ATITD6 - User contributions [en]

Vegetable

2011-12-01T01:50:06Z

T5 Import: /* Cabbage */

[[Category:Guides]]

'''Vegetables''' refer to the various edible plants which can be grown and harvested from seeds. All vegetables can be grilled in a [[Firepit]] or cooked in a [[Kitchen]]; most have other uses as well.

Egypt currently has access to nine vegetables, the standard [[cabbage]], [[carrots]], [[garlic]], [[leeks]], [[onions]] (seeds available from Universities of Worship), plus rare [[watermelons]], [[Cucumbers]], [[Eggplants]] and [[peppers]] (seeds from event prizes).

=How To Grow=

All vegetables are grown from [[Vegetable Seeds]]. Vegetables can only be planted in the proper terrain: grass for cabbages and carrots, sand for garlic and eggplants, leeks and onions, dirt for peppers.

All five standard vegetables and eggplants are grown in the same way. Planting a seed produces a tiny vegetable; this must be [[Water_in_Jugs|watered from a jug]] quickly or it will die back into a seed. A vegetable that has been watered will soon grow to the next larger size, at which time it should be watered again or it will shrink. When a vegetable reaches maximum size, it may be harvested. A vegetable must grow four times before it can be harvested, which means at least four waterings (more if they shrink on the way).

To sum up: Water upon planting, then again each time the vegetable changes size. With the exception of onions, overwatering (watering more then once between growths) will result in it dying and reverting to seed.

'''If you know of a location that produces a good yield please post the coordinates.'''

Note on Achievements and seed reproduction: Pharaoh has 77 known ("heard of") Achievements. If one compares Achievements with Pharaoh, one obtains all 77. That is where the seed reproduction Achievements came from. Incidentally, Pharaoh had only accomplished two or three achievements when I compared with him. -- Ouijdani

=List of Vegetables=
== [[Cabbage]]==

In Celaeno, I get cabbage yields of 9 at -2420, 192 and 18 at -2398, -1 (Daetrin) 
verified 18 cabbage at -2398, -1 (elmer)
 I got 19 at same location (Queenie) 
Sterope, east of cs, south of road at 4622, -2065 yields 28/seed. Sign is up and it is just off the road by 2 small lakes. Long run. (Sky) 
Maia (-2100, -2901) 22 (now 29 w/pyramid yield increase) serves for both Leeks and Cabbage. (Anyolina)

Verified cabbage are shy. When harvesting while a person other than the planter is standing close (as if to acro), 0 yield, 1 seed. In fact yield seems to be half the normal quantity, rounded down. I got a yield of 9 at the 18 spot above, and a yield of 5 with a player nearby at a spot of 10 yield when alone. -TME

Yield is only reduced when having a single player in proximity. If two or more other players are nearby when growing cabbage the yield returns to normal (tested with 3, 4, 5, and 6 players).

Doing something which cuts the yields in half is generally a hint for what you need to do to get extra seeds.

'''Reproduction:'''

Revealed by Teppy during T5 amnesty: 
Grow with someone who has passed the Test of Mentorship. (I have not yet had a chance to confirm this.--merek)

Methods previously tested: 
NOT with stamina maxed out 
NOT growing near several herbs 
NOT harvesting after foraging 1 herb (Strychnos) 
NOT growing by a common altar 
NOT with Endurance Maxed out 
NOT with a beetle dropped next to before harvesting (used a Burrowing(F) beetle) 
NOT growing near apiary 
NOT growing near a fresh mushroom (Acorn's Cap) 
NOT when grown near flaming altar 
NOT when grown near dromedary pen with 1 male and 1 female inside 
NOT after eating a single herb 
NOT while under effect of a single herb 
NOT when growing near a date palm 
NOT growing near a coconut palm 
NOT growing near oil palm 
NOT after harvesting coconuts 
NOT growing near a brick rack 
NOT growing with carrots 
NOT harvesting cabbage planted by someone else (or spouse) 
NOT watering and harvesting cabbage planted by someone else (or spouse) 
NOT growing around a large group (tested with 14) of people 
NOT growing next to 2 Male Sheep (wild, not dropped) 
NOT growing near a large stone 
NOT growing 300-400 , 800+ feet up 
NOT growing near the base of a cliff 
NOT growing near a statue 
NOT growing after slaughtering a rabbit 
NOT growing after slaughtering hens 
NOT with constitution maxed out 
NOT with strength maxed out 
NOT growing while smoking 
NOT Close to Papyrus plants 
NOT when having other players take turns watering/harvesting cabbage 
NOT when acroing while growing 
NOT when growing near another player growing cabbage (tested with 1, 2, 3, and 4 others) 
NOT when growing near another player growing watermelon 
NOT when growing near another player growing onion 
NOT when growing near an aqueduct tower 
NOT after drinking from an aqueduct cistern 
NOT after mulching beetles 

==[[Carrots]]==

Carrot yields are based upon a wave timer. The waves run SW, and more W than S. There are several waves with varying maximum yield.

