But now it was all coming to fruit. I could see Max's castles silhouetted in the darkness just before the dawn. Dear Rodigan had succeeded where many spies before had failed... and I knew that today victory would be mine.
The horses were the first to feel the rumbling. A series of breighs made their way through the ranks, followed by intermittent rearings. You could see the fear in the horses eyes, the way they bulged, as rubble began to shake loose from the walls of the pass. By then we could all feel the earth shaking all around us. The rustling of the trees, the cracking and the falling for miles all around, was deafening. The whole country side rocked with the force of an earthquake beneath our feet. And then, just as the sun broke the horizon, we heard the clarion call of a trumpet in the distance.
Shaken, but with no real harm done, my army continued it's march, but we had not moved another half-league, when my scouts came running. An entire detachment of bloodgaurd were approaching from the west, no doubt summoned by that damn trumpet. I could no longer count on even escaping alive, much less taking those castles...
To quest for an item, use the quest item command. It will cost you two movement points for every level. A knight, for example, quests items for 2mp. Meanwhile a Paladin quests for 4mp, and a king for 18mp! Questing for items is an adventure much more appropriate for those beginning their kingdoms.
Most items are designed to be used once, being broken, imbibed or transformed in their use. Some, however, work their magic simply by being in your possession. All items, however, are lost every day at New Year HouseKeeping (11pm EST). To descend into the vaults of your castle and check which items you keep in your possession, use the items command, which costs no mp. The items list will also show you how many uses you may get from each of your items.
And beware! Not all items are benevolent. Indeed, many have been created by the most evil of magi with the darkest hearts and the most black of incantations. These cursed items can lead to sickness, misery and even death. To destroy any items, for whatever reason, simply use the destroy <itemname> command, for no movement.
What follows is a list of those items which have been found so far in the three empires. The list is in alphabetical order, and includes the command needed to use the item.
Given as a gift from the beautiful dryads to the successful questor, this amulet is made of intricately carved wood and gold, in the form of a tree whose boughs reach back to its roots. When leading an army into battle, the amulet will make its call to w ild, and the wielder will be joined by a horde of animals! Once used, the pact which the amulet represents will be served, and the amulet will become nothing but a keepsake of a memory. Use of the amulet launches an attack against nick, and bestows on you a random animal horde.
This cursed item will mystical animate when used, and dance about your kingdom spreading death and dismemberment. It's wounds are pestilential and will spread the Black Death throughout your kingdom, killing half of your peasants.
Although it looks like any other well-used pouch, the Bag of Holding contains powerful enchantments which give it an almost unlimited interior space. By putting the entirety of your coffers into the Bag, you can travel incognito, and in this way you will never be robbed. There is no command needed to use the Bag, simply travel and you will automatically be safe. You will, however, lose the Bag of Holding at the next New Year's Housekeeping (nyhk).
The Bag of Tricks was first created by a particularly capricious mage. It holds one other magical item, to which it is bound such that when the bag is opened the item inside is automatically activated! To open a bag of tricks, then, is the ultimate gamb le. The Bag could do anything from kill your peasants, to fill your coffers with copper. The Bag will randomly produce one of the following items: Golden Cow, Stone of the Gods, Potion of Endurance, Lure of the Vulture, Axe of Despair, Potion of Speed, Magic Quiver, Builders Tools or Thieves Tools.
With the help of these tools, your engineers will be able to build one catapult (or it's equivalent if you are not a fighter) with virtually no raw materials!
No one know who invented the device, but whoever it was was obviously mad. A bizarre mix of science and magic, the Device is a sphere full of spinning gears, blades and rods. The Chaos Device surrounds your kingdom with chaos, disordering troops and des troying all semblance of order. For as long as the Device is in your kingdom no army can attack; this means no one can attack you, but you cannot attack others either. The Device remains until destroyed, or until the next New Year HouseKeeping (nyhk).
Found in a pouch woven from strands of moonlight, this dust, when cast in the air will mystically transport a target to a random location other than where they are. The effect of the Dust is a spell, and as such can be thwarted by the strong of will. However, the dust does not disappear when you use it.
This grotesque item is, as the name suggests, made from the eye of a venerable seer. When placed in a still pool, the eye allows you scry into other people's kingdoms. Unlike the employment of a spy, there is no chance of failure with an Eye of an Oracle, and it allows you to look at kingdoms which are not on the same continent as you are.
When donned, this thick iron gauntlets not only cause the wearer to become clumsy and foolish, but his entire army! The Gauntlets give all of your troops -1 to their attack. To rid yourself of this cursed item, destroy gauntlets.
This false idol, when placed in your fields will cause bushels of food to sprout from nowhere right before your eyes!
When donning this foul shawl, the sculptury of a mad necromancer, the wearer can assume one of the mystical powers of the dreaded vampire. All who gaze upon this warrior, see not the mask, but the face of a random other player. In using the mask you launch an attack against another player, and assume a random disguise.
By shattering this crystalline sphere, the user brings his kingdom beneath a shimmering wall of force, and regains for himself the coveted Protection of the Emperors. Note that you cannot find an Orb of Protection is you undertake a quest while already under Protection.
When imbibed, and fed to your army, this fiery potion goes straight to the warrior's heart, deadening pain and stoking anger and hatred. The army who drinks of this potent elixir will hunger for battle, and will be able to attack twice more before the next HouseKeeping.
When someone imbibes this frothy blue oil he is filled with inhuman energy. Moving from place to place with preternatural speed and vigor, the drinker gains 12 move.
The quintessential item for the mage, the Pouch mystically contains one of each of the magical components: Ginseng, mandrake and so forth. The Pouch is as useless for the non-mage as the components it contains.
Each of these potent rings binds within its minute frame a powerful djinn. These demonic creatures will be forced to grant their wearer one of the following wishes: for land (up to 250 acres), moves (up to 25), peasants (up to 250), castles (up to 5), or copper (up to 250000). This ring is one-fourth as powerful as the mage spell wish. The amount of the item that the djinn will grant you is random, after which it will depart back to the netherworld, and the ring will become just an ordinary ba nd.
The most potent and wicked of cursed items, the bejeweled sceptre will, when used, transform itself into a hideous serpent and immediately bite its wielder. The sceptres poison is immediate and irreversible. Many a knight has met his death at the fangs of this cruel item.
The thieves tools will allow you to scurry about the town "relieving" the town merchants of their hard-won copper. The thieves tools may only be used once.
Written by an evil necromancer, the Tome was designed to summon a Giant from Hell. However the necromancer lost his soul to those same demonic forces before he could finish his research. As it is, the Tome summons a Giant who then turns on the summoners kingdom and devours a castle. The Tome cannot be used while under the Protection of the Emperors, for even the denizens of Hell respect the will of the Emperors.
Seemingly nothing but a children's toy, the Toy Boat will erupt into a full-sized barge when placed in water!
The deafening report of this regal trumpet will immediately call 5 times your level in the Emperor's most loyal and stalwart bloodgaurd. Thereafter they will serve in your army, and under your banner.
A rather innocuous looking wooden wand, upon closer inspection the wand bears faintly scribed runes of power. When the proper command word is uttered, a ball of fire will erupt from the wand, decimating 10% of your opponents army. The effect of the Wand of Fire is a spell, and as such can be thwarted by the strong of will. However, the wand foes not disappear when you use it. Use of the Wand counts an attack, and the Emperor has decreed that it's use will break the Protection of the Emperors, just like any other attack.