It was a delightful Sunday afternoon and guests were beginning to arrive at the dungeon home that was to house Lady Kat's Birthday celebrations. It was wonderful to see so many recognisable faces, including Sexy Jo, Lihan, Wild Rose, Lair Spirit, Warloq, Lady Joyce, Kizukai, Johan, Teeshy, Quintarias, Cadelin, CheShirE Smile and of course Lady Kat herself! Everybody has also brought their own pet cat, as we had advised they would be needed for the games.
Over the mewing from the feline guests, Cymoril welcomed everyone as Katlene gave each party-goer a bag with a sunny yellow robe and a book. Cymoril explained the books were for everybody to write their own poem, verse or otherwise creative message in honour of Lady Kat. Lady Kat pointed out that flattery was greatly encouraged, as she would be the one judging it.
But first, it was time for a game called "Kuriosity" which was very simply some questions about Lady Kat, so that everyone could get to know a bit more about her. There were eight questions and Teeshy somehow managed to answer FOUR of them correctly, and faster than anyone else! A prize was awarded to her, and also to Kizukai, who answered three correctly, almost just as amazing. Teeshy mentioned she had been studying Lady Kat from afar.
After that, it was up to the roof for a game of "Cat Escape". The way this worked was that each cat had to enter a teleporter area and when their owner called them, they would skulk within this area, bouncing off teleporters until they were eventually either teleported OUT, or teleported into the winner's pen. We played a few rounds to determine the winners, and they were as follows: Lair Spirit (cat: Stealthy Spirit, first), Lady Joyce (cat: Joyce Kat, second) and Teeshy (cat: Merry Christmas, third).
We then took a short break and headed to the dungeon/torture chamber, where guests saw four bodies splayed out on the floor. Katlene divided everybody into four teams and the rules of Torture Chamber Trivia were explained...
Each team had their own victim, who they had to torture into providing information about the location of his loot. Each team's victim had a different location to divulge. UO Trivia questions were then asked, and whoever was the first correct to answer could choose a body part to be removed from their team's victim, and the victim would give a clue as to the wehereabouts of his loot. The correct answerer could then have a guess at the location, before the next question would be asked.
All teams did very well, but it was team three who proved their powers of interrogation were second to none, as when Lair Spirit finally asked that we rip their victim's head off, they had enough information and Lair Spirit announced the location of their victim's loot was indeed the Adventurer's Needle (Tailor Shop) in Jhelom. Prizes were awarded to all members of the team: Lair Spirit, Warloq and Lady Joyce.
We headed back to the foyer/theatre and it was time for the cake! Katlene placed a delicious purple cake on display and then we all joined in a chorus of Happy Birthday before Katlene "sliced" the cake, giving some to everyone there.
Our bellies full, guests were now ready with their Odes to Lady Kat. Those who were willing read theirs aloud on stage, and a couple preferred just to pass their books directly to Lady Kat to read. All declared their affection for Lady Kat, with some very well-chosen words, and then Lady Kat announced the winners: Kizukai (first), Quintarias (second) and Lair Spirit (third).
The party was over, and Lady Kat, being the important personage that she is, had to take her leave to attend to other matters. She thanked everybody for attending, and some of us thought we saw her smile, though that may have been due to the barrage of flattery just prior. As she left, guests were reminded to sign the bulletin board guestbook, which was compiled into a book and later, presented to Lady Kat as a keepsake.
The Oceania Player Events Network would like to thank everybody who attended to help make this party successful, and disruption-free! Special thanks to Lady Kat for allowing us the opportunity to honour her in this way!
Oceania Olympic Games: Summary 29th Jan - 6th Feb
It's been another week or so of fun and games in Oceania as the Olympic Games have continued with the Track & Field, Survival, Tailoring and Stealing Events. The medal tallies have sure changed a lot, and it's looking unmistakably like a foregone conclusion at this late stage of the game.
It's not to late to join in, though, to see if you can win a medal for your favourite City, or for yourself! So without further ado, here are the latest results...
TRACK & FIELD GOLD - Chief Y (Skara Brae) SILVER - Ereon (Minoc) BRONZE - Lord Lionheart (Britain)
Contestants pass one of the invisible checkpoints.
The Track & Field event was essentially a Cross-Country footrace. Contestants were given Olympic-Grade Running Shoes, dyed to match their City Colours, and were then taken to the beginning of the track. The track was to be run on foot, and contestants had to traverse dirt road and swamp terrain before they would arrive at the finish line in Britain. There were invisible checkpoints along the way, where hidden OPEN staff would check all contestants were on foot, on track and not recalling.
Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Walter/Ereon (Minoc), Lord Lionheart (Britain), Don Quan (Trinsic), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia).
SURVIVAL GOLD - Chief Y (Skara Brae) Best time: 3m14S SILVER - Queen Aglaranna (Magincia) Best time: 5m10S BRONZE - Chivato (Trinsic) Best time: 5m29S
Chief Y lights the fire, completing his campsite.
The Survival event was fairly simple. Contestants had to duplicate a campsite setup, in traditional here's-one-we-prepared-earlier style. One at a time, Competitors laid out the items as supplied, to match the adjacent site. Once complete, contestants lit their campfire, signalling they were done. Any errors in their design cost them a 30 second time penalty.
Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia), Chivato (Trinsic).
TAILORING GOLD - Chief Y (Skara Brae) SILVER - Queen Aglaranna (Magincia) BRONZE - Lord Lionheart (Britain)
Spectators watch as the Tailors furiously sew and snip!