In practice this means that to get a decent yield, you first need to hunt a wave. Start somewhere where there is plenty of grassland so that you can move about. Grow carrots. If yield is one, move 100 coords W. Grow again. Repeat until the yield is different from 1. Then move 10 coords W and see if yield is higher. If it is, repeat. If it isn't, try the opposite direction. Once you find the peek (of say 11/12), simply grow until it falls to 10, and then move 10 coords W. You can also experiment going NNW or SSE (slowly) to reach a more convenient growing location, say near water.

When growing carrots (and any other non-onion veggie), I find it useful to lay them out in a grid, say 2x4 or 3x3. Try to remember the pattern of the carrots not grown to the next level. Try to delay watering carrots that are getting ahead as much as you can as that you don't have to remember too many things at once.

'''Reproduction:''' Unknown 
NOT growing near several herbs 
NOT harvesting after foraging 1 herb (Buckler-leaf) 
NOT harvesting after killing 1 herb (Wild Lettuce) 
NOT with endurance maxed 
NOT with beetle dropped before harvesting (used Burrowing(F) beetle) 
NOT when growing next to apiary 
NOT growing near a fresh mushroom (Acorn's Cap) 
NOT when grown near flaming altar 
NOT when grown near dromedary pen with 1 male and 1 female inside 
NOT when growing near a date palm 
NOT growing near a coconut palm 
NOT growing near an oil palm 
NOT after harvesting coconuts 
NOT growing next to 2 Male Sheep (wild, not dropped) 
NOT growing near a large stone 
NOT growing 300-400 , 800+ feet up 
NOT growing near the base of a cliff 
NOT growing near a statue 
NOT growing after slaughtering a rabbit 
NOT growing after slaughtering hens 
NOT with constitution maxed out 
NOT with strength maxed out 
NOT growing while smoking 
NOT Close to Papyrus plants 
NOT after mulching beetles 

In case anyone is trying to track the wave timers: 
- from approximately 5:50pm (game time) 4-5 yield 
- 5:55pm 6-7 yield 
- 6:00pm 8 yield 
- 6:01pm-6:10pm 7 yield 
All planted on the same spot in Merope -1575, 7045 

- 10:20am 12 yield 
Planted @ 705 5545 Taygete

==[[Garlic]]==

Was able to find my garlic spot in Sinai with a yield of 18 (Anyolina) 
 
Known yields range from 1 to 12 and every character has '''their own unique places''' to get more than 1.
 
 
On a tip from galahad, I tried planting near the Merope-Taygete border at the Mediterranean (around -5, 7545)- he reported a better onion yield, and a 2 garlic yield there. My yield was 7 garlic there, versus 1 garlic a hundred or so coords away. I started my way northwest and here are the garlic yields I got (sidenote: if I recall correctly the onion yield dropped back to 4 at least at the -307, 7702 spot): 
7 yield @ (-3, 7548) 
8 yield @ (-2, 7572) & (-10, 7598) & (-7, 7620) 
10 @ (-10, 7682) & (-5, 7712) & (-4, 7751) 
11 @ (-4, 7801) & (-307, 7702) 
Note the area in which I could get 11 yield was at least 300x100 coords. (tehm YI-Akhet-I-13) 
I also heard 3rd hand reports that another player found an 11 yield @ (-1112, 4786) 
I get a 12 garlic yield at Celaeno -2030, -374, in an area slightly worse for onions than the surroundings. Only 1 garlic yield to another player who lived nearby. -Somebob

'''Reproduction:''' Unknown 
NOT when growing near a cactus 
NOT when a beetle is dropped before harvesting (used Burrowing(F) beetle) 
NOT with endurance maxed 
NOT when growing next to apiary 
NOT growing near a fresh mushroom (Acorn's Cap) 
NOT grown near a sheep pen 
NOT growing near several herbs 
NOT in proximity to trees, herbs, thorny plants, roads, palm trees, meditation altars 
NOT in high altitudes 
NOT allowing it to grow to harvest size, then wither to just before seed, then regrowing 
NOT with 2, 3, or 4 waterings per stage 
NOT on a slope 
NOT when grown near dromedary pen with 1 male and 1 female inside 
NOT when grown next to a smouldering-out firepit. 
NOT growing with onions 
NOT growing at a public dig, or a bauxite one 
NOT growing near a brick rack 
NOT growing in a mountain 
NOT growing near a large stone 
NOT growing 300-400 , 800+ feet up 
NOT growing near the base of a cliff 
NOT growing near a statue 
NOT growing after slaughtering a rabbit 
NOT growing after slaughtering hens 
NOT Close to Papyrus plants 
NOT after mulching beetles 

