Today, the Day of Justice, 1st Day of the Month's of Medievia's Birth,
shall forever be remembered by scholars and commoners alike as the day
that saw the demise of the single most feared creature ever to have
walked our fair land.
An attack of unprecedented scope, both by number and by strength, was
unleashed upon the 4th lair of Zeksagmak, the mighty Ruby Dragon, he
who was commonly acknowledged as "invincible" and "unkillable", who was
even known as "The King of Dragons".
To organize this formidable assault, Urimar, he who was also behind the
undoing of Gothpakgok a little time before, called upon much divine
assistance in the form of communications to arrange this daredevil
assault.
A never-before seen number of players answered the call. Between
325 and 375 brave Dragon Hunters, depending on the sources you care to
believe, were involved in this attack, a mobilization of 8952 player
levels.
The many resulting battle formations, transcending petty personal
rivalries and uniting the whole of Medievia in a common goal, were lead by,
amongst others, Urimar (who is the first to point out that he had very little
to do with the actual slaying of the beast), Tharghan and Calmore.
Once the final calls had been made, the Players of Medievia, some
having produced their finest Dragon Killing equipment for the occasion,
others preferring to rely upon the fluffy bunny tails and pink slippers
(courtesy of the gods - part of the Easter Festivities taking place at
the time) stormed the creature's lair.
As the lair had already been emptied of all non-4-lair-dragon denizens
during the previous attack, this veritable army progressed unhindered
down the lair's 3 levels, with floppy white bunnies hopping up and
delivering Easter lilies throughout.
Muttering whatever incantations and rubbing any good luck charms that
were theirs, they proceeded to storm the monster in its resting place.
Thus begun a two and half hour-long ordeal.
The resulting carnage can barely be expressed through words: incessant
cries of agony echoing through the cavern as claw, horn, tooth and
fiery breath tore through armor and flesh. The mighty beast roared,
and in terror they froze. It belched its fire, and in pain they yelled.
It swung its spiked ruby tail, and in pieces they fell to the ground.
Blood flowing like a river, the Necromancer was hard-pressed to answer
the demand for his services: he was called upon 1078 times in the
course of the attack, and is now demanding a substantial pay rise.
As most had forgotten to rid themselves of their clan keys beforehand,
these soon formed an impressive pile at the creature's feet, menacing
to obstruct the room's entrance. Further divine intervention (which I
dispensed in person) quickly found a good home for these unwelcome
keys. pats his stomach
The newly slain rushed to the nearest altar to be reunited with their
spirits and promptly returned into the fray, again and again. At first,
it seemed hopeless, as their foe's condition simply refused to pass
"winces".
As many were beginning to be seized by despair, the attacks started to
hit home. Blades and Shockwaves drove the Dragon's condition steadily
downwards, until, against all hope, they succeeded in forcing this
most powerful of creatures out of its home.
Grimacing, Zeksagmak the Ruby Dragon, fled from his oppressors,
stomping the life out of those who attempted to bar his flight. The
collective joy quickly turned into a collective groan as the Hunters
saw their prey land amid the maze that is Clan Town 42, home of the
House of Swords and Magic.
Their connections straining under the burden that only 300 frenetic
Dragon Hunters can create, they pressed their attack, combing the
Clan Town in pursuit of their quarry. Amid the resulting panic, smaller
dragons were called and mistakenly attacked, stalling the attackers
and wasting the 30 minutes that were theirs to finish the beast off,
lest it escape and become stronger yet.
The time dwindled down, growing forever nearer to nil, and still they
kept up their effort, until, with but two minutes left of the counter,
one final slash of Froto's Blade of Purity brought Zeksagmak to the
ground with a mighty crash.
Thus, in "The Path to the Sideshows", under the crazed glare of a
deranged janitor, expired the greatest Dragon Medievia has ever seen,
in his 517th day of existence. Froto and those formed with her most
certainly hit their XP cap as they shared up the 53398820 experience
points gained through Zeksagmak's death.
With his final tally of 3292 player kills, 5534423 hit points of
damage dealt and four lairs to his name, he most certainly will never be
forgotten in Medievia's collective memory, although, only minutes after
his demise, he had already vanished from the "Dragonlair" list.
A small lack of coordination in the attack pattern limited the number
of formations receiving Ruby Hide to one, but the principal motivation of
those present was to obtain the right to brag about having been part of
the group that slew Zeksagmak.
Many green potions and delicious finger remnants were also recovered
from the corpse, and there was much rejoicing.
In his last will and testament, Zeksagmak specifically indicated that
should he come to die (this followed by snorts and derisive roaring),
he did not wish for there to be a religious burial, as he acknowledged
himself as only true God.
Instead, a Memorial has been constructed by Kalithon, in his office,
displaying the names of all those who participated in this most
historic of events.
You can access the God Offices through the portal located 4 south and
1 east of the City of Medievia's recall point. Kalithon's office can be
found on the level 142 floor of the Office complex. The names are
divided by initial letter, so type "read memoriala" through "read
memorialz" to examine them.
Quotes from Gods and Goddesses after the demise of Zeksagmak:
Arethusa: Zek smashed my banana tree, I hope he rots.
Excrucior: It is the end of an era, and the start of a bright new day for Mudslinger articles.
Nykaul: It's sad to think that although he was a legend for us, he will be nothing to the newbie of tomorrow. :(
Surrion: From this day forth all dragons shall be measured by the one and only Zek. :P
Vangroen: He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze
long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.
Vehlani: I mourn the loss of Zek and am disappointed that my SAVE THE DRAGONS petition didn't
carry more weight. (Indeed, only 5 heroes signed it)
Zednanreh: If there had never been a Zeksagmak, Medievia would never have known the power of a bunch of mortals, all combined
to defeat one powerful foe. All of Medievia should rejoice
in the fact that we were united under one flag, the flag of
Victory.
Acknowledgments: Many thanks to Freric, Froto, Kalithon and Urimar for
their assistance in the writing of this article.
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