Here, the five entrants were led to their sewing rooms via holes in the roof, and once settled, set up their own vendors to display their soon-to-be-made outfits. The instructions were to create six items, with the following attributes:
They could only craft leather items from the "Leather Armor" menu of the Sewing kit, or Cloth hats from the "Hats" menu. Naturally, they were given sufficient leather and cloth to craft with. Chief Y (on A.D.I.D.A.S) was first to finish, after having great difficulty with his final piece, and the three others that were left (Lady Kat had to leave early) then had a mini "sew-off" to decide Silver and Bronze.
Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia), Lord Lionheart (Britain), Lady Kat (Skara Brae), Dar (Magincia)
STEALING GOLD - Chief Y (Skara Brae) SILVER - Lord Lionheart (Britain) BRONZE - Dar (Magincia)
Competitors madly follow the Victim!
It was the first test of the Feluccan Olympic Arena and contestants were gated directly inside the heavily-fortified walls. Registrations were taken, and the rules were explained. The thieves had to follow an overloaded pack horse, named "Victim of Theft" and steal as much as they could in ten minutes. At the end, the total weight stolen by each contestant was added, and the heaviest weights stolen overall took the medals.
Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Lord Lionheart (Britain), Dar (Magincia), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia), Takami Tuyarruum (Moonglow).
Thanks to everyone who has supported and continues to support OPEN and the Oceania Olympic Games! There are only four more Events to go, so stay tuned for the final report!
When: Sunday 16th March, 2pm AESTWhere: TBA (watch this space)
What's a Barbed Kit Auction? No, we're not auctioning off Barbed Runic Kits. What we WILL be doing is crafting armour pieces with a barbed runic kit, and then selling them all at a NO RESERVE Auction!
Our crafter, naturally, has Legendary Tailoring and Grandmaster Arms Lore, to ensure the best possible pieces!
Each piece will be crafted live at the Auction, and then sold, before the next piece will be crafted. You never know what will be next! We will be blowing two barbed runic kits during the auction, so that's THIRTY armour pieces in total that will be for sale.
There's a chance we may craft the most ideal piece of armour for your character, so don't miss out!
It's been an exciting week of the Olympic Games, with a lot of changes in the medal tallies for both players and cities. DJ Urlacker has been broadcasting each event live on Whispering Rose Radio, and his exciting commentary and musical accompaniment has certainly made for some interesting events! We've now played ten of the eighteen events, so we've passed the halfway mark!
There's still plenty of excitement to be had, however, and the Games resume on Tuesday 29th January with Track & Field (Cross Country), so be sure to join us to compete or spectate. Now for some results...
EQUESTRIAN GOLD - Chief Y (Skara Brae) Best time: 1m 4s SILVER - Lady Kat (Skara Brae) Best time: 1m 11s BRONZE - Johan (Jhelom) Best time: 1m 23s
Bird traverses the tricky suspended course.
The Equestrian Event took place on a specially-built track. Competitors had to complete the track (while mounted) in the shortest time to win. The track was essentially made up of two levels: The lower level was a simple grass and step track, whereby contestants earned a "fault" (adding three seconds to their time) each time they went off-course or stepped on a black goza. The upper level was a suspended track, where falling off was its own penalty, but stepping on the black goza still cost players the three second penalty.
Competitors: Bird (Yew), Chief Y (Skara Brae), Johan (Jhelom), Lady Kat (Skara Brae), Lourd (Moonglow), Nakita (Moonglow), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia)
TAMING GOLD - Lady Kat (Skara Brae) SILVER - Chief Y (Skara Brae) BRONZE - Nameless (Magincia)
Lord Canute kills the animals as they are led to the Slaughtering pen.
The aim of this event was to earn 101 points by taming from a list of available creatures with set point values. Here were the creatures that could be tamed and the point values for each:
Competitors had to bring in the creatures one at a time, and once they were tallied, they led them to the slaughtering pen before releasing them so that Lord Canute could bludgeon them to death with his mace. Animal rights activists were advised to keep away during this event.
Competitors: Bryson Fox (Britain), Lady Kat (Skara Brae), Lauren (Britain), Ma (Trinsic), Nakita (Moonglow), Nameless (Magincia), noX (Skara Brae)
GRAND PRIX GARDENING GOLD - Queen Aglaranna (Magincia) SILVER - Lady Kat (Skara Brae) BRONZE - Aria (Yew)
It's a race against time in Grand Prix Gardening!
Contestants had to race to plant a seed in a bowl. Sounds easy enough, right? Except that the four components needed for this (bowl, dirt, water and seed) were scattered in crates and chests in our garden, and these were locked! Each competitor was given a keyring with a set of four keys, which would open the four containers they would need to complete their own planted seed. The first three to return to Digger with their planted seed claimed the medals.
Competitors: Aria (Yew), Becky Lee (Moonglow), Blossom (Moonglow), Fib (Minoc), Gohan (Jhelom), Lady Kat (Skara Brae), Lexise (Yew), Lover Boy (Minoc), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia)
FISHING GOLD - Lady Kat (Skara Brae) SILVER - Blossom (Moonglow) BRONZE - Beach (Britain)
Competitors begin fishing for gold!
In this event, entrants were required to catch a set combination of things and return them to Digger first to win. Of course, to ensure no-one had come prepared with fish in their pack, we took everyone to Felucca first for a good snooping. Once this was done, it was off to Blanche Island, the ideal remote fishing spot! Contestants had to catch the following: One plain fish facing each direction (four in total), two of the four 'scattered' fish types (highly peculiar, truly rare, wondrous or prized), and two different types of footwear.
Competitors: Beach (Britain), Becky Lee (Moonglow), Blossom (Moonglow), Lady Kat (Skara Brae), Popeye (Magincia), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia), Walter (Minoc)
Thanks to everyone who has supported and continues to support OPEN and the Oceania Olympic Games! And thanks to Lady Kat for her fantastic report on the earlier events!