A little over two weeks ago, when I sent out the blotter to the mailing list that I was planning on reviving Ubique's Weekly, I received a larger response than I expected.  Most people responded simply as I said was good enough.  But amongst the dozens of simple yeses, I also received this happy little note from everybody's favorite viking.  This response put a smile on my day, and it keeps me smiling every time I set out to work on compiling another issue of this newsletter.

Hei EssMun! ::grin::
 
Terrific! Of course I would like to read the revived Weekly. It might get me over here to play more.
 
I am glad to "see" you again. Can not wait for the issue to read.
 
Tusen takk from your viking friend,
Guthorms

I figured that little snippet made for a good start to this week's issue.  More people than I expected responded to my revival e-mail.  Comments like the one above always put a smile on my day, and my week, and my month.  They stick with me and keep me motivated to continue fighting the good fight of Mutual Endeavors.  I wanted to share that small measure of happiness with the rest of you before plodding along with the rest of the news.  Unfortunately, not all news is good news.

Top Story! 

I give you this one thought to keep -
I am with you still - I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the sweet uplifting rush,
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft starts that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still in each new dawn.

Today I write with sorrow.  Today you read my regrets.  I wish I had received the news sooner so that something so impactful was not already so many days old.  Last week I should have included this message from Dechirant, but it completely slipped my mind.  When I sent out the blotter that I intended on reviving Ubique's Weekly, she wrote to tell me that one of the founding fathers of the RDI had been hospitalized for quite some time.  I meant to share that news so that others could keep him in their prayers and thoughts as well.  Late Thursday evening, I received this instead:


Norman M. Talley, Jr., better known to the role-playing world as Fayalki, passed away on May 22nd at 2:30pm. He was 73 years old. He retired from the Airforce a number of years ago, and has one son who is a police officer in Georgia. His younger brother Joe was with him in the end.

Norm was passionate about the RDI, and was both the official and unofficial guardian of it for about a decade. His character Fayalki/RDI Fayalki (aka: Hunter) served thousands of drinks, including his famous [version of the] Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. He was an enormous advocate for maintaining RP rooms that were 'snert-free' zones.

Some of you may have been among the 41 guests who attended Fayalki and Dechirant's wedding on December 10th of 2000. Perhaps you attended one of the masquerades, winter festivals, spring flings, etc.  With any luck, when Fayalki and Dey were on duty at the RDI, no one left without a drink and a smile.

None of you can know how much this meant to Norm. He had been fighting esophageal cancer that metastisized to the brain, and then finally the lungs, for the past six years. Thank you each one of you for helping give him these miraculous 'extra' years when he was given a less than 5% chance of surviving even a few.

Other than role playing, he loved cats, Native American culture and history, science fiction, and tracking the weather. If you could role play, read or watch sci fi, go to a pow-wow, be a friend to a cat, or storm watch in his memory, I am sure he would appreciate it.

With sorrow,
-- Dev (Dechirant's player)


So in his honor, I scoured the web in search of something to honor his memory with.  It isn't easy finding an "official" Native American prayer.  I can't say whether or not the above is anything traditional, but it sounded nice when I read it.  Along with the above obituary, Dev also sent the picture below.  It "was taken a few years ago at FDR's BBQ in Pine Mountain, GA" and I'm embedding it in this week's issue so that one and all can see and remember the face of the once great "Mr. RDI."  I regret not getting to know him better.

Go your way to the land of the Ancestors,
where they wait for you with open arms,
there on the edge between this world and the next.
See; there they stand.
Ancestral spirits, welcome this one
to the place where we all must go.

Rest in Peace, Norman.  Your presence will be sorely missed.
In the immortal words of Douglas Adams:
"So long, and thanks for all the fish."

Storyline Spotlight

When I joined the Rhy'din roleplaying scene, it was late 1999, early 2000. I puttered around the chat rooms with my anthromorphic antelope-horned talking panther named Ispep (yes, that's Pepsi backwards, folks; I was a creative youngster) for a good few months before realizing, wow, there was actual thought involved in this crazy thing. Like any young roleplayer, I attempted to emulate better writers and tagged along to see where these like-minded individuals went to write. That's how I discovered one of the staples of Rhy'din roleplaying: The Red Dragon Inn.
 
