"Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority." -- Thomas H. Huxley, English biologist (1825 - 1895)

This week's edition plans to cover quite a bit of information.  We've been scouring the world wide web high and low for the past week, collecting every scrap bit of news we could find from here, there and everywhere!  From headlines to character updates, storyline spotlights and more, the content of our publications just keeps growing and growing.  And we have you, the players and faces hiding behind the masks in RPland, to thank for all that you share with us.

Obviously, this week's issue is being sent out later in the day than originally expected.  This has everything to do with the fact that I tried putting it together last night only to realize I was utterly exhausted.  And if there's one thing that's a super bad idea, it's trying to compile everything when my brain isn't working fully at a hundred percent.

Top Story!

"It is never too late to give up our prejudices." -- Henry David Thoreau, 'Economy,' Walden, 1854, US Transcendentalist author  (1817 - 1862)

Mutual Endeavors adds flashchat to the menu!  There has been much discussion surrounding this for the past month, and by the time October rolled around today it seems as if we've got everything rolling about in tip-top shape.  For the most part.  More on this can be viewed in the front page first news of the month "It's Shiny and New!"  But that doesn't begin to cover the full scope of things.

The idea for installing one first came when our chief web guru administrator Mike posted a query under the General Discussion board titled simply Chat Rooms?  Since that time a lot of varying opinions on the matter have been put into play.  As most of you are aware, I, the Nefarious SM, have an unhealthy aversion toward flaschats and wasn't too keen on the idea from the start.  But eventually Mike talked me into it.  Even more so now that he's prettied it up to better fit the theme and layout of our visual masterpiece of a website.

The finished product can now be accessed from the main page of the ME website.  A link is listed on the left hand side of the screen in the main menu titled: Mutual Chat.  Only registered users can see the link, and only signed in registered users can access the chat itself.  Mike has removed the optional color themes to force the site of the new and improved Mutual Endeavors match-up theme that he constructed for us.  Additionally, the chat appears in a wrapper that is contained in the center of the main site.

This leaves us with some other issues to address.  Currently there are three rooms in the flashchat.  The main room was named temporarily as a tribute to the old lurking member room I used to sit in on AOL sometimes: Stalkers Anonymous (OOC).  Additionally members can pop into "here there be cookies" and "here there be none."  But I'm thinking for the most part we only really need one room.  I just thought I'd be silly and add those two in there.

The flashchat is NOT to be used for role-play purposes at any time.  It is a strictly out of character, player meeting place, where you can hook up with your friends and neighbors in RPland and chit-chat about storyline ideas or whatever else you feel like chatting it up about.  We're people, and as such don't usually tend to stay on one topic for too very long.

Keeping all this in mind, I, the Nefarious SM, have also put a call out for suggestions and opinions concerning the fac that Baby Needs a New Name.  Since it's been decided that we'll be keeping the flashchat, and hopefully working out all the nasty bugs that are being a strange problem as of late, it's probably high time we give it a name.  Stalkers Anonymous works well for a good laugh, but I personally don't feel it fits the Mutual Endeavors spirit.  Simply calling it Mutual Chat, as the link to the left refers to it as, also comes across as bland and lame.

So!  Help us to help you!  Come up with some ideas so that maybe, just maybe, I can put up a new poll on the subject and give our flashchat a spiffy new name that fits the theme of our site and the idea it embraces!

Storyline Spotlight

"Words calculated to catch everyone may catch no one." -- Adlai E. Stevenson Jr., speech to Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, July 21, 1952, US diplomat & Democratic politician  (1900 - 1965)

Beyond the Closet Door! - It started with a series of mysterious fliers that began to pop up all over Rhy'din in the last week of September.  These fliers were plastered on telephone poles and lamp posts, building walls and bulletin boards.  Anywhere and everywhere that had a solid surface in which to tack up or scotch tape a piece of paper written on with different colored crayons.  These fliers carried the mysterious message of: "Oktobr 1 2007 - don't stand too close to the closet door."

Several people collected these messages and wondered at their meaning for quite some time.  City clean up crews mostly ignored them as garbage while tearing them off walls and tucking them into appropriate bins.  Other people, like little Billy Bumbridge, held onto those letters and waited anxiously for the event to unfold.

Then it happened.

