Sharpening the Blades

Terrapax had a quick chat with Floryn and Mellified this month about Sharpening the Blades.

Floryn: "I am not sure when we started with this event but we have had quite a few of these to date. The idea behind it is to see how new members are getting along in the cabal. We don't just want to let them loose after the recruitment is over. What I like about the event is that not only new members are present, but also leaders and other interested members. So, it's a nice social event and I am always really happy to see a big turnout. Another thing I like is that it gives us a new ideas about things we take for granted or have done a specific way for a long time."

Mellified: "After rather unexpectedly being promoted to leader of the Dussack division (Dussack - a training sword usually made of wood, fact fans), I’m afraid I haven’t done much! I feel I must apologise to existing Dussack members as I have not contacted them directly (yet). However, as Floryn is happy to carry on running the Sharpening the Blades sessions, and Durendal usually deals with Discipline stuff, I’ve been thinking about how to help people to find their place and progress in Nine Swords.

As a MMO, The Secret World is designed for the long run - and with so much new content and concepts recently the level and experience of Nine Swords members is bound to run all the way from starting out right through to veteran. How can we cater for all their needs? With only so many hours in the day how can we run regular scheduled events to suit all experience levels? Here’s some of the ideas/issues I’ve been thinking about:

• Encouraging more people to sign up and use the forums on the web-site for scheduled events
• Encourage our members to ask more for help
• Scheduling more lower level sessions for content in the safe environment of a group of Cabal members
• Offering more Training sessions again (like Tanking 101), and the promotion of the workshops
• Regular sessions that are chosen by a new member - an hour with a group or a person to help with content or concepts.

I would welcome more ideas and input from everyone - especially new members.

Sharpening the Blades is usually held on the last Saturday of each month. If you are a new member in our cabal, Floryn will send you a direct invite via PM to this event, though as he said - all members are very welcome to attend and the events are always posted in our Noticeboard forum area.

How to schedule events on our Noticeboard

Everyone in Nine Swords is encouraged to schedule events - and when you do so, to post them in our Noticeboard forum area and create an "Associated Event" so that it shows up on our calendar. To do this, please follow these steps: <ol "type=1">

• Create a new thread in the Noticeboard forum area.
• Give your event a "Subject name" that means people know what you are doing and when!
• In the new thread you create, you need to explain what you are doing and how.
• Add your event to the calendar.

The Secret World in the Real World: by Floryn

H.P. Lovecraft

One of the streets in Kingsmouth is called ‘Lovecraft Lane’ and for a reason.

From Wikipedia: Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Virtually unknown and only published in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre.

There is quite a lot to be found on H.P. Lovecraft in relation to The Secret World, like these:

• Lovecrafts influence on The Secret World at mmorpg
• Lovecraftian themes in The Secret World at lovecraftzine
• HP Lovecraft and Call of Cthulhu in the TSW forums

And even in our own forum information can be found.

If this got you interested in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Google a bit and you are sure to find something of your liking.

Competition: Name their match!

Antanahe is responsible for this issues competition! And as we are coming up to Valentines day, we have a couples theme. The idea of the competition is to find the "couples" in the Secret World. You need to find the in-game match / associated person to link with the names in the list below. Consider that there doesn't have to be a romantic link between them!! Once you think you know all the names to create the couples, send your answers in a 9S forum PM to Antanahe.

• Dame Julia
• Gozen
• Cern
• Luminita
• Lilith
• Katelin
• John Galahad
• Tango
• Montgomery de la Rock
• Vlad Dracula
• Freddy Beaumont
• Nassir

This competition is open only to members of Nine Swords cabal, prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. The prizes that Antanahe will award are:

• 1st prize: Orochi Hover-Tech Snowboard OR Hermes MT600 OR Grievous Augment (winner's choice)
• 2nd prize: 1 million pax
• 3rd prize: 500 000 pax

In the case of a tie, a tie-breaker question will be used. Entries must be submitted, via forum PM to Antanahe, by Saturday 27th February 2016 at 12noon GMT. The winners will be announced in the next issue of The Sword's Edge!

Lupus Magnus. A Nine Swords tale - Chapter 3.

For previous episodes of this tale, click here or check out the previous issues of The Sword's Edge.

Part 3 - “Countdown”.

Aberlour advanced quickly but carefully. When he reached the corner of the building he waited for a firm pat on the shoulder and when the signal that the rest of the team is ready came, he thrust his head out and returned to his previous position momentarily. “Clear” he whispered and moved forward clinging to the structure’s wall. Luckily, there were no windows on this side of the building so the unit progressed swiftly. Now they stood at the outskirts of the small square that lied in front of the warehouse. “Moving in to provide cover” said Kate as she positioned herself in front of Abe. They exchanged nods and she knelt and leaned slightly to scan the vicinity, finger on her AR’s trigger. “I can see the vat. Blue, do you think you could flush him out for me?” she asked over the radio. “Shouldn’t be a problem” he responded.