Many of you will probably remember the RDI in it's glory days, before it was an AOL sponsored room; while I don't remember that time, and I certainly can't regale you with tales of roleplaying triumphant, I can tell you that room was fairly successful. It was successful enough that AOL eventually decided to take it under its large, slightly disfigured wing. According to Fayalki's "A History of Rhy'din", the control shuffled between the Arts and Entertainments rooms and Games until AOL decided to move them to conference rooms, which increased the rooms capacity from 23 to 48, and also provided Red Dragon Keep, a supposedly "roleplay advanced" room with no fighting.
 
These days, the AOL Hosted conference rooms for the RDI are filled with good, high-quality roleplay:
 
ao cool: whatev u totally should buy his new album
Ojso63a: lol is he better then eminem
 
Or... not.
 
So what happened to the RDI? Where did all the writers who taught me that large cats named after backwards sodas weren't all that great frolic off to? After some poor management decisions by AOL, players decided to finally take the situation into their own hands. Enter Dragon's Mark, a freeform roleplaying group created by many of the same players who have been gaming and cultivating Rhy'din for years. Within DM, characters can interact within the entire realm of Rhy'din via the forums, or choose to bum around the good ol' RDI using DM's Flash-based chatroom.
 
Many of the same "old school" players still choose to roleplay there, inviting players to enjoy a true player-run environment: by players, for players. Not that Dragon's Mark isn't without it's faults or drama either, but what would Rhy'din be without a little ruckus anyway? Sane? ...Pffft.

-- Kelsey
Assistant Chief Editor
Ubique's Weekly
Mutual Endeavors


For the record, almost all information pertaining to the once great Red Dragon Inn community can now be found on their sort of official website: Dragon's Mark.  I'm not exactly certain when they moved everything over there, but that's where just about anything and everything RDI related happens. I'm hoping to get some exclusive correspondence on this in the future so that I can share the news with all of you. Stay tuned!

This Just In

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Headlines

The Great Ubiquitous Hoax:  Okay.  So the name of this newsletter is a great big fat lie.  I, the editor in chief, am not exactly here, there and everywhere.  I do not exist in all places all at the same time.  I don't see everything that goes on in role-play land.  As much as giving people a false sense of paranoia tickles me in my happy places, I think it's about time I step up and state the truth of the matter.  For this newsletter to be a success, I need all you loyal readers and fans to fill me in on what's been going on in your gaming sessions for the past week.

Now, many of us are really good friends.  We sit around in cyberspace and BS in IM-land while we're playing.  Every now and then some of you drop me a line to tell me what your characters have been doing.  Just because it usually comes up in conversation or the thought strikes you with an 'oh yeah' moment.  To be completely honest with you, I have the worst memory in the world.  You, my friends, may tell me these things, but there's absolutely no guarantee that I'm going to remember what you told me days later when I sit down to write the news.  A lot of things slip my mind.  The only thing I can guarantee you is that I'm going to forget anything and everything you told me in an IM conversation in as less as ten minutes later.

So here's the thing.  I would really appreciate it if you would send me e-mails as reminders of the things you've told me.  Particularly if you expect me to write about them in upcoming issues of this newsletter.  I would love to share your news with the role-playing world at large, but I don't remember anything unless I have it categorized in my filing cabinet as an e-mail that I stored there seconds after it was sent to me.

When I ask for updates, I'm hoping for an e-mail response.  Please, oh please, do not hit me with an instant message and babble at me about your character updates.  I love hearing them.  It's fun to sit around and BS like that, but ten minutes later I'm bound to forget all about it, and that's frustrating when I sit down to work on compiling the news for UW.  Because I sit here, and I think, and I know I'm missing something somewhere but I just can't remember what!

Therefore, each week when you see that happy little reminder e-mail in your inbox, please do both of us a favor and hit the shiny little reply button.  Save me the hassle and spare me the extra work by putting your own updates down in your own words.  Half the time I just C&P everything that people send me.  However, there are instances in which I see what someone else writes and get a little reminder light flashing in my brain about things I saw during live play myself.  Sometimes, just sometimes, I add in extra little tidbits here and there.  And other times the news that other people sends me works well as news for people who haven't sent me anything at all.  It's all connected.  Yes it is.