It was as though a million monkeys all cried out at once, and then ...were silenced.* Except the voices didn't belong to monkeys. In fact, most of them belonged to small children who were very accustomed to monsters living in their closets. The strange occurrences that shook the multiverse in the early hours of the first day in October startled many of them from their beds in a shrieking fright.

No door was safe -- except perhaps those magically warded or otherwise barred. Closets and cupboards and storage rooms. Anything with a door which opened out and revealed a space for putting things flung themselves open at a stroke of twelve chimes after midnight. The very moment that Ehzoterik VonArcanum Tempestas turned her key.

Some bore witness. Some bonked their heads. Some were bowled over by the shockwave of energy because of the simple misfortune of standing there with the door already open when the gates snapped wide open. Some slept through the chaos without even so much as twitching an eyelid awake from their dreams.

But for those who were curious enough to investigate further, there was something very strange about their closet doors hanging wide open. There was a deep and distant sound that came from the way back depths of the rear closet wall. A constant pulse of a bass beat no louder than the thump of a heart. A sound that steadily got louder the deeper in one dared to step. Becoming the loudest only when touching against the back wall and learning the miraculous truth that the wall itself was naught but an illusion and could be passed through like air.

Beyond the closet door was something spectacular, and chances were that some of the brave few would find themselves tumbling into dust. For there beyond awaits the barren wasteland known as Limbo. And there before your very eyes stands the House That Limbo Built.  Which is where the music is coming from.

Now it just so happens that Ehz is throwing a party this week, just Beyond the Closet Door.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend.  Limbo provides for its own, and all its visitors too.  The dining room table has been set out to offer anything anyone could ever want to eat and snack on.  Punch and soda and so much more!  So drop on in and say hello.  Get together with old friends and make some new ones.  Don't be shy.  Your Limbo adventure awaits, just beyond the closet door!

This Just In

All information and stories concerning the above spotlight can be found in one of two places.  Either on the Mutual Endeavors forums or the site for the Red Dragon Inn as hosted by Dragon's Mark.  Our story is of course not the only one in circulation, and hopefully we can provide you with further details concerning some of the other ones out there in RPland.

Remember: that reddish brown color stands for a headline that can be used much like an in character rumor.  Something very similar to the playables listed on the front page of the RDI site.  Somethign your characters could have heard or might hear about.  The dark blue headlines are out of character topics that you as players might find interesting news.

Headlines

Dangerous Liaisons :  There was an incident recently at the Red Dragon Inn that has many of the locals spooked and wondering.  Someone accidentally got shot at!  Well, in truth it was only a grazing wound.  But something had made the local residents rather jumpy the other night.  It might have something to do with some rumors coming out of reflex, surrounding a local warehouse.

Limbo Luau :  The opening day of Ehz's party wasn't quite as eventful as she might have liked.  So far, to the best of her knowledge, only two people have dropped on by for a visit.  But the week is young yet and she's heard rumors that other curious sorts might be dropping by.  A mysteriously opening on its own closet can only be ignored by a person for so long, even after they've closed it.  There's still that growing ounce of wonder and what if lurking in the back of the mind, isn't there.

Lunatics Abound :  "What do you mean the Red Dragon's been here the entire time?"  Some people have been convinced otherwise.  Either blinded to the truth of it still standing there by their own misguided delusions, or perhaps something more.  Could it be that the Nexus has been messing with peoples' heads all this time?  Or could it be that people just snapped one day and went crazy!  Nobody really knows, but the opinions on this perspective differ all around.

Greater Realms New Skin :  Creator, founder and maintainer of the new storyboard forum known as Greater Realms has announced the completion of a new skin theme for the site.  Giving the site an autumn feel to fit the season.  This autumn splash has been set as the new default skin for the site and looks tremendously beautiful.  Perhaps there will be a new default skin for every season in the future!  That'd be awesome.

IWA Hiring Status :  Before the end of the month, the administrative staff at Mutual Endeavors reached an executive decision.  Two of the three applicants willing to sign their lives over to the IWA have been turned down.  One has been approved, but we are still waiting for confirmation that it's still something this person wants to do.  As soon as we have confirmation, there will be an announcement made on the main site for all to see.  If we get a 'no thanks', then we'll tell you about that too.  Stay tuned!

