, my pulse sped up and soon everything seemed to have a red tinge to it. It was becoming harder to breathe. I finally made it and headed directly under the Orb. It felt like I was being pushed down into the ground. I set up the probe casing, locked a probe in place and pulled out my EF-103. 3...2...1... fire. The probe made a funny noise, kind of a reluctant whine and disappeared into the dark hole it had created. I swear it felt like the Orb was pushing its way down to me and was about to touch my back.....

then....

Friggin nothing....well damn!

I got my gear together and headed back North towards Fort Troy. I dropped one more probe along the way and did get my only other find down here....another level II Crude Oil.....well it was better than nothing...not by much mind you... but better.

>>Mining Results:
Enmatter II - - - - - - II 20% Hit Ratio Note I am using a EF-103 finder unamped
Enmatter finds
II Crude Oil @ 411m
II Crude Oil @ 292m

Current Mining Skills:
Surveying 365 > 377
Drilling 349 > 356
Geology 306 > 311
Mining 317 > 317
Prospecting 293 > 294

Tired from the days running, I decided to do a little crafting run while at Fort Troy

>>Crafting Results: Mannell Shoes, Did 1 clicks (9 generic leathers, 1 Wool Thread and 1 Fine Leather) I ended up with one pair (3.61/9.00) :wink: and my BP QR stayed the same.

>>Crafting Results: Basic Shirt, Did 6 clicks (4 generic leathers, 5 Molisk Enamel Buttons and 2 Wool Clothes) I ended up with 1 Basic Shirt (2.96/7.00) and my BP QR went from 4.8 to 5.6

>>Crafting Results: Generic Leather Textures, Did 49 clicks (2 generic leathers, 1 Basic Leather Extractor) I ended up with 18 Generic Leather Textures, 31 Metal Residue and 28 Tailoring remnants and my BP QR went from 47 to 47.6

As I lay my head down I started to drift off into sleep dreaming of Castles in the Sky!

Captain Mac signing off...