This is probably the longest headline I've written in a good long while.  I put it here as a headline as an example.  You see... When multiple people send me news of the same or similar subject matter, I can often transform it into a headline.  As I mentioned in the revival issue, headlines are usually synopses of group storylines.  Sometimes players don't realize they're involved in storylines, but when I get enough news that correlates I can show them otherwise.  So please, don't hesitate.  Send me your updates!

Your Regularly Scheduled Program:  Most of you have probably noticed that this go around the newsletter hasn't started off very timely.  Nor has it been sent out on the same day.  The revival issue was compiled and sent out on a Thursday.  I chose that day because it marked the two year anniversary of the last issue I sent out before I just stopped editing role-playing news anymore.  May is a horrible month for me, as few of you are aware, and I think that was a large contributing factor as to why I gave up.  Two years ago I was also very sick, but times have changed and the days are looking sunnier by far.

Many of you may also remember the Ink Wire Associates.  I am looking to reinstate the IWA and have begun an open application process in my search for willing individuals to help me with the cause.  That's something I'll likely discuss in full detail in next week's issue.  Right now I'd like to talk about when to expect future issues.

It was my newly instated Assistant Chief Editor's idea to start sending out Ubique's Weekly on Saturdays in the future.  From a personal standpoint, both of us noticed that there has been a significant decrease in active live role-play on Saturdays in the past two years.  Most of the play we are witness to ourselves happens in one of two rooms: The Rambling Rose Tavern and the infamous Medieval Tavern.  This does not make us supporters or advocates of either of these two places, though we both do favor them both over the old institutions such as the famous Red Dragon Inn.  Those are simply the places where most of us have moved onto these days.  It's where our friends are, and that's where we choose to play.  With them.

A lot of us have grown as role-players over the past two years.  Many of us have jobs and families and school to keep us busy.  There was a time when everybody looked forward to the weekend to kick back, relax and have some fun gaming.  Strangely enough, however, Saturdays have turned into off days in which not a lot of playing happens.  This may have something to do with the fact that one of the two rooms mentioned above (the RRT) isn't scheduled to be open for business.

So while we may still play in private places, public activity has declined to nearly nonexistent in these past two years.  Therefore we're hoping to do weekly recaps of what happened with who, when and where on the weekend.  If Saturdays don't work out as well as planned, there's always Sundays.  I'm hoping to keep a regular day for people to look forward to, but I definitely need your support and dedication to this newsletter to make that possible.  Just a heads up from me to you.

Until further notice, Ubique's Weekly will be issued every week on Saturday mornings any time after 00:01 hours.  Provided I get enough updates sent to me in a timely manner, expect to see a happy little parcel clogging your inbox shortly after midnight every Saturday.  Stay tuned!

In Other News...

We as role-players give multiple personality disorder a whole new meaning.  Some of us have a character creation addiction.  This addiction is so intense that sometimes we just don't have enough open slots for screen names solely dedicated to a single character.  Often this affliction is coupled with just pure laziness.  What you'll see below is a collection of character names followed by the known screen name those characters are played on.  Do not be alarmed if you see many character names belonging to the same screen name.  This is a trend that has become quite common these days.  The earliest I was ever subjected to it was from my dear friend DL and his infamous name The Multifarious.  Word is that DL doesn't have a lot of time to role-play anymore, and that's a shame.  His plethora of characters were a joy and a riot to be around.  You'll also notice I have this horrible tendency to ramble.  Enough of my nostalgia.  Let's takea look at the individual character updates for the past week!

Ambrose (his sullen craft): The Elder kindred has been keeping to himself lately. Let's hope it stays that way.

Colleen MacLeod (PrlUnicorn):  Collie has been seen in the Rambling Rose in recent months. She's finally gotten back into the public eye after the death in her family about 18 months ago. Her cucumber art is now public knowledge, who knows, it might even be on display somewhere. 

Collie and Ariana MacGyldren have had a few girls' nights out. The two sharp redheads double teamed a couple of gents over at the Medieval Tavern that were trying to get dates out of the deal. The ladies ran rings around the would be suitors, who were disappointed to learn that Ariana is still very married and Collie has a man at home.

Dainichi Kin (Raise or foId): Still relatively new in town, Kin is still exploring the city and growing accustomed to the new experience that is living in Rhy'din.

Dris (BardGaIIant):  The bard ws seen recently at the Rambling Rose Tavern in the company of one Icarus Marcotte.  There was some talk about a possible future date between the two of them.  Are things getting serious between these two or what?

