Nine Swords Fantasy Five A-Side Dungeon Group Competition.

Unfortunately, Bett Splatter, ex-President of Fantasy Investment Fivers Association, was unable to allocate a winner for the Nine Swords Fantasy Five A-Side Dungeon Group Competition. This does not mean that we will not endeavour to try again in the future. Watch this space.

Big Trouble in the South China Sea - Episode 8.

By Mellified

Latest Progress Report from Sirena Island

Our ‘hiding in plain sight’ strategy is paying off. The Chinese around us are so focused on concreting over these ‘disputed’ islands and supposedly ‘extending’ their territorial waters that they assume we are part of their construction teams. They don’t let little things like ‘international law’ or ‘environmental concerns’ worry them. To satellites we look like another Chinese island and their warships and gunboats have been effective in keeping away any would-be snoopers. Filipino labour is cheap and experienced in concrete construction techniques. Our schedule is well on track and we have been able to finance much of the operation from the rich pickings ‘obtained’ from the passing shipping. On her last inspection Operative Lydia was most impressed - we have implemented all her recommendations.

The Sirena (the local word for the mermaid-like creatures we discovered) seem to have calmed down now that we have their eggs and children in our ‘custody’. The small lagoon in the centre of this innocuous island where they have existed for so many years has been incorporated into our construction, as they sicken and die if they are kept away from it. After the ‘demonstration’ of how vulnerable their offspring are to the impact of heavy objects, they do not use their ‘song’ upon us any more. We have found that a cage of reinforced steel mesh that they cannot climb is the most efficient means of ‘containing’ them, as anything solid results in sonic feedback and liquified body parts. As a side note, we have found that they cannot bear to have any kind of roof over them - we have therefore made their mesh cage an open cylinder with the top of the ‘walls’ well above their reach.

Research into their ‘song’ is more problematic. Anyone caught in range is instantly rendered unconscious and upon reawakening it is found that their short term memory has been wiped, including any memory of the song and the Sirena. There is an instant transition from unconsciousness to wakefulness so that some ‘volunteer’ test subjects have been completely unaware that anything has happened. This obviously makes investigating this ability difficult, but it would explain why the myths of mermaids (and the Mary Celeste type incidents) have been so prevalent in this area.

However, chaining Sirena to speedboats and using them as mobile stun devices has enabled us to perfect the art of stealthy modern piracy, as the crews we target do not remember anything about us, the robbery or the Sirena. As long as we only take a few ‘choice’ items from inside containers that will not be noticed until they get to port, it is the perfect crime.

Our small team of scientists here have also made some progress developing a sonic cannon, using the unique sound ‘signature’ of the song (as far as they can reverse engineer the physical component of it). Three have gone deaf, but a working prototype is now at the field testing stage. The range of our piracy is obviously limited to a circle around ‘Sirena Island’ at the moment, but if we can ‘mimic’ the powers of the ‘song’ using some kind of device then we can export this type of operation to any geographical location.

Morale is high, as some items discovered in the containers are truly ‘surprising’. However, we need a much more regular supply of spaghetti, as noodles are not an acceptable culinary substitute.

Nine Swords Call to Arms!

In the last issue of The Sword's Edge, we invited you to take part in a survey - it was called Nine Swords Call to Arms. The survey focussed on PvE events in the cabal and it was hoped that we could gain feedback from you as to how we as a cabal can provide opportunities for improving your PvE experience via cabal events.

The survey is now closed, and the results are in - the main result I saw was that only "end game" members of the cabal took time to fill it out, which was a bit of a shame as we had really hoped it could highlight areas where our lower geared members would like some help!! That said - all feedback is good feedback...

The members that did fill it out have on the whole requested more of what we are already doing, which is dungeon runs, helping learn new roles and working towards completing dungeon content that we haven't done so much of as a cabal (ie. the NM versions of raids). The main area that was highlighted as an area that we could do more of, which we don't do so much of generally, is achievement hunting. Therefore - as a follow up to the survey, I would like to talk with our division leaders and see how our divisions can help that on top of what is already being done with dungeons, lairs and 10k hunting.. there are so many achievements to be gained - we should be able to work something out!

So.. if you filled out the survey, thank you very much! If you have ideas about how we can work on the achievement hunting in the cabal - please get in touch!!

The Secret World in the Real World: by Floryn

The Secret World in the Real World: by Floryn

A lot of things in the Secret World are based on actual stories, events, art, etcetera. The Real Secret World will highlight one of the things you can see in the Secret World and tell you something about it’s origin in the real world.

Today’s highlight is 'Victory Hotel', now showing in the Rackham cinema. This film is not entirely fictional; it is featured in another Funcom game called ‘The Longest Journey’.

The film is set in a hotel where all exits "lead back inside". For this reason, the protagonist (who is heard talking to some other character trapped just as he is) cannot leave the hotel. Moreover, apparently "they are coming" and their dialogue notes that both of them will die. The scene ends with a loop to the beginning, when the door to the room where the two characters are opens, supposedly, to let "them" in. (from TLJwiki)