Blue squinted slightly as he looked through the sight of his rocket launcher. He aimed carefully. He had always had a steady hand but this situation called for extra caution. A mistake on his part could turn their entire operation into a disaster. After all, it wouldn’t do to destroy what they’d come to retrieve, would it? Blue held his breath, squeezed the trigger and did not miss. A patch of earth a dozen metres from the hidden agent erupted into a cloud of smoke and dust. It was enough to convince the Orochi agent to risk making a beeline towards the small building where some of his comrades had sought refuge. Unluckily for him, a bee was waiting for him to make his move and the moment he appeared in Kate’s reticle there was one less Orochi to worry about. “Nice one, Blue” she praised him. “I aim to please” he answered with a pun that could make Floryn envious.

“Alright, people” said Kate “Let’s clear them out quickly. Floryn will create a smokescreen, Oxara and Marlo will distract them with a few shots. I and Mel will watch the warehouse and the rest of you will charge in and deal with those hide-and-seekers. Sonno, do you think your boom stick can manage opening that door?” Kate smiled at the Australian. “That flimsy thing? Too easy!” laughed Sonno. “Good. If Oxi was right to complain, you’ll have to deal with two of them. If not - three. Everybody ready?” a series of confirmations answered her question. “In that case: Floryn smoke!” she said quickly.

A moment later the area between the vat and the Orochi haven was filled with a vision-obstructing shroud and both ‘Hammer’ and ‘Sword’ darted towards their positions accompanied by the cracks of sniper fire. “Cover provided!” shouted Katelin as she and Mel hid behind the vat. “Sonno! Time for some boom-boom!”. “Boom it is!” the Australian Templar responded and pointed her shotgun at the door. A moment later the lock was obliterated by a swarm of lead and fire and the door itself was nearly thrown off of its hinges. Abe finished what Sonno had started when his foot shod in a heavy military boot sent the pathetic remnant of the door flying inside the building.

They didn’t wait for it to fall. Abe went in brandishing his sword and turned left followed by Anta who turned right. Sonno came in last ready to provide assistance to either of her companions. She heard a loud gurgling sound and turned her head towards Aberlour just in time to see bubbling blood oozing from the skewered throat of an Orochi assailant. Abe kicked the rifle his victim had dropped away and quickly scanned the room. It was empty with nowhere for a person to hide. “One down” he reported. When Anta emerged from the cloud of dust and chips that was the aftermath of Sonno’s subtle lock picking she saw two rooms, first of which was empty. Keeping her pistols at eye-level she cautiously advanced towards the second room. There was no door and the room seemed vacant as well but she wasn’t one for letting her guard down. As if on cue, two enemies emerged from either side of the empty door frame, raising their firearms to shoot at her. Too slow. Anta’s reaction was instantaneous - two quick, precise headshots sent her foes’ limp bodies tumbling to the floor. “Two down” she informed her team members. “Looks like Marlo didn’t steal your kill after all, Oxi” she remarked over the radio. Oxara responded with a “humph” and Anta chuckled.

“Clear, Kate” said Antanahe. “It seems that all we’ve got to worry about now are those guys in the ware…” she broke off. “What is it, Anta?” Kate’s worried response came quickly. There was a second of silence and then Anta’s voice came of the radio, cold and to-the-point. “A countdown”. A moment later Abe joined her and looked at a small device that was strapped to one of the corpse’s wrist. He took a quick look “It’s not a detonator” he evaluated. “It’s just showing the countdown. Seven minutes” he added. “There are no explosives on the vat” Mel chimed in after a fast investigation of the trolley. “Wouldn’t make much sense. It’s probably in or under the warehouse”.

Katelin’s mind raced. A few seconds later her plan of action was ready. “Floryn! Smoke on the vat! Then call for immediate extraction! And tell them to step on it! After that get here as quickly as you can!”. “Roger that!” Floryn’s answer was quick and terse. There was no time for humour now. Kate’s next orders were accompanied by thuds of landing smoke grenades and hiss of the escaping gas. “’Fist’! Cover the us! Blue, if they so much as stick their noses out, blow them up!”. “Confirmed” he answered. “The rest of you” Kate paused for a moment and pointed at the trolley. “Pull!”.

