Meridian 59, Meridian, M59, Community, Weapon Craft, Kraanan, Faren, Riija, Shal'ille, Qor, Jala

Vale Node 101: 

The Vale of Sorrows:  The Vale of Sorrows is nestled deep in the land of the Fey. The territory of the Fey consists of a series of eight maps which can be found to the north of the temple of Shal'ille. Seven of these maps form a rough oval, The Val of Sorrows itself can be entered from the northern most point of the oval and sits in the heart of these maps.

The Fey:  The Fey are a race of Faeries, whose lives are intimately intertwined with their environment. There are two groups of Fey: The Fey Elhai and the Fey Dirhai.

Fey Elhai are positive karma creatures, when they are many in number in a particular map the trees in that map will glow and sparkle in response. All Fey Elhai wear long brown stocking caps and will tend to show aggression towards negative karma players.

Fey Dirhai are negative karma creatures, when they are many in number in a particular map the trees in that map will become dark and foreboding in response. All Fey Dirhai wear long blue stocking caps and will tend to show aggression towards positive karma players.

The Vale of Sorrow Nodes:  There are actually two mana nodes which reside at the heart of the Vale, they are elusive and teeter on the edge of existence. To summon one of these nodes fully into the Vale requires a sensitive karma balance over the entire land of the Fey. The positive node can only be summoned when all eight maps are inhabited exclusively by the positive karma Fey Elhai. The negative node can only be summoned when all eight maps are inhabited exclusively by the negative karma Fey Dirhai.

Starting considerations:  There are several important factors to remember when you are planning to execute a Vale Node attempt. First, you must select which node you intend to summon. Keep in mind that which ever node you summon persons of the opposite karma will lose the node when you succeed in summoning for your attempt.

So if you summon the negative node, all players on your server whose karma is above zero will lose connection with the Vale node, as well as, all players previously connected to the positive node. Likewise, if you summon the positive node, all players whose karma is below zero will lose their connection, as well as, all players previously connected to the negative node.

Neither node is truly better or delivers more karma to those connected. The best choice usually depends on which node is most commonly summoned on your server. If the most common node summoned is the negative node, then selecting that node may mean that you stand the best chance of not losing the node as time goes on and other hunts are executed.

Scheduling:  If you are coordinating a node hunt as a server event, it is best to schedule it a few days in advance to allow sufficient time to post on the globe to solicit participants and to warn people who may be off line at the time the node is summoned to adjust their karma. Please note, being off line will not protect you from losing this node if it is summoned when your karma is not set properly.

Node Hunters:  When you post instructions for your prospective node hunters make sure to specify that all attendees adjust their karma BEFORE joining the hunt. If you are summoning the negative node for instance it is very important that persons joining the hunt be below zero karma before joining the hunt. Otherwise, the wrong polarity Fey will attack them and it will tend to make the node much more difficult to summon.

Node hunt leader:  So, you were foolish enough to volunteer to lead. Here are some things that can make your life a bit easier.

1) Begin to broadcast several hours before the hunt, warning the server population to adjust their karma. It is not uncommon for node hunt leaders to be KOS'd for running unannounced hunts and causing large numbers of players to lose connection to the Vale node (unless that is your intent of course). The broadcasts will also help to alert node seekers to adjust their karma before joining the hunt.

2) Have node hunters meet in one spot to give initial instructions. The Limping Toad in Marion is well suited but any location can work. Make a cheat sheet with your initial instructions so that you can cut and paste them into the chat window before the hunt begins. It will save you a lot of time and help ensure a successful hunt.

3) Be sure to get agreement from all participants that they will remain to the end of the hunt. 

4) Once the hunt starts turn off broadcasts, and request all node seekers to communicate with yells. The land of the Fey is set up so that a node leader who yells from the Vale can be heard on all eight screens.

5) Instruct the hunters to fan out from the starting point and ensure that each of the Vale maps have at least one node hunter capable of killing the correct polarity Fey on each map. The natural tendency will be for people to want to congregate around the node, in fact if this happens it will make it much more difficult to finish quickly. As leader you should head to the Vale of Sorrows map itself. 

6) Unless you really enjoy frantic typing it is best to define the following command aliases before you begin the hunt (see note at the bottom of this write up on how to define the command aliases):

To determine map coverage:

• yell Who is covering Lower Elhadrim
• yell Who is covering Lower Dirhadrim
• yell Who is covering Elhaydrim
• yell Who is covering Dirhadrim
• yell Who is covering The Fey's Crossing
• yell Who is covering North Quilicia Wood
• yell Who is covering Quilicia Wood
• yell Who is covering The Vale of Sorrows

 To determine progress: Specify Dark for negative vale, Lit for positive

• yell Is Lower Elhadrim Dark
• yell Is Lower Dirhadrim Dark
• yell Is Elhaydrim Dark
• yell Is Dirhadrim Dark
• yell Is The Fey's Crossing Dark
• yell Is North Quilicia Wood Dark
• yell Is Quilicia Wood Dark
• yell Is The Vale of Sorrows Dark

General:

• Yell The node is up, once you get the node please stay and replace someone who still needs the node.
• Yell if you still need the node please tell me your name so I can find you a replacement.
• Yell Kill only Fey with brown hats (substitute blue if positive node hunt)

7) Keep a pad of paper nearby and as you start the hunt. List on the pad all the names of the Vale maps and as you call the roll check off the map to make sure you have all maps covered.

8) Final warning to leaders, random player killers derive pleasure from disrupting Vale node hunts. Be prepared for the fact that node hunters may not be the only people that show up to participate. If you have enough hunters to ensure multiple hunters per  map for safety that is a good idea.  If you engage the help of PK hunters who already have the node to blockade the entrance to Quilicia Wood that is an even better idea.