Ehzoterik VonArcanum Tempestas (Ehzoterik):  Recent activity occurred at the Rambling Rose Tavern, where Ehz was spotted trying to swat a giant sparkly bug (aka: a pixie, or maybe it was a sprite). Whatever it was, Ehz insisted it was a bad ripoff of a classic literary icon, and because of that it needed to be exterminated. Few know whether or not she succeeded in this goal. Having been quoted exclaiming a disbelief in fairies, she didn't stick around long afterward to find out.

Faladar (Afreet Master):  Rhydin's most ambiguously heroic military servant has just received another royal pardon! Exultant huzzah's are in order, and the General has demanded townspeople shower him with candy-corn wherever he goes.  If that doesn't improve his image, he has also opened an animal shelter/soup kitchen, as well as a confections company specializing in moderately priced candy-corn.

Icarus Marcotte (SubtIe Iies):  The half-dragon ruffian has been spotted tagging along with Dris around the realm of Rhy'din in various bars and other seedy places. Not that the Rambling Rose Tavern is that seedy, right?

Irina Braeden (Irina Braeden): What's up with the white blond haired artist behind Bright Suns these days?  Irina's been seen hanging out with Mike (MichelangeIo H) and Allen (A Flaming Flamer) at the Rose, actually admitting she's got plans to go out on a date with Tobias (Tobias Garret) in the near future and wearing dresses that show off her long legs instead of her favorite pair of ratty jeans when she goes out.  Are the days of being chained to her drawing desk for company finally coming to an end?  Are things looking up for Irina?  Then again, the Artist did get into a fight with Morgan to balance things out the other way.   Stay tuned to find out more.

Mesteno (Bronze Mesteno):  The last two years have seen the Sadist dabbling in necromancy, tackling titans and falling in love with an angel. Perenially bad tempered, the last week has seen him in an uncharacteristically good mood after returning from an out of town business trip - it's bound to end badly at some point! In the meantime, there are plans afoot for a desert raid on a zombie infested tomb and he's been spotted visiting local tattoo parlours. Hopefully the two are not connected!

Penrith Towley (Aversion Toward):  Some time within the past year, Seeker Veritas Penrith Towley came to town.  He can usually be found in the company of his bondmate, the ghatta R'cha.  It's known by some that they work as consultants for the Rhy'din Police Department.  That job has paid off, and now that they've got an apartment the next step is buying furniture.

R'cha (Iionpride):  The ghatta is out of heat! Rejoice! She is also happily settling into her new home with her bondmate, Pen.

Renley Killian (A Common Cur):  There's been a new kid in town for the past several months.  This sarcastically inclined young man has been seen frequenting the Rose and the MT every so often.  Frequenting may be the wrong word.  Seen might be the wrong word too.  Those milk white eyes aren't a fashion statement or a trend.  What is the blind man's agenda?  Inquiring minds want to know.  Particularly the people who dislike him.

Rhiannon D. Harker (RhiannonD Harker):  Maggie Harker celebrated her first birthday on St. Patrick's Day with some of the family present.

It's official! The Harkers are expecting again in December. Rhi was heard to say, "Someone has to have the girls so the Wylies can be grandparents," while tavern goers speculated over her rushed trips to the loo. There was a mad rush to notify the families before the good news hit the grapevine.

Ricven Belward (Un Prince Ipled):  Just who is Ricven Belward? What is he doing in Rhy'din? Rumor has it he was spotted in the Rambling Rose Tavern recently, inquiring about the whereabouts of a blind man by the name of Renley. Word is he claims to be the cur's brother. Is there any truth to this claim? Time will tell.

Salvador Delahada (Karmic Venganza):  Yes, it's true.  He's been spending a great deal of time in the company of one notorious spaniard by the name of Sin.  It'll only be a matter of time before people start accusing them of being the unspeakable C word.  If that nonsense hasn't started up already.  You never know.

Shadi (Shadibadoo): Time has been sliding lazily by the awkward flower child, and he's let himself drift apart from his classmates. He's been reading more, sleeping less, and he's almost turned custodial work into an art.  Shadi's had a lot of time to think, and the Rambling Rose has never been cleaner!

