Hydlaa was in an uproar. Somebody had desecrated  the garden of Xiosia, the goddess of life. Jardet was kneeling in front of the sacred tree, frantically begging forgiveness for his negligence. The wooden staff he was clutching in his hands was covered in sweat.

"Jardet!" a voice thundered over the murmuring of the onlookers. "What is this madness?" The crowd parted and Jardet found himself looking upward at the double chin of the Octarch. Still on his knees, he quickly turned to face the wrath of the authority which was more terrible than the wrath of his god.

"I didn't know, Your Majesty!" he pleaded and his forehead touched the grass, sweat and dew mixing together.

"You are in charge of this garden. How are my guards to keep the peace when the citizens can't even protect the tiny piece of land they live on? And the most appalling is you were safely in bed when it happened! Who did you leave your garden to? For the street ruffians and pickpockets to congregate in? Not to mention you don't have a house so whose bed did you share? You're a priest, for god's sake, and if you don't know decency and can't take responsibility of the grass, trees and flowers in this garden, I'll just seal it and be done with it!"

Silence fell as the Octarch looked around for somebody to disagree. As no one did, he said in a much calmer voice, "Show it to me". One of the guards lead him to the tree at the back of the garden where a body hung off a branch. A rope cut deep into the fur around the neck of the corpse.

"There was a note was well," said the guard as he handed the piece of parchment to the Octarch. The note read:

"In this place of life I embrace death. I pray those concerned will understand and accept my choice. Live in the name of life."

The Octarch snorted, "Another mad mouse committing suicide. Clean up here and toss the body into the well."

He turned around and left the garden, the crowd parting again to make way. Behind him the wind played with the corpse, turning it around and around on the rope. Both hands and paws were missing and a black glass bead stuck out of the meat of the left cheek. In the trunk of the sacred tree somebody had cut in the name "Morla".

Hello!

I have been away from Planeshift for quite a while and now I want to return. However I have to start from scratch now. I mean I'm waiting for my brand-new notebook to be delivered to me in the next days and then I want to install Linux on it. Yeah  I have finally decided to get rid of Windows  !
So my question actually is what Linux distro to choose? I haven't tried Linux before. The laptop I have chosen is HP 6715s(it comes with Free-DOS) (I don't have enough money at the moment in order to buy a better one, just a poor student  ) and I want to get the best out of that notebook in order to be able to play Planeshift.

What do you say? Which one to choose?

greetings
morla

Hello!

My mining level is nearly 4, I have mined at the shop successfully before but now I get the message "You don't see a good place to dig". I also don't see other miners there. Doesn't the mine at the Magic Shop exist any more or do I just need a higher mining level in order to mine there? I have this problem since the mining rates for gold ore got lower.

Thank you
Greetings, Morla

"Hello, known and unknown friends!

I have been wandering among you for some time sharing your food and drink, your fears, wishes, everyday problems. And I think it's high time to grab the chance and introduce myself here officially. Stop being just a shadow and come into the light of the Azure Sun. Excuse me if I don't express myself properly. I'm not used to talk about myself in front of so many people", the young Enkidukai looks around smiling.

"I wasn't born in Yliakum. I came here when my home city was burnt by the Unknown. Back in that time I was a child but I still remember the horror of the others. I see them running back and forth in panic. And then silence fell over the streets like fog. The Unknown were coming bringing with them darkness and pain. Soundless pain, more torturing than any other because you can't do anything to feel a relief, not even scream... I was standing there feeling the pain of the dying tremble in the silence", a shiver runs through the body of the lady. She swallows with difficulty trying to control but her face loses its peaceful shine. She's looking down to the ground so nobody can see her eyes. "Then my father suddenly caught my hand. We started running. Where to didn't matter... just...just away from this city of death", Morla pauses for a moment. "My father saw the pterofix. We climbed on its back and that was our rescue. As we looked at the city, there was all fire and smoke... My father said: 'There is a place where you will be safe. But it's far away.'"

Morla sighs. "I don't remember much about the time of travel. When I grew up, I was told my father had died in the Stone Labyrinths. A guard had found me and brought me to Ojaveda" The lady looks at Herah and smiles. "Then I was living in a village near Oja. One day I was sent to the city to sell some vegetables. It was the day I met Herah. My life changed. She showed me being a servant girl isn't the one possible way for me in life. As I was sitting by the fire in Herah's utlic, she looked at me and said: 'You are not the first who is sitting on this carpet looking forward to a new life'. That was the start. Since that moment I believed that I can really change my life. And I began to lose my fear. Bit by bit." Morla smiles again, her eyes closed. She seems to be lost somewhere far away, in her dreams or maybe in the future. She nods at the listeners and walks off.