Gun were holstered. Abe’s sword was sheathed. Abe and Mel, swiftly joined by Floryn, pushed. The others pulled. The trolley moved. Even though bees are significantly stronger than normal human beings it took all their strength as they hauled the vat towards the gate.
“Six minutes” moaned Abe looking at the device he had taken from the dead body. “Put your backs into it, people!” groaned Kate. Floryn was going to make a perspicacious and insightful remark when a sound of a missile exploding and a wave of hot air came at them from the direction of the warehouse. “I would like to state for the record that I did see an actual nose” communicated Blue. They all chuckled. The blast wave blew some of smoke away but the Orochi had more pressing concerns than the theft of their stolen cargo. After all, they were in all likelihood sitting on a bomb.

“Five minutes”. They were slowly approaching the gate when Marlo’s voice rasped in their earpieces. “They’re coming out! Watch your backs!”. They looked around and saw the Orochi dashing out of the warehouse into the dissipating smoke. Blue’s reaction was immediate but all his shot did was carry the last of the escaping foes a few metres on its blast wave. Two shots penetrated his torso as he was trying to scramble to his feet. “You’ve got two of them somewhere behind the buildings to my left”. “Understood” said Kate. “Sonno, deal with them” the order was quick. Sonno reloaded her boom stick decisively and trotted away. A moment later two shotgun bursts came sounded nearby and she ran back to the trolley. “I would like to report that Orochi population in this region is now exactly zero” she smiled. “Good girl” praised Kate “Now, pull! Marlo” she added “Do a last sweep of the compound and get the team out of here”. “Understood”.

The clock was reaching two minutes when they got a few hundred metres away from the compound and heard the familiar whirl of their helicopter. It took them another minute to attach the vat and climb onto the rope ladders dropped from the vehicle. “Alright! Get us out of here!” shouted Kate. The engines struggled with the additional weight but the vessel slowly gained altitude as it headed away from the compound.

“Time’s up” said Abe and they all turned their gazes towards the site of the battle. A few seconds later they saw a flash and a thick pillar of dark fumes started to rise steadily. The sound of the explosion was a low growl, not unlike a storm still looming on the horizon, but quickly approaching.

They hadn’t expected this operation to go down the way it did but they had what they came for and for the moment it was all that mattered.

Big Trouble in the South China Sea - Episode 2

Written by Mellified

“Go fish”

"What?”

“GO FISH!”

"Hmmmmphhhhh”

“Right, Shock - have you got any threes?” ShockG handed over his two threes and with a look of triumph Kisshoten laid down all her cards. “Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I win again!” Mellified was dumbfounded - that was the sixteenth time that Kisshoten had won. Surely it was against all the laws of probability, and if she didn’t know Kiss better, she would suspect foul play.

“How is that possible, Kiss?”

“Either the random number gods are smiling on my cards, or it’s just a highly unlikely but still probable statistical occurrence Mel. An outlier. Just like the reason behind this mission and why we are all sitting in the cabin of this pleasure cruiser sailing the South China Sea. Getting cabin fever and being poisoned by Shock’s socks. Taking turns with the binoculars on deck like lucky Hinoki. Hoping that Hit-Parade will not play that David Bowie compilation again.” Kiss looked pointedly at H-P and his finger froze over the PLAY button of the mp3 player remote control.

“Don’t you remember the mission briefing?”

Swords, this month you get a special Valentines extra cheeky part to Episode 2 of this story, follow this link to keep reading...

What's your name?

Terrapax has been asking around in the cabal for our members to explain where their names and/or nicknames came from? Are they special or just random? First up - Mellified and Floryn...

Shirley "Mellified" Temp
I was trying for Shirley Templar because I thought that it sounded like Shirley Temple (the actress) but the game would not let me use Templar, so I settled for Temp. The definition of Mellified is something that has been preserved in Honey which I thought was appropriate for the game!

Dutch 'Floryn' Hollander
Well, first of all about my name. I wanted it to scream 'Holland!'.
My last name was simple. My first name was quite easy too, so Dutch Hollander was born. Then of course I needed a middle name and for that I dug into some sentimental feelings about the guilder. From wikipedia: Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German gulden, originally shortened from Middle High German guldin pfenninc "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empire for the Fiorino d'oro (introduced 1252). Hence, the name has often been interchangeable with florin (currency sign ƒ. or ƒl.). (Also, 'Dfl.' was used as a currency sign for the guilder too, Dfl: Dutch Florin.). That lead to Floryn, with a 'y' because I thought that made it look a bit more English. Some people mistakenly think that my middle name comes from a Dutch alcoholic drink (although it's a funny side-effect), and some people think that Floryn is a girl's name but that's not true either!!"