Cultist Rituals
Our research team is analyzing the recordings and we have a team of scholars trying to translate the transcripts. They appear to be conducted in an ancient language. The following are censored excerpts from the initial reports that we have released into the public domain.
“From the little we could translate by cross referencing the archived material, we can see that the word ‘Gof'n Hupadgh’ is significant and this is definitely a form of ritual sacrifice. Analysis of the audio suggests that the screams are authentic. I fear the worst for <REDACTED>.”
“This incantation is known to us and is an attempt at resurrection. The peculiar thing about this ritual is that it appears to be the the resurrection of <REDACTED>. It is possible that a very cruel form of repeated punishment is being administered.
“The repeated use of ‘gof'nn’ and similarity to documented rituals seems to suggest that fertility is a dominant theme. If successful this chant could have a significant influence on the creature population”
“A successful translation of the word ‘uln,’ which means to summon, leads us to the conclusion that there was some kind of attempt at communication beyond Monria”
We are still decoding the rituals performed, and some of this material is sensitive, but it is clear that there have been evil acts performed by the cult in the name of Cthulhu. It seems impossible to believe, but our initial investigation suggests that the occult deeds have fulfilled their purpose.
Field Reconnaissance
Field agents and undercover operatives have been dispatched, and those that remain have returned initial reports. What follows is part of a short wave transmission from deep inside the caves.
“It is worse than we thought! Even though the broadcasts have been disabled, there are strange melodies drifting through the atmosphere. The creatures seem to be driven by these sounds, and in certain parts of the caves, ritual chants appear to be still occurring. They are attacking in droves. I barely made it this far and am not sure how I can return. I will continue on.”
“I have made it through the tunnels and you won’t believe the change in here. The creatures are growing in strength and I have spotted new maturities. There is not a human in sight, they have devoured them all. I am the only one.”
“I am in a deep cavern surrounded by crystals. It appears that the Yogs have managed to reproduce, the cavern is full of hatchlings and some weak adults. My best guess is that this is some kind of Yog hatchery”
“In the distance I can see a Leprechaun. Wait, he looks a little different. He is wearing a gold coat and seems to be taming the hatchlings. They are responding to him and actually performing tricks. I think our old allies are using their abilities to make the hatchlings more docile!”
A Word from K’Tan Partathus
A letter has just been received via an emissary, it is from K’tan Partathus the Arch Follower of Cthulhu, formerly presumed to be the leader of the Monria arm of the Cult of Shut'thend. The letter in its entirety is published below:
To my oppressors,
I am the oppressed. I am the innocent that falls by your sword. You are the infidel with your worship of machines and the gratification of self. Your modern decadence is abhorrent to me, and I will destroy all that you have built. All non-believers will die in the name of the Great Old One.
Where are the Pain Lords to defend you now? The one that hides in shadows serves us now, and your contraptions resist.
As we the cult wait for the Great Old One to return from his slumber, we have enacted our ancient rituals. The Elder Things call and the Shoggoths answer. Conscientia is reborn and the believers rejoice. Azathoth bestows great power upon his lineage and we reclaim Monria for our Gods and for ourselves. We will crush you as we have crushed your forebearers. Your smog will no longer be tolerated.
Do not think the little people can help you, because the children of Yog Sothoth thrive and hold dominion in the darker places.
To the deceiver and falsely proclaimed Moon Manager, you are but a pawn in the cosmic game. Did you think that destroying the instruments of pain was your own idea? Tru'nembra now sings freely and his voice drowns the stench of your foul machines. I have claimed your waves for my own and we will no longer be forced to endure the torture of your sounds.
Bend your knee and join us. Defy us and face insanity or worse. The Guardian of R'lyeh has returned to lead the Cult of Shut'thend, and your frivolities will no longer be tolerated.
Cthulhu fhtagn,
K’Tan Partathus
(the Arch Follower of Cthulhu)
My Response
I will be joining @Sith Meister's Full Cave TP Run on Saturday. I encourage all Monrians to return home during our scheduled flight. We will need all the help we can get to cleanse the caves.
I will give my response then, nobody, and I mean nobody describes Vanilla Ice as torture!
St Patrick's Day Event
As usual there is someone trying to ruin the party, and the Cultists appear to be attempting to once again rain on our parade. Luckily, we always expect the unexpected, and we’ve been planning this year's event for a while. The only setback is that Trip Kaminsky was heavily involved in the planning, and now appears to have been adversely affected by the evil broadcasts. The medical assessment is, that he is harmless enough but he does seem to think he is Irish!
Update:
The Tunnels and Caves
The Cultists are performing ancient rituals and have summoned creatures of greater strength to the tunnels and caverns. These rituals continue in the caves and other dark places causing strange occurrences.
- 12 new and rarer maturities have been added across the mob types. This change includes one boss for each mob type.
