Snippet: The Warrior's Judgement

So tall, so tall, she stands,
the warrior, the law, embodied in flesh.
She judges, her verdict final,
finality for those aware of their place.
Her servants fall, one by one,
but again and again they stand.
Divided they fall, but together they rise,
driven by her unfailing cause,
her unflinching duty from the Gods.

- Ravings of Aphril, inmate of Spellhold

Snippet: The Planes

As a renowned travelling scholar, I can assure you that the Realms are home to more mysteries and oddities than most can imagine. Yet that strangeness pales in comparison to the near infinite possibilities of the planes that make up existence as we know it. While only a few unique (and highly unusual) individuals could claim to have visited a substantial number of these, I will attempt in this guide to present what information I can on them.

Of course, not even I could provide a definitive and exhaustive guide on this subject, for their are many realms that have never been visited, or that visitors do not truly understand. I have heard many scholars argue evenings away over the existence of planes comprised of all sorts of things, from magic or dust to dreams and pure emptiness.

- Excerpt from 'Volo's Brief Guide to the Planes'

Snippet: Meddling or ignorance?

Despite everything that has happened, I still doubt my role in the events that transpired. I was freed from my curse, but ever dwelt in the shadow of a struggle far greater than my own. I was drawn into the power well of a magic older and more powerful than the curse of my family, and many times I feared that it might destroy me entirely.

The stakes resolved themselves to be far higher than I had ever dreamed, and most certainly far beyond what I had hoped. Some may revel in taking part in such climatic events, but I never had such desires. A simple life offers far fewer questions, and certain does not raise any so troubling as those that sometimes still plague me. Did I meddle in the affairs of the Gods, or was I merely drawn along for the ride, playing in a realm of magic and fate of which I was totally ignorant? And what consequences have those actions caused, or might still be causing even to this day?

- Diary of Valygar Corthala, a hero of the Bhaalspawn war

Snippet: The Nature of Magic

Yesterday was the first post in a series of snippets I'm going to be releasing as teasers for my new project. These are little pieces of lore that relate the events and characters within, each small fragments of a puzzle that players will come to unravel and understand through their journey...

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Throughout all my research into the nature of magic and use of it, I have come to know the truth of how little of it I truly understand. There are so many branches of magic of which we have limited knowledge. The ability of sorcerors to draw upon their heritage to harness magical power or wild mages with the untamed control of the weave are not well understood by most scholars.

In my studies and writing, I have sought to shed light on some of the rarer and more unusual aspects of magic such as these. I have come across people who claim to have the ability to draw upon their dreams, or to draw power through others around them who have no aptitude for magic. When arcane power can be drawn from so many sources, I wonder how much magic pervades our life in unknown ways. If dreams can provide the means for casting spells of great power, what other secrets might they hold?

- Excerpt from 'A Treatise on Magic', by Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun

Snippet: Choice

Throughout the ages, we have been told that our destiny is ours to decide. Given I have the blessing of our most benevolent Mystra, I know that I have been chosen for a role which I happily and gracious accept. Some measure of my own destiny must have been bound to this choice, but I know I have am both blessed and cursed with a position that will see me affect all of Faerun.

Yet I wonder from my own experience whether the lore passed down from our elders is entirely accurate. How many of our brethren are doomed my actions or those of my sisters? How will our choices affect us, or more importantly, those for whom we are allocated as caretakers? Will our actions doom our race? Will they doom other races? And do our choices preclude others being able to determine their own destiny? These are questions I fear I cannot answer, or questions that have already been answered by the choices of the Gods themselves.

- Excerpt from 'The Destiny of the Elves', by Alustriel Silverhand.

Status: On hold

I'd just thought I'd post a quick update letting people know that Fate of an Empire is on hold for the time being. I'm currently without a computer that can run the toolset, and will likely be that way for some time, as I'm on my way back to Australia.

However, it's likely that development will remain on hold indefinitely. The most significant problem is the scope of the project. In order to follow on from Fate of a City and retain the strong narrative and focus on choice and consequences, the amount of work required to fit into the fairly epic storyline would require a large cohesive development team - or my undivided attention for quite a number of months. Since neither of those options are feasible, I don't see any way it would be finished in any reasonble time period. There are a couple of builders that have offered their support, and I'm keen to work with them, which is why I have an alternative plan in the works.

While this project is currently unnamed, it is planned as an epic level party adventure, perhaps something that a party having finished Storm of Zehir would tackle. It will be far more heavily focused on combat and other gameplay aspects rather than dramatic roleplay, moral choices and consequences. Your party will need to coordinate its attacks and fight strategically in order to succeed against a variety of dangerous and powerful menagerie of enemies. You can also expect the story to be suitably epic, and that your choices may have very far reaching consequences across the planes...

Apologies to those who were awaiting news of FoaE, as I don't like having to shelve it, but I simply don't see it getting finished in a reasonable timeframe, and would rather focus my efforts on projects that I know can be completed.

Status: Fate of a City 1.11

In what I foresee as the final release for Fate of a City, I've uploaded version 1.11 of the mod onto the vault. Featuring a few more tweaks to combat difficulty, area and sound design, and a few miscellaneous script fixes and typo corrections, it should make the module about as unbreakable and polished as is possible barring some weird and unforeseen circumstances. That said, if future patches break things, I will come back to it and find the solutions.

So, if you haven't done so already, or you want to kill some time before Mysteries of Westgate is released, play through Fate of a City - it will get your character to the perfect level to start playing the new adventure pack.