Sinjin Fai (Sinjin Fai):  After the death of his husband, everyone's favorite sinner has been troubled these past few months, and seen mostly in the company of his companion and fellow spaniard, Salvador. However, Sin's been out and about these past few weeks-- maybe he's finally getting better? Who knows.

Specimen 64723 (Aversion Toward):  "What is he?" That question has been asked an unacountable number of times. If the specimen had any idea what people were implying when asking that question, he might just have an answer.  Problem is, he doesn't quite fully grasp language.  However, he recently discovered an understanding of names.  People are now calling him Kirk because of this. He responds well to that name. No lame Shatner joke, please.

Given the serious quality of our newsletter this week, I once again have no creativity in regard to whipping up a good series of character obitiuaries.  There are a small handful that need to be put together, but I think they can wait.  Anybody got some creativity to spare?

Still working on updating this section into perfection. I haven't added anything new, and probably won't until I can con someone into applying for the IWA position of advertising editor. This section and the announcements are a pain in the ass to compile. I just don't have the time for everything!  Already spent a good ten to twelve hours this week, if not more, working on the newsletter. Oi vey.


Mutual Endeavors Forum :  The freeform role-playing group more commonly known as Mutual Endeavors has moved its storylines and characters to a message board forum for player convenience.  It was decided that it would be beneficial to allow players a less time-restricted venue in which to present their characters' stories and participate interactively.  Not everyone can be online at the same times all the time.  Therefore we opened up this forum to the masses.  If you're interested, registration is completely free and unmoderated.  Check it out!

*          *          *

*          *          *

Subscribe Now! : Ubique's Weekly is a publication provided by the not-for-profit organization known as Mutual Endeavors.  As a free source of literary entertainment, you as the reader have the liberty to send out copies of our publication to whomever you think might enjoy the information shared.  To save yourselves the hassle of constantly forwarding what you might find amusing, feel free at any time to inform your friends and coconspirators to contact the Editor to request their very own future copies of Ubique's Weekly at no cost to them whatsoever.  It's as simple as clicking this link here above.

*          *          *

Ubique's Archive :  For several years now, the Ink Wire Associates and I have been trying to archive every old issue of Ubique's Weekly onto the internet.  It has been a slow-going process, and I assure you that not every past issue has been completely coded and uploaded to the site.  The work is, to say the least, very tedius.  We're doing the best we can.  In the future, we may also simply move all new issues to the site and do away with a mailing list entirely.  We'll see.  Until such a decision is reached, old news is still news and well worth the read.  Do enjoy.

In the past, Ink Wire Associate advertising editor AG did a spectacular job of keeping track of character and player birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.  I'm currently in the process of looking for someone to take up those reigns again.  Any interested parties are free to send me an e-mail.  Such e-mails should include some sort of resume type information for me to review.  Individuals with calendar programs and a sensational sense of time are favored.  I have no concept of time myself and more often than not forget the birthdays of my own family members. So...

Any announcements I had this week have already been covered in other sections.  Stay tuned to this section in the future, however.  I'm hoping to get everything organized and categorized once again so that there's something to announce and advertise.  Hopefully I'll have a new IWA member to do all that tedious work for me in the future. Any takers?

Special thanks goes out to anyone and everyone who submitted character updates and other news tidbits this week.  It's dedication and support like yours that keeps me going.  Not to mention the kind words that put a smile on my day like the ones dear old Guthorm sent me.  I'll treasure that always, and it certainly wasn't the first time I got a positive response from him.  Thanks again, Thormy-poo.  You should come around the other rooms some time and say hello.  I'm sure the people at the Rambling Rose would cheer if you popped in.

On a related topic, concerning updates: I mentioned last week that the ACE and I are still researching other options for submitting anonymous news updates.  We've had little to no success so far, but we're still looking around.  Until we get something solid, the old system of submitting updates still applies.  Please e-mail anything and everything you would like to see in a future issue of Ubique's Weekly.  The deadline for submission is every Friday evening by midnight, as I want everything compiled and perfect soon after to send out a new issue every Saturday morning.  Such as this one right here.

If anyone actually took the time to read every single last bit of rambling contained here in full detail, give yourself a gold star!  I may have a problem with sticking to a point, but within all the babbling there's always important information.  No matter how scatter-brained the news may be, myself and the IWA will continue to be...

Keeping you informed,
-- The Nefarious SM
Editor In Chief
Ubique's Weekly
Mutual Endeavors