Red Dragon Reunions :  A couple of characters have made their way back to the Red Dragon Inn after quite a long time of missing in action.  New members are signing up every day, and new faces are making themselves seen.  Not much has changed, to tell the truth.  The flashchat is just as hard to follow with a full house as the old conference rooms were here on AOL.  But hey.  It's still worth checking out.  Especially when there's no play going on anywhere else, which is a bummer of a fact that a lot of us deal with.  Lurking around in cyberspace doing nothing is no fun at all.

The Red Dragon Inn can now be accessed through the link provided here.  Though like our very own ME flashchat, it does require you signing up and registering to the Dragon's Mark hosted site.  If you want to stay out of the politics and just play, that's perfectly fine too.  I, personally, have had my opinion somewhat altered concerning flashchats.  They aren't that bad.  Not perfect, like I might say the AOL rooms are, but not bad either.  Give it a chance.  I encourage you.  Who knows?  You might run into some old friends you thought had vanished for eternity!

In Other News...

"Play: Work that you enjoy doing for nothing." -- Evan Esar, Esar's Comic Dictionary, American Humorist  (1899 - 1995)

Not as many updates as last week for the individual characters, but that's probably because my memory is shot and I don't remember everything I saw.  My thanks go out to those of you who sent me updates this week once again, however.  Looking forward to more in the future.

Colleen MacLeod (PrlUnicorn):  Collie was spotted this past week at the Red Dragon Inn.  Eye-witness reports claim that she stepped out of the broom closet like this was a perfectly natural thing to do, and as if it were a perfectly normal way in which to enter a crowded bar.  After catching up with some old friends and making some new ones, she stepped back into the broom closet to take her leave.

Donatello Harada (DonatelIo Harada):  There's a rumor going around thanks to the patrons and proprietors of the Rambling Rose that Don has been a little crazy lately.  He did make a public appearance this past week and didn't seem to be quite so very looney.  Maybe he's on the up and up now!

Dris (BardGaIIant):  In the past couple of weeks in which Dris hasn't been such a gods awful hermit, he's made himself a new friend.  Well, at least he's run across this man twice now and had some very interesting conversations with him.

Ehzoterik VonArcaum Tempestas (Ehzoterik):  Everything has gone according to plan!  Well, for the most part.  Ehz successfully blasted open all the closet doors Rhy'din wide and opened up her house for some party time for anyone daring enough to step on through the gates and into Limbo.  She also had the pleasure of making a few new acquaintances at the Red Dragon Inn this past week after clearing out the cobwebs through the portal and before cracking open the gate.

Erinalle Dunbridge (Erin Dunbridge): This week Erin was cursed by Sam Stevens for an alleged affair with Darren Drazen.  The effects of the curse made her reevaluate her relationship with Jordan Knox and left him in a surprise breakup.  Since then, she's been busy reparing friendships, dealing with past pain and mending her poor broken heart. Highlights include her agreement to moving in with DoDer Charlie, mourning past losses with Lydia Loran and a romp with Miles Vincent and the Governor Kitty.

Faye: She Who Tends the Dead (Faye Random):  Autumn has come, and with it an increase in her strength.  Likely her children are feeling the buzz of powerful energies that come with the season.

Harold Lowe (HGLowe):  After the previous week of dealing with zombies, this week Harry spent his time dealing with everything else that makes up a life.  Especially Maia d'Thalia, who quickly found her way right past any armor he had to deal with people.  They have lived in each other's shoes now for quite some time, and are now working on a heady, silly plan to sail off together on a salvaged ketch, in order to do a little business and probably a lot of quiet company keeping.  Marc Franco of the GossipGangSTAR has taken an interest in the duo, and qualifies them as being extremely 'HAWT!'  Much to their amusement.  He was also spotted in the Rambling Rose, being all sappy to (from his point of view) a really big intelligent housecat.

Icarus Marcotte (SubtIe Iies):  When he's been seen, the half-dragon seems to have been putting on a faux appearance of his usually flirtatious and happy self.  Something isn't right, and his companion has been a little worried because of it.

Joscelyne Hirsch (Aversion Toward):  The hippie girl was spotted at the Rambling Rose Tavern this past week, in which she got herself entangled in an awful argument with one Allen Baird concerning her relationship with his husband Mike Harada.  No matter how hard she tried to reason with the local residents and regular patrons, nobody seemed to understand how important her psychotropic drugs really are to such a closed-minded world.  Ah well.  She's used to it.  Not everybody has it in them to become enlightened.

