To Kalanyr concerning those sblocks.
To create an sblock, just type (sblock). Then type some text. Then type (/sblock).
Except, use [ ] instead of the ( ) I used above.
The text will be placed in the sblock, and nobody will be able to read it unless they click on the sblock.
Indeed, you will see a dramatic number of such sblocks, used for secret communication. One could say this is the Sblock IR, in fact.
Everyone is on the Honor System not to look at secret communications using sblocks. Of course, I'm guessing nearly everyone is also sending super-secret communications via e-mail also, and everyone's e-mail is on the Megapost (except your own, obviously. It took a while to get all the e-mails. People were very, justfiably, worried about SPAM.)
I have some sblocks of my own posted: not in the megapost, which is chalk full of sblocks (otherwise, it would be unreadable as it is about 70 pages long) but on the diplomatic front.
These are marked Public. Feel free to read any sblocks of mine marked Public. Indeed, I want you to read such public posts. It furthers my nefarious schemes.
Let me give you a rough overview of who's playing what:
Airwhale is working in concert with Zelda to play a sizeable number of the good and neutral Spelljamming races of Greyspace. They control the world of Ginsel, they control one of Oerth's moons and are monitoring the other, they have what remains of the Elven Imperial Navy of Realmspace, they have Giff, and they say: Don't mess with us, Scro!
Album X is playing the egyptian type powers of Erypt (which he renamed, but I don't have the name memorized and at hand at the moment), Suhfang (you won't find it on the big map: it's between Erypt and the Celestial Imperium) and he is also playing the Tribes of Enllaves, way off in the western part of the continent of Oerik. Serpenteye has yet to rule on the IC value of Suhfang, a point I will bring up with him when he returns from Christmas Break.
Anabstercorian is back, and instead of playing a certain fiendish and legendary illithid (said illithid is currently asleep in his chair, enjoying a comfortable and at least temporary retirement in his Ring City around the Sun) is playing Rary the Traitor and the Empire of the Bright Lands. He controls Greyhawk City and all the lands about. He has the city of Hardby, the free city of Verbobonc, a part of western Urnst ... and he is, as it were, controlling the Crossroads of the Flanaess.
Anabstercorians' power has the Sea of Dust, where he is on an archeological dig to discover all the ancient secrets of the Suel Imperium. Isn't that nice? (grins)
Bugbear is back, and has chosen to play Greater Nyrond this time. Greater Nyrond includes Nyrond, the County and Duchy of Urnst, Almor, most of Adri Forest, Celadon Forest, and a few other places. Greater Nyrond is coming off to me as a sort of Neutral power, but it yet remains to be seen what it will do. For Greater Nyrond is threatened on all sides by potential foes.
Creamsteak is back, and is playing a large number of the Illithid of Oerth, including a very small number of the Illithid of Greyspace. He doesn't have all the Illithid, but he has enough to mess everyone up. Creamsteak is on EVERYONE'S border, as it were, and boy do we know it!
Creamsteak also has sizeable contingents of beholders and aboleth. In other words, if he attacks you, don't expect any quarter ...
Devilish is playing the mighty and terrible Acererak of Oerth. That Demi-Lich controls the Vast Swamp around, and has allied with my homebrew nation of the Solistarim.
Who are the Solistarim? Think of a mighty confederation of lawful evil races (dark humans, dark dwarves, dark gnomes, lizard men, sahuagin, fire giants, efreeti, devils, beholders, illithid, blue dragons, liches, servitor undead, quaggoth, and other horrors) who have decided the whole Flanaess is their backyard ... and EVERYONE ELSE (even others of their own races!) are a bunch of trespassing bums who refused to leave when ordered to. And so, the Solistarim just gotta do, what the Solistarim just gotta do, about this situation.
The famed City of the Gods is in Devilishs' territory, along with Blackmoor. Technology may be an easy thing to come by, for Devilish ...
Eluvan is what we thought of as the Grand Alliance in the 3rd IR. It is called the League of Athyr now, and is anchored by Furyondy, Veluna, Keoland, and the Lortmils (including the Lorridges.) A strictly good power, it won't have anything to do with my evil drow (horrors!) Eluvan is offline right now, and will be back on the 6th of January, and that is the time Serpenteye has set to officially start this IR.
