Past Events Your Shard, Your Story! (Abyss House Plot 6th Anniversary Giveaway!)

[tr1age]

HOW TO ENTER​

Hello Brave citizens of UOAlive who wish to have a home in the ABYSS!! You must submit a special moment on UOAlive. It has to have thought behind it. This is a short tale, not a novel! Example = "Tales on UOAlive - My Dilemma with a Redux Reaper"

1: You must be able to enter the Abyss to apply.

2: YOU MUST BE AND MAINTAIN AN ACTIVE STATUS ON UOALIVE! If you cannot and are no longer able to maintain the home after you won, it will be raffled off again with a different contest, all contents included if you just up and left, or we will give you ample time to move your home to a normal location with no upkeep.

3: This house counts toward your players one house account, so if they currently own a house, they would have to arrange to move items to the new location as a co owner, then have their current house demolished and we will turn the house over to them as owner.

Everyone gets a number whose entry is validated. We use https://www.calculator.net/dice-roller.html.

4; Winner gets the plot. must be open to public, stocked with the appropriate items: Loose example here and in the photos below https://forum.uo.com/discussion/5728/eastern-abyss-house

Example of a properly maintained Abyss House:





Look forward to all your awesome submissions and stories about your time on UOAlive!

 

[Schuyler Bain]

The Weight of Three Stones​

I have been playing UO since the game launched in September 1997. Half of that time was spent on the official servers and the rest on private or “freeshards”. I had searched for many years for a server that was up-to-date with content like High Seas and Gargoyles, PvE focused, and access to all the things I have enjoyed over the years like role play, house building and decorating, exploration, etc. As luck would have it I found my way to UOAlive. It didn’t take long for me to discover that I had found the server and the community I had been searching for.

About 6 months after I found UOAlive I decided to tackle one of my as-of-yet realized UO goals… a public tavern. A place for people to hang out, form parties, and foster some good ol’ fashioned role play. After scouting out a number of locations I settled on a plot just outside the south gate of Zento and just north of the docks. Considering my main toon is a retired pirate captain this felt like a great spot. Opening night was a success and the community and staff showed a ton of support. I received some great feedback as well and made adjustments to the tavern, making it more useable for the public. The Three Stone was even honored with a blessing making it a safe place to hang out and earn double kudos.

As for the name, The Three Stone Tavern… there is an in-character story for the name and you can read about that elsewhere, but the out-of-character story is that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 I lost 42 pounds or 3 stone. For those who “know” they will recognize that 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything (see: Douglas Adams' “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,”). Also the number 3 is my favorite number which goes into 42 14 times and there are 14 pounds in a stone… well you now have a glimpse as to how my mind works.

And so the Three Stone Tavern was born and a long time UO dream was realized thanks in part to UOAlive and the players, volunteers, and staff that make up this amazing community.

*tips his tricorne*

-The Captain

 

[Shaydo]

My First Time Protecting Cove From Invasion...
​

There I was, the lone warrior to answer the cry from Cove, it was late and the sun had already dropped below the horizon but pirates we're invading, and the citizens needed saving.

I arrived at the gates and the town was beset by Orcs, hundreds of them on every side, I battled for what felt like hours, Orcs died to my Axe and the bodies piled up around me, no matter how many I slayed they kept coming like a relentless wave.

I battled them street to street, slowly clearing the town of any Orc I could find, I'd liberated the southern end of town and cleared a way to the bank when I found the citizens locked in the vault and assured them I would defeat the Orc invaders.

I'd cleared them all the way back to the top field, the final few were in front of me when suddenly, they vanished...

I circled the town to check it was clear but could find no trace of Orc, living or dead, I was about to turn from the town gates and heads to the bank to give them all clear when suddenly, Ogre Lords and Pirate Lords as far as the eye could see appeared by magic.

I knew I needed to regroup, I was low on bandages and my weapon was nearly destroyed, I battled my way out of the gates and headed for my trusty ship to take stock and plan my next move...

I grabbed some more bandages from my ships hold and headed back to the town gates to resume the fight, I turned the town gates into a kill box and slayed any ogre or Titan that came to me, the passage was thick with bodies. In the midst of battle, I saw a warrior, clad in the purest blue, come riding through the gate and they took the fight to the Ogres & Pirates, slaying them in droves. Piles of twisted corpses littered the town, when it happened again, they all disappeared in a snap, this time be be replaced with giant Pirate Brutes and Orc Lords.

The fight was far from done but we continued the battle, I once again took position at the town gates, ensuring none would be able to flee the town and all would fall before us. We made quick work of this wave of attackers, for between the 2 of us the foe stood no chance.

