January Newsletter from Iron Realms Entertainment

Announcing Earth Eternal!

Iron Realms announced Earth Eternal, its first graphical MUD recently, and we couldn't be happier. Have a look at the website and sign up for the Earth Eternal newsletter if you'd like a chance to be part of the alpha or beta test.

Credit Bonus
The 20% credit bonus has been extended by an extra two weeks from its original end date. Take action today as it will end promptly at midnight on January 15th.

Lusternia
In Lusternia, a mysterious invasion of serpentine creatures plagued the newly formed nexus worlds. The Elder Gods became concerned with what might be sending these creatures against Lusternia, so the Gods left to track down the source of the invasion. The serpentine creatures broke free from the nexus worlds and entered the prime material plane. Alarmed, the greatest minds in the Basin of Life designed constructs to be raised in the nexus worlds to repel the invasion. While the constructs were able to repel the invaision in the nexus worlds, an enormous serpent arose from the Sea of Despair and wrapped itself around the Megalith of Doom. Ancient prophesies predicted the end of creation if the Nine Seals imprisoning the Soulless Gods were not weakened. After much debate, the seals were weakened, fragmenting the great serpent, and releasing the power of Almighty Kethuru.

Estarra the Eternal announced that the only way to recharge the Nine Seals was to immediately initiate an Ascension Event. Check in throughout January 2007 to witness one mortal rise to godhood!

Aetolia
In the last month of the year, Aetolia embarked on an extraordinary effort to entirely eradicate all reported bugs. Hundreds of bugs were resolved in December covering everything from misbehaving guards to hyperactive vibes. Extensive attention was also given to perfecting the undead curing system. In the eternal unfolding tale of the Midnight Age, Xzato Cardinalis conquered the Tekal and Azudim forms in one month while Lord Slyphe stormed the realm with His awakening. A massive experience-gathering event marked the end of the year, with great credit prizes awarded to the ten highest scorers. Meanwhile, the decorative trees, holly boughs and mistletoe that had been spread across the land for the Celesmas celebrations were so enraged at the constant noise from the drunken New Year's reveling that they came alive. The furious foliage had to be blown apart with fireworks to stop their threat to Sapience. The New Year promises to be one of torment and conquest as the undead and living continue to struggle endlessly for control of the world.

Imperian
December heralded a massive invasion by the Horde. Three distinct armies led by powerful generals caused mass chaos as they attempted to conquer the continent. Displaying astounding endurance, the citizens managed to fend off the army, destroying the generals, laying siege to the commander's hidden outpost, and returning Aetherius to an uneasy peace.

Additionally, the Guild Charter system has been implemented, allowing groups to form their own Guilds and Guildhouses, ushering in a new age of player generated content to Imperian. Assuming they meet the requirements, Charters can be formed to create new guilds with unique configurations within the organisations and circles they choose. We eagerly wait to see who will raise the first Chartered Guild. Those interested can read about it here!

Achaea
In the aftermath of such tumultuous occurrences as the birth of the goddess Artemis late in November, the month of December was a relatively quiet one in Achaea, at least to immediate outward appearances. Amidst the usual Logosmas celebrations, the forces of Evil continued their relentless assault upon the city of Shallam, which has thus far fought back valiantly but has yet to match the might of their oppressors. A project long in the works, the Official Quick Start Guide for new adventurers, was completed; it has been published on Achaea's website and will soon be available in various formats for easy printing and download. Behind the scenes, the immortals of Achaea forged ahead on several major ongoing projects, including preparing a major update for the Serpent class for release in early January, as well as several new areas to explore. The month of January promises much more excitement to come, including the release of the aforementioned class updates and areas, and intriguing new developments in the expansion of Achaea's admin-supported roleplay events!

As we move into 2007, I find a lot to look forward to with Iron Realms, and I hope you'll feel the same. Each game has big plans for the year, and we're going to be moving the games to a new ISP later this month that will increase reliability and decrease lag. We're also going to be introducing Iron Realms-wide 'accounts' soon after that which will let you, if you wish, use one password for all your characters on Iron Realms, and which will also lead to some interesting things in the future that we're not ready to talk about yet. Earth Eternal will be released this year, as will Midkemia Online, our text MUD that's in development.

Thank you so much to all of you for helping to make 2006 another great year. We'll do our best to ensure 2007 is even better.

Sincerely,

Matt Mihály
CEO, Iron Realms Entertainment