- The caves and tunnel areas now contain higher maturity mobs
- Better creature spawners have been added throughout the caves and tunnels
- Shubs now spawn more frequently
- 4 Additional wave spawners have been added (one for each mob type).
It appears that through some kind of fertility ritual the Yogs have been able to procreate and the Broodmothers are laying eggs in a secret location in the caverns. The pregnancy could explain the strange behavior of the Broodmothers who recently have screamed out in pain more frequently. The Leprechauns, known for their creature empathy, appear to be taming the hatchlings in an attempt to ensure that they don’t become feral.
- 3 rare Leprechaun pets have been added, each with their own rare buff
- Yog Hatchling and rare Yog Horror pets have been added, sharing their own unique buff.
Trip Kaminsky is acting quite strange and is offering some kind of reward related to our St Patrick’s Day Event. He was in charge of some aspects of the event planning before he went insane. If you can make any sense out of him, there could be a nice keepsake in it for you. We have also gone through a full disciplinary procedure with Chuck Iverson. He will no longer be offering free rides to Calypso.
- ‘A break from Insanity’ mission is updated so that it doesn’t send Monrian Borns to Calypso as part of the mission chain.
- A mission has been added to Trip Kaminsky as a small appreciation for our Monrian regulars and St Patrick’s Day event party goers.
- General tweaks to existing missions, text updates etc.
By destroying our own broadcasters to combat attempts by the Cultists to perform their sacred rites, we have inadvertently disabled the audio stream in all outdoor areas. Unfortunately this has given greater influence to Tru'nembra who now roams freely. His music can be heard throughout the craters, caverns and caves. The strangely melodic tunes can affect the mind of the listener and influence their mood. In another turn of events, K’tan appears to be operating some kind of pirate radio station that can be heard indoors and playing whatever it is that the followers of Cthulhu have in their music collection!
- New In game music has been added with different playlists for different areas on Monria to better reflect the atmosphere we want.
- The radio stream is now restricted to indoor areas, and the playlist updated in line with our creative vision for Monria.
It seems that some of our new colonists have taken to hunting Yogs in the burrow. As a safety precaution we have culled the higher maturity Yogs and added a revive area close by.
- A revive has been added to Yogs Burrow
- The maturity of the Yog spawn has been reduced to Yog Scrubs
- The mining stronghold box is now lootable on Monria as “Something Out of The Ordinary”
- South Crater TP has been renamed to “DSEC Mining Camp”
- West Crater TP has been renamed to “DSEC Military Camp”
- the renaming of these 2 craters is to be more in line with Monria's storyline
- The K’Tan wave spawner ‘The Gathering’ has been relocated
- The Leprechaun creature capsules now cause the avatar to become the Evil Leprechaun and not a 'tamable' pet
- The global threshold for the Yog Broodmother has been corrected (no more low globals)
- The Green Leprechaun pet spawn has been adjusted
- The lighting issues in the Monria Hub and at DSEC Military Camp are still not resolved. There is a more fundamental issue with lighting on Monria that is being investigated so the root cause can be established. This one I am particularly sorry about as I have been promising a fix for a while. It is my highest priority bug right now.
- Issues with in-game music at Monria Hub
- In-game music stream is played everywhere on Monria - deselect live streaming in Options to hear new in-game music.
- Play list in DSEC Forensics doesn't have all the tracks
Summary:
A lot of the re-work in this release has been focused on the hunting experience. The thinking is that the cave areas are dedicated to the higher maturity mobs so that players who want to hunt higher level Shoggoths for example, can find dedicated spawns. Some of our maturities just got a whole lot tougher, providing more of a challenge in each of the mob type brackets :running. Hopefully this will encourage team hunting.
The re-spawning of the mobs throughout the cave areas has also been greatly improved, the Shub hunting experience should be much better now for example. Everything we know about the mobs on Monria, in Wikis, etc has potentially changed with this and the previous release. I encourage the community to learn about the creature changes, attributes etc and update their notes accordingly.
Another important aspect of this release is the atmospheric changes mainly through the use of audio. We have received some compliments on our music stream (although I’m sure some of you are just too polite to say anything about my music taste). The stream was really just a stop gap and something that I already had in place for Club Sweat. The audio changes are more inline with my thoughts on what will be our own identity.
If I have to listen to one more person asking for a Yog pet….. We couldn’t not add a Yog pet at some point, and the rare Leprechauns were always something I wanted. Also, with Wang having the faith in Monria to invest significantly in our stable, taming automatically became important for Monria’s future. I just wish I had got that lighting fixed! I am also pleased that we will have our own buff that I personally will be looking forward to getting unlocked.
Finally, as a sign of our appreciation to all those who support us and come to our events, we have added a St Patrick’s Day Event mission with a small token reward as a keepsake. Yes, you will need to come to the event to collect the reward
Please post any bugs and suggestions the relevant section so that I can take it on board.
That’s all folks,
Ant
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