Guilt Puppy our Mapmaker
(and what is an IR without a good map? Cheers to Guilt Puppy!) is playing the Scarlet Brotherhood. He has the Tilvanot Peninsula, half of Hempmonland (I got the other half!
), the Hold of the Sea Princes, the Lordship of the Isles, and all of the Amedio Rainforest. Did I mention he has a horde of Hempmonalander natives in his army, plus the ships to carry them? And of course, he has the infamous monks with their super secret organization that is the Scarlet Brotherhood, who have infiltrated the ranks of every other power (and check out the Infiltration rules: you can literally take over another power with those rules without swinging a sword.)
Knight Otu is playing the Nation of Greater Aerdi, or the Great Kingdom, including North Province, Ahlissa, and Medegia. He also has the Grandwood and Rel Astra. He's playing the power formerly jointly played by Serpenteye and Mr. Draco, and just as dangerous as they were, I'm guessing.
Melkor is back! (grins and cheers) And he is playing a fallen paladin turned into a tremendously powerful vampire, and is running a city of vampires. And that city controls a vast underworld empire of vampires, lesser undead, terrified servitors soon to be undead themselves, and nasty, evil allied beings. In other words, mess with Melkor, and it's curtains for you!
Ah yes: Melkor has as an ally Ivid the Overking of Aerdi (well, HE thinks he is Overking, still!) and the armies of Rauxes. A most insane and nasty fellow.
Melkor also owns the Sulhaut Mountains. Nothing like digging up ancient secrets out of the Sea of Dust (the former Suel Imperium.)
Nac Mac Feegle is playing a Psionic League. Not the good Psionic League of the 1st and 2nd IRs, but a more secretive, neutralish Psionic League with intentions ... well, who knows what their intentions are? Certainly not me! But they have dominated and made into servitor nations a number of notable places. The Isle of the Phoenix, way offmap to the east, is their base. But they also control all of the Iron League, plus Sunndi, plus everything east of Sunndi, and right down to the borders of the Great Swamp (I must wonder what Acererak thinks of this ...)
Paxus is playing the Wolf God, and under him a colossal army of giants, humanoids, unspeakable abominations, and others have united. All the evil mountain beings, and many of the neutral mountain beings, are in confederation under him.
The Wolf God has his base in the Pomarj, all of which Paxus controls, but Paxus also has the Hellfurnaces, the Crystalmists, the Jotens, the Rakers, the Griff Mountains, the Corusk Mountains, and several forests which his evil creatures have dominated.
Radiant is playing the Sikari, a group of demihumans of great power and potency who have been the ancient defenders and protectors of the Celestial Imperium. They sell their services to the highest bidder, but I must wonder if their primary goal will not always be the good of the Celestial Imperium? Radiant partially controls the Celestial Imperium, threatened by Venus on the North and Album X on the south, but that great nation is having some problems since the Gods disappeared (see Serpenteye's rules on page 1.)
Rikandur is playing Iuz, and the Empire of Iuz. And he is playing Iuz as ... Iuz! Evil, despicable, chaotic ... who knows what he'll do?!
He has all of Fellreev Forest, the Bandit Lands, the Hold of Stonefist, Teht, and the Horned Society. I will say this: Iuz is deadly when provoked, and unfortunately for you Iuz decides what provokation is!
Thomas (assuming he is still with us) is playing Celene and it's surrounding forests, the Lendore Isles, the Theocracy of the Pale, and the Yeomanry. (The Olman Isles too, if Serpenteye will allow me to give them to him.) Aside from being an Elven Player, Thomas selected countries with distinctive cultures and philosophies (the Yeomanry was a democracy. The Theocracy was just that.)
Thomas is also playing a legend come back to life: the ancient and very powerful Elven nation of Aliador, in the Griff Mountains (you won't find it on any map, but it will find YOU, if you are an enemy of the elves!)
Venus is back, and is playing a trio of nations directly west of Williams' Baklunish Empire (see below) and off-map. He has Orcreich, and the Lesser Khanate, dominated by Orcreich, and Greater Khanate, an ally of Orcreich (it was ally, or be squashed by organized, intelligent, magic wielding orcs with a serious attitude.) What Venus will do is anyones' guess. He's quite the wild card!
William is back, and playing the Baklunish Empire. He's got the entire west of the main (Guilt Puppys') map. He's got Zeif, Ekbir (the capital), Tusmit, ket, Ull, the Barrier Peaks, the Plains of the Paynims, the Dry Steppes (Serpenteye didn't use the Spirit Empire of Garnak or Istivar), the Yecha Hills, and a lot of the islands off in the Drawmij Ocean to the north. Al'Akbar is his character, a noble demipower of lawful good alignment.
