Asheron sat in a high-backed chair. His attendants lay in crumpled heaps upon the floor. The magic to bind their limbs together and power their minds had been washed away. He could no longer leave this room. He had neither the means nor the strength. Food was plentiful enough to last him for another passing of the seasons at the most. The only light came from a single candle resting on a simple wooden table at his side.

On his lap, the writings of his father and the brightest scholars of his age lay open to pages that explained the processes for alchemically crafting poisons. He was incapable of frustration; it had only been two full cycles of Alb'arel and Rez'arel. Though he feared that Elysa was gone, as well as her dear boy, he hoped that there were still Isparians left who fought against the Olthoi. For their sake he would not cease his study.

Nuhmudira was the last Isparian he had seen. She had come nearly two months prior espousing her willingness to assist him. He agreed and furnished Nuhmudira with the details of his studies to that point, sending her back to Elysa with a message that they would work together to find a way to drive the Olthoi back.

Asheron did not know if Nuhmudira had delivered the message. She had never returned, and shortly after her departure the higher magics within his tower had failed. This left him blind to the outside world and, after the failure of the conveyance systems, stranded within the confines of this room. Portal magic was rent asunder and he relegated himself to waiting for a sign that the Isparians were alive.

Only two months had passed without word, a far shorter time than he had been alone before, but the area about him was devoid of mana and magic. This brought a heavy weight to his heart. The old mage rose and placed the books upon the table beside him. Taking up the candle from the table, he moved across the room and sat at a table covered in clean sheaves of paper and simple quills.

There, he began to write of the last days of Auberean.

The Ongoing Saga
Last month, the olthoi swarmed over Dereth. From coast to coast, from the mountains to the forests, the Olthoi ruled the land. But the heroes of Dereth learned how to enter their nests and drive them back into their underground dens.

The greatest battles took place in the Direlands. As many fought their way down into one strongly-defended nest, High Queen Elysa Strathelar took a contingent of allies and guards into yet another. While the assault on the first nest was a success and the Direlands were freed of the Olthoi menace, Elysa's assault met with dismal failure. They were met by an ancient olthoi queen, more powerful than any that had been seen before by Isparians, and her battle cadre failed to damage or hinder her. Firing an arrow, enchanted and poisoned by Nuhmudira and Asheron, Elysa had hoped to topple the reign of this olthoi queen. As warriors fell around her, she was forced to retreat.

After returning to thank the efforts of the Isparians who had assisted with the removal of the Olthoi across Dereth, Elysa plead with her council to join together to rid Dereth of the Olthoi. As the council departed, a lone assassin -- Oswald -- made his way into the room and struck Elysa a mortal blow. Now the High Queen lays comatose, the victim of a poison that threatens to snuff out her life, regardless of Asheron's protection. The Olthoi have surged forth once again, and the people of Dereth look for leadership. Who will rise to the role?

Fellowship Changes
Following up last month's improvements to the Fellowship Changes, we're pleased to introduce two new features for Fellowships -- fellowship leadership transfers, and open fellowships.

Leadership Transfers:

In the past, if the leader of your fellowship had to leave the game, it was necessary to disband and reform your fellowship. No longer! One of the two new buttons on the Fellowship Panel is the Leader button. The leader of any fellowship can click on the Leader button, then click a fellowship member in the Fellowship Panel. The member selected becomes the new leader of the fellowship instantly.

In addition, if the leader of a Fellowship leaves the game for any reason, leadership of the Fellowship will be passed to another member, randomly. The Fellowship will no longer automatically disband.

Open Fellowships:

At any time, the leader of a fellowship can change the fellowship into an open fellowship by clicking on the new Open button on the Fellowship Panel. The button will change to a Close button and all members' Recruit buttons will light up.

Open fellowships work exactly like normal fellowships except for one difference: In an open fellowship, any fellowship member may recruit new members by clicking on the Recruit button.

At any time, the leader can close the fellowship by clicking on the Close button. An open fellowship can be closed by the leader. Just click on the Close button. When the fellowship is closed, only the leader will be able to recruit new members.

Weeping Weapon Changes
After continued testing, and listening to your feedback, we determined that the Weeping Weapons, and particularly two of the melee weapons, needed some slight improvements. As of today, you'll see the following changes:

All Weeping Weapons now have an Arcane Lore requirement of 50.
The Weeping Spear and Weeping Axe have had their damage variance improved slightly.
All melee Weeping Weapons have had their slayer bonus increased slightly.
As always, we will watch these changes carefully, and continue to adjust balance when necessary.

Festival Celebrations Delayed
In past years, October has been the beginning of the festival months of Dereth. The three mask makers and their apprentices usually invented new colorful masks that players could have made from the heads of monsters.

Unfortunately, the continued olthoi assaults and the attack on the High Queen have delayed their efforts. You won't see as many new masks this month as you have in past years. If the brave defenders of Dereth can find a way to defeat the olthoi, the festival celebrations -- including new masks -- should return.

Stackable Writs of Refuge
In response to numerous player requests, we have made the Writs of Refuge stackable. To do so, it was necessary to remove the lore from them. For players who would like to read the lore that was once found on the Writs, they can purchase the text from the apprentice Arcanum craftsmen in Cragstone, Zaikhal, and Hebian-To.