Botans invade from the unknown east, wreaking havoc and carnage. Strange Manimals prowl and posture upon the Mesa of Cormac. The frigid winds of the Season of Shelter seemed to be grasping at that last chance to pierce and gnaw every Wastelander who dares set foot outside their homes. But the Season of Revival has come at last, with all the promise of new beginnings. The winds grow milder, the air grows warmer, and meager signs of growth return to these blighted lands.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Fight Night takes place once again on Saturday at 3pm SLT – about an hour’s worth of vicious one-on-one combat in the bloodstained Arena. Bring your weapons, bring your medkits, bring your friends, and bring a sense of humor (especially if you’ve turned on Voice!)
At 5pm, DJ Aposiopesis Fullstop will DJ yet another set of music at an as-yet-unknown location.
The Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign will return on Sunday at 10am. Spectators are welcome to watch as the party adventures through perilous, rioting Old Korvosa on the great grey game-grid that will be rezzed next to the Arena in Hambone Slash. The party has killed the Emperor, and is now exploring the series of maddening caverns that lurk below the land, beset with fungus-draped skeletons, massive cobras, and a warrior with the head of a boar. Somewhere, surely, the man they seek is hiding. But can they find him before they fall to these foes?
After the excitement and relaxation of the weekend drains away, and it’s back to the weekday grind, make your Monday a little bit more awesome with an evening of music and madness at Movie Night! Giuseppe will DJ for an hour or so at the Boat House, followed by an as-yet-unannounced film at the Burnt Oak Drive-In – bring your own chair, couch, crate, or tire.
EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS:
Wastelands Four-Ever Wrap-Up
For the big birthday bash for the estate a couple months ago, Sunday’s events were slightly more relaxed than Saturday – given that many participants were likely nursing hangovers or otherwise sleeping in. But the bands played on, from 9am to 8 pm. As Wiseblood DJ’d at the Chaoseum, Giuseppe rezzed the panel and podium for Match Game. Syruss Constantine and Vikki Placebo were the two contestants, and the panel was filled with well-known Wastelanders including Fei, Ben, Cutea, Cloudy, Apo, and Dia. After an hour of absurdity and innuendo, Vikki won the game and a generous quantity of Lindens, while Syruss took home the consolation prize of the Fight Night home game.
After more movies and music and marvels, the celebrations came to an end at 8pm. And although the events are over one month past by now, I’d still like to thank everyone who helped organize everything, everyone who participated, and everyone who spectated. Even beyond that, a multitude of thanks go out to the Devs and other Road Patrol who have helped keep The Wastelands running for over four years now – and even more to all the residents, regulars, gameplayers, roleplayers, builders, dreamers, random wandering snapshot-takers, and anyone else who’s helped make The Wastelands everything it is and will become – and anyone who’s been inspired by it, in turn. The more we create, the more powerful and significant this place becomes as a collective endeavor. The more powerful and significant it becomes, the more it inspires even more creation. We spend our days running around in each others’ imaginations, perpetrating bizarre works of digital art and theatre, and it’s been nothing but an honor to be part of it all. Here’s to another year!
Catching back up to the present…
The creak and crunch of leaves and stems. The thunder of stampeding feet. The swish and strike of weapons, the guttural bark of distant guns. Shouts of pain and the thump of bodies as they crumple lifeless to the streets. The groaning crack as a vicious Claw opens the ribcage of the fallen. A slick squelch as a tendril removes the still-beating heart from the chest cavity, throwing it with a wet thump onto the cooling corpse. These are the romantic sights and sounds of February 14th in The Wastelands. Once again, the dreaded date brought a Valentine’s Day Massacre as the Botan Bloodlust took hold, sending the fearsome plantfolk on a merciless raid of the Wastelands. But Wasters learned from last year, and came prepared – some running away, still others ganging up, heedless of clan or race, to bring down the vicious creatures (as played by the Devs.) Those who were struck down by a Botan received their own heart – Human, Ghoul, Mutant, or Manimal, each race’s heart with a unique size and coloring, but all with a staggering Barter Value of 100. Whomever did the most damage to a Botan before it fell, or who struck the killing blow, received the Botan’s heart – equal in BV but incomparable in rarity (Editor’s note: The exception being that if you already had a heart, you wouldn’t get a second one just for killing a botan. Only one heart per person. – S.K.). Since then, the surviving plantfolk have apparently returned to their homes in the uncharted east – though the occasional, somewhat-less-vicious Botan is still seen skulking silently around the Wastes.