William has the crashed spaceship from S4, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, in his territory. Nothing like a demipower working on the secrets of superscience ...
Xael, our other Elven Player (actually, he could be said to be the Demihuman Player) as it were, is playing Highfolk, Perrenland, the Circle of Eight led by Mordenkainen, the Silver Coins (the good version of the Circle of Eight), the homebrew elven nation of Delrune (in the Vesve Forest), the centaur nation of Calrune (next to the Whyestil Sea), the dwarven nation of Chauntosbergen in the Clatspurs, and Xael controls all the Yatil and Clatspur Mountains. He has the Tiger and Wolf Nomads, and he has the gnomish nation of Swantmoor (another homebrew) on the southern edge of the Vesve (obviously, he has the Vesve in it's entirety.)
Zelda is back. She is working with Airwhale on a single power. She and Airwhale control a confederation of good and neutral Spelljamming races based out of the world of (Ginsel, I believe) up in Greyspace. They have bases on several worlds, heavily control some worlds and the Grinder (an asteroid belt region), and are on good terms with some other worlds. When you look up, you are looking up at Zelda, Queen of the Sky!
And then there is ME. Edena_of_Neith.
I am playing the Drow of the Underdark. The Drow of the Underdark of the continent of Oerk: I'm all over the map, and beyond! All that remain, that is. Most fell apart and perished or were enslaved by their foes when Lolth disappeared, but Eclavdra - the mightiest priestess of Lolth on Oerth - rallied the Fabulous 100 (the 100 drow cities) into the Empire of Eclavdor, overawing the drow with the three Regalia of Lordly Might and her own wily diplomacy.
Eclavdra and her drow are utterly despicable (as Daffy Duck would say), vile, fiendish, mean, nasty, irritating, and an all around nuisance. They are demon loving, Lolth worshipping, Underdark embracing horrors.
So, why then did Eclavdra try to make a military alliance with Al'Akbar, that lawful good noble demipower of the Baklunish Empire, and why has she just successfully completed a Non-Aggression Pact with Nyrond, and why does she speak of reuniting with the Surface Elves? ... who knows? Being chaotic evil, the only thing predictable about Eclavdra is ... well, that she won't act like a kender!
Oh yes, I also have the Yuan-Ti of Hempmonaland, who complain the humans took the surface world away from them, and they want it back!
Also, I'm playing the evil Ice Elves of the Adri, who have betrayed their fellows and joined with the drow. Since Greater Nyrond holds the Adri, and the Ice Elves hold the heart of the Adri ... well, it is good we have that Non-Aggression Pact between us, no?!
Ok, I'm sure I missed someone. I don't have the roster in front of me. Who'd I miss? Tell me now, before that person sees this post, and whacks me upside the head for forgetfulness!
Ah yes, we have Serpenteye.
And guess what? ... Serpenteye will be playing all those nations we are not playing.
This is much worse than it sounds, for those nations (some of which have appallingly high ICs) will be working on their own Technological and Magical Arms Races.
You wait: before this is over we will all be nuked by the Tharquish Dominion. You wait. It'll happen ...
We attempted to bring the following players into the 5th IR, but either we could not establish contact, or they were busy, or just weren't interested:
Alex, Black Omega, Darkness, Darwin of Mind, Gez, John Brown, Reprisal, Tokiwong, and some others.
Of course, Serpenteye would think it great if any of them joined us. We do keep trying ...
None of us have heard from Forrester in a long time. I must wonder where the greatest player of humanoids of them all went to?
We had Forsaken One and a new player named James in the 5th IR. I had really looked forward to playing with them both. But we lost them both because of a scuffle between them that never should have occurred..
A matter that is completely out of my hands. (Don't ask about this on the boards. E-Mail Serpenteye, Forsaken One, and James concerning this.)
We had a player named Demon Athiest. But he only posted to the very first thread of this IR (this is the fourth thread.) I haven't heard from him since, nor apparently has anyone else. I still have him on the roster, in case he reappears. (By the time I had a roster even created, he had disappeared!)
I do hope you can convince Festy Dog to join us. I would really look forward to playing with him again.
Edena_of_Neith
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
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