Maia Cyrene d'Thalia (Spirited Corsair): Along with spending a great deal of time with Harry, Maia also spent some time in the Rambling Rose, as well as saw her ship Al Na'ir off to sea.  She was likewise amused by the Gossip tabloids reporting on her and Harry, though considering that they were snuggled up fairly close a couple times in the Red Dragon Inn, it wasn't too shocking that eventually people would notice and have some kind of opinion on it.  Her plans and efforts have been towards getting the salvaged ketch sailworthy, so that her and Harry could head off to sea to fulfill a contract that she had set up.

Mm'gow (Iive a IittIe):  The ghatt would like to protest the fact that he is not a housecat.  Nor is he a cat, despite the fact that he strikingly resembles an oversized one.  He would also like to make it known that he really enjoys being lavished upon with pettings, scritchings, and compliments concerning just how handsome he is.  The people here are so much nicer and accepting, well, for the most part.  As soon as an awareness of ghatti becomes commonplace, he'll be much happier.

Salvador Delahada (Karmic Venganza):  The arrival of autumn has left him with a small bit of a problem.  Salvador's discovered this past week that he can't quite touch anything.  Touching things has the sad misfortune of them being reduced to piles of dust, depending on the make-up of the object in question.  Some things take longer to decay than others, but the result is all the same.  His mother's energies have left him overwhelmed.  But by now they should have tapered off to allow him to be a little more comfortable touching things and people without aging them.

Classifieds

Dragon's Mark :  The new home for for Free Form Role-Playing (FFRP) on the web, or so their mission statement about themselves proclaims.  Here you can find all things Red Dragon Inn and most things Rhy'din related.  The people at DM strive to present themselves as the number one resource site for the greater whole of the FFRP community, but they aren't the only ones.  Still, this is a valuable website to know about.  Make use of it as you see fit.

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Greater Realms :  A new board for Rhy'Din players, based more outside of the city setting. Called GreaterRealms, it's open to anyone who plays in Rhy'Din, regardless of whether they play on AOL or on the RDI site, or even RoH, with an emphasis on stories that take place across the whole realm. Meant as a companion board for both Mutual Endeavors and RDI, it lacks a lot of the neat features you'd find elsewhere, but hopefully will soon make up for that with content.

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Mutual Endeavors LJ Community :  Before the message board forum was ever considered, another attempt at keeping Mutual Endeavors alive and active was put into motion with the creation of the LiveJournal Community.  If you have a LiveJournal of your own, you are thoroughly encouraged to join our community at any time.  Stay up-to-date and in the loop with our random ramblings and discussions.  Some are held there and others are held on our forum.  Everyone is welcome. Don't be shy!

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Navarra Farms : is temporarily opening opportunities for stud services with four of their finest stallions. If you have a mare coming in season and are interested, please contact Colleen MacLeod ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

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Rambling Rose Tavern :  The Rambling Rose Tavern is a bar and grill establishment in town, owned and operated by Seamus Wylie and Katie Rose Wylie.  Stop in and enjoy a drink or a home-style meal, but before you do check out the rules and room description by following this link: http://www.ramblingrosetavern.net.  There are plenty of fun times to be had at the Rambling Rose Tavern!  Don't hesitate to join in on them whenever possible.

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Storyboard Archive :  The freeform role-playing group more commonly known as Mutual Endeavors had once added 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.  Since that time, things have changed and this old forum is now a read-only resource, but still worth checking if you're up for some good reading.

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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, or by visiting our official website.

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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 finally every past issue has been coded and archived to the new site.  Including this one!  Do enjoy.

"Politeness, n. The most acceptable hypocrisy." -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, US author & satirist  (1842 - 1914)

All right.  It's getting later and later by the minute.  I should probably just send this out before it gets too much later and I skip out on doing so by accident.  Today's a busy day.  It's my husband's birthday!  So I may not be online tonight either.

For those of you participating in the Limbo Luau: Beyond the Closet Door storyline, feel free to invade the room and have fun with it as you see fit.  I don't need to be there for you all to get together and have fun with the idea of a new and gently used character party.  Though Limbo is hosting the party and Mutual Endeavors is the OOC sponsor, I'm sure you can all do without me.

Behold my quotes and know them well!  Love them and adore them.  Play and enjoy yourselves.  Send me updates!  Help me to help you keep the dream alive.  And as always, I'll continue to be...

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