Last weekend, the last one of the month, War Zone once again cut a bloody and irradiated swath across the blistering dunes of Hambone Slash. Teams were captained by Ccindy Pfeffer and Cigi Sahara, both of whom led their fighters into valiant combat. Matches were often extremely close, sometimes separated by mere seconds. But after a tiebreaking third round that went down to the wire, Team 2 captained by Ccindy took the victory.
ESTATE NEWS: Are you a builder who wants to get your work seen and lived-in by more people? Are you roleplayer or regular who sometimes winces to see the less-than-plausible buildings new residents occasionally create? Are you a new resident yourself, armed with the Wastelands Public Works Department textures and assets, yet still stressed and struggling to make a build that doesn’t get winced at? Or are you a visitor who’d love to become a resident, but you’re not a fan of building – and you’re afraid to waste your Lindens on a prefab that turns out to not fit the theme? Relief is in sight – Neo has a Plan. Builders, he’s looking to buy your filthy, squalid, Wastelandsian hovels in Mod/Copy versions – and to install them on Estate-owned plots of land, included with purchase. That way, new residents will have a sure-fire, theme-fitting build they can live in, add to, rearrange, or (if they still so choose) tear down and replace with something else. Tenants will also get a landmark – telling them who built their particular lovely abode, and directing them to the shop where they can buy newer or better builds. But current residents wouldn’t be left out of the loop – all these builds would be available, free of charge, in the Junkyard along with the other ruin’t building assets! Check out this forum thread to read more details, and learn how you can submit your building for consideration.
That shady figure on the Wanted posters is back in town – and he’s bringing friends. No, not Gill, thank whatever gods ye please – this is someone we’d want to see back. Indeed, the fabled Food Trader has returned after having vanished from the Wastes (and from Neo’s inventory entirely.) But word on the winds says there will be a couple new traders as well – who, it seems, might be even more stingy and miserable than the trader we already know and lov— well, know.
Granted, even the most filthy half-rotten Ghoul looks pretty next to the Food Trader. But if you need a new look, there are plenty of shops in the Wastelands and beyond to sate your need for all things grungy, broken, and beautifully ruin’t. And you can find a growing number of them on the new Thematic Content page of the Wiki! If you’re a shop-owner who wants their place on the list, submit your information to Neo using the guidelines on the page.
Do you have a grand idea for a thematic build that just can’t fit on a handful of smaller plots? Are you up to the challenge of expanding the borders of The Wastelands in a believable way? Check this Forum thread to learn how you can apply to add your very own Homestead to the Estate. Email your proposition to Neo at NeoBokrug (dot) Elytis (at) gmail (dot com).
Work continues on the next version of the Wastelands HUD, and Neo is still seeking input and feedback on the weapons system. If you have ideas for a style of weapon you’d like to see, or an old weapon you’d like to return, contribute in this Forum thread!
RP NAME-DROPS: A small clan of Manimals has been seen lurking around the High Mesa of Cormac, ancient home of the Mutants. Meanwhile, the Mutant Witch has created a new temple and gathering-ground in Hambone Slash. Rumor says a new face was seen among the tribe, and that this Mutant sought out certain Wastelanders – and certain items. Both the Digger and the ghoulish Kat have reported that one called Ztar approached them for items – per Kat, it seemed like any other trade. But a brief word with Ztar herself indicates that she was sent to find items for the tribe – a task apparently bidden by the King of Fire himself. Perhaps what we’ve been seeing are no less than glimpses of an initiation rite.
Watch your step in the sand or you’re liable to step right into the hungry mouth of a sandworm. Lately, some scavengers have caught sight and felt the bite from a particularly nasty worm sliding through the dunes and over rock and rubble. Only a couple rugged scavengers have managed to knock the beast out, picking up whatever junk the thing coughs up from its disgusting gut…but many more have fallen victim to its hunger.