I could sense the end was near, we had nearly fought them off when the next, and I would learn final, wave of attackers descended on the town, Giant Sea Snakes, I hate snakes... I dug in my pack for my orange petals and quickly ate one, that would take care of the poison, we tore through the snakes before they could infest the town to far, I could see no others coming to replace them, this must finally be it, we’d nearly defeated the invasion when on the breeze I heard pipes playing.

Something nagged at my memory, I had heard the like before, I quickly ran for the town gates and there he stood, Barracoon the Piper, dressed like a court jester but far more deadly. I had no Savage Kin paint on me, but the blue knight had already engaged so I counted my remaining bandages and rushed in, 2 dozen left, this was going to be close.

We battled Barracoon with everything we had left, every time he hummed the pipes rats popped out the air, but we didn’t let this dissuade us. My axe arm was getting tired, and I could see my armour was cracked, some bits nearly useless but I kept battling on, Cove would not fall today!

Barracoon started to slow, he was getting tired, this mighty foe was nearly defeated, he seemed to play non-stop on his pipes and wave after wave of Rats spawned but with renewed vigour, we began our final assault.

We tore into Rat and man alike, then Barracoon stumbled, he dropped his pipes and as he bent to reach for them my mighty axe cleaved into him one final time. He fell to the ground and was still, I kicked him to be sure, but he didn’t move, no more rats appeared.

We had done it; we had saved cove from the Pirate invasion… For now…

 

[Rook Castle]

Dragon Taming​

There were bones and dried blood strewn across the dusty ground as I entered the dungeon known as Destard. I slipped into the shadows of a rock formation protruding from the wall a few feet from the entrance. The smell of decay and brimstone was thick and I could hear distant rumblings from the dragons and other beasts who called this giant cavern home.

During the annual ranger rendezvous at The Ranger's Roost, I had overheard a man named Kennard telling a few of his friends a wild tale about discovering a new species of dragon while hunting in Destard. Initially I dismissed this claim as nothing but a drunken tall tale. Destard had been thoroughly explored years ago and all of its denizens were well documented. However, over the next couple of days I started hearing rumors of others who claimed to have seen this new dragon. On the final day of the rendezvous I cornered Kennard and asked him about what he had seen. He told me about a dragon, with scales as black as night, and of a man named Hiccup who revealed to Kennard that he had been trying to study and befriend the creature. Now that I was curious to see for myself, I set off for Destard at first light the following morning.

When I arrived at the entrance to the dungeon, a curious fellow was pacing back and forth in front of the entrance mumbling to himself. He was quite agitated and I guessed from what I overheard, that he was talking about the dragon in question. He did not respond to my greeting, whether because he was ignoring me, or whether he was too deep in his own ruminations, I could not tell. I took a deep breath and stepped into the cavern.

And now I found myself hiding in the shadows, unsure where to go next. I was familiar with Destard, and had hunted there many times in the past, but I didn't know where this new dragon lurked, if it even existed. And to add to the element of danger, I was alone without my pets, because I planned to tame this creature. I didn't know at the time, that this was going to be harder than I anticipated...

Not seeing anything moving in the hazy gloom around me, I moved along the wall, trying to not draw any attention while I worked toward the tunnel leading the next level down. I turned a corner and the cavern closed around me, narrowing into a tunnel. Up ahead a large shape began to swivel towards me. I froze in place, then swiftly and as quietly as I could, slipped over to a small crack in the wall and pressed myself into it as best I could.

The greater dragon lumbered closer and I could hear it snuffling loudly, looking for something, possibly me. It had a red sheen and I recognized it as a paragon of its kind. I closed my eyes and froze, hoping it would pass me by. It moved past me, continuing its slow gait down the narrow corridor from where I had just been.

I relaxed my body and moved out of the corridor and into a bigger room. I slipped among groupings of stalagmites, avoiding the giant serpents that slithered throughout the room. I cautiously made my way down the first tunnel and into a small room where I could see the next tunnel in front of me. A brief moment was all it took to cross the space to the opening and arrive at the bottom level of the dungeon.

I encountered the usual flurry of activity at that level. Fire elementals, wyverns and ancient wyrms milled about. Surprisingly, all the commotion made it easier for me to pass by and stealth towards the end of the small cavern.

When I reached the final room, there was the most beautiful dragon I had ever seen. It was black like a shadow and as big as a greater dragon. I was mesmerized and excited by my discovery. I slipped past another ancient wyrm and hid behind a rock outcropping, waiting for the perfect moment to take a chance on taming it.

I got into place and revealed myself saying, "I've always wanted a pet like you. I won't hurt you." Hardly a second passed before it and several of the other dragons were upon me. I tried one last desperate attempt to convince the dragon to join me, "If you accompany me, we will protect one another!"

Then, everything went black.

I will be back Toothless. Oh yes, I will be back.