-Just a thought, but if there are player specific spots for high yield, what if there are player specific seed spots with 0 garlic yield? - Tazendra

==[[Leeks]]==

In Caelano, I get yields of 18 at (-2422, -32) (Daetrin) 
I also get yields of 18 at (-2422, -32) (Skyfeather) 
My yield was 25 at this spot. Dec 15, 2010 (Iy-Nefer) 
Getting 21 leeks in Maia (-2395, -2898) (Anyolina) This location is too close to a school, you can't plant there. (McArine) I did not recheck the area because I found a yield of 22 ( now 29) a few coords away ( -2100, -2901) It serves for both Leeks and Cabbage. (Anyolina)

A map of yields (including the one above) is being compiled at [[User:Kasiya/LeekTest]]. The bottom map is manually filtered to show yields above 3. Please feel free to edit the top map with any additional points :)

'''Reproduction:''' Unknown* 
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Apparently the Achievement is now going around that this has been accomplished (Y1 Akhet I-18) - anyone know how? 
NOT when endurance is maxed 
NOT when focus is maxed 
NOT when growing near apiary 
NOT when growing near cactus 
NOT growing near a fresh mushroom (Acorn's Cap) 
NOT growing near several herbs 
NOT when grown near dromedary pen with 1 male and 1 female inside 
NOT when grown next to a smouldering-out firepit. 
NOT when growing near a date palm 
NOT when grown after harvesting onions, cabbage, garlic, or carrots. 
NOT growing in a mountain 
NOT growing after slaughtering a camel (male or female) 
NOT growing near a large stone 
NOT growing 300-400 , 800+ feet up 
NOT growing near the base of a cliff 
NOT growing near a statue 
NOT growing after slaughtering a rabbit 
NOT growing after slaughtering hens 
NOT Close to Papyrus plants 
NOT after mulching beetles 

I got an extra leek seed on Akhet I-28 around 3:30am. It was the first leeks I harvested after killing a '''female''' camel. Before that I grew cabbages, carrots and onions. Earlier today I got my first permanent END point, not sure if that matters. Need people to test!
-Did not get one from killing a female camel or male sheep. Had 3 end but not permanent.
[http://localhostr.com/files/fcc7da/leekseed.png (screenshot)]
(Aiko)

I have been able to get extra leek seeds 2 times. I think the way to do it is to grow onions at the same time as leeks. Both times, I grew onions as well. I have not been able to duplicate this at will. When I do, I will edit this again. (Shiranai)

==[[Onions]]==

Yields a minimum of 4. Onions can not be overwatered but doing so may slow growth. 
galahad tipped me off to a 9 yield around the Merope-Taygete border at the Mediterranean starting around (-5, 7545). The yield jumped was 9 there vs 4 about one hundred coords east. The 9 yield area continued at least 100 coords northwest from there. 
9 yield @ (-5, 7545) and area Northwest on the Mediterranean. (tehm YI-Akhet-I-13) 
9 yield at 1535, 2041 in Acl (Neferhotep) 
9 Yield at 1965, -2056 in Sterope near CS, has Water Icon needed for Jimbly's VeggieTales macro (Tribisha)
10 yield at 1082, 1755 in AC1 (kabasto) 
10 yield at 1075, 3857 in Taygete 
12 yield at -2213, 7174 in Merope (Hexadeimos' camp) 
12 yield at 2133, -1785 Sterope 
13 yield at 235, 3490 Taygete near red sand (Thutamun) 
14 yield at 2060, -2005 Sterope near CS (Ming) 
15 yield at 1543, 1633 AC1 near all sand in surrounding ponds (Amanda) 

'''Reproduction:'''
Onion seeds seem to be reproduced by allowing them to come to the point of harvest, then allowing them to shrink back to original size. Repeat this process until the onion is ready to harvest for the fourth time.

NOTE: Crowding seems to effect whether you can produce seeds or not. When ever I try to reproduce with 3 or more plantings next to each other and use the 15 cycle methed, I end up with 1 seed 3 onion. When I water an extra cycle or two the output becomes 1 seed 6 onion. The same is true when I try to water less. However when I just space the onions a little further apart I was able to reproduce seeds with more then three plants at a time. So far it seems they need to be far apart from one another so they dont touch when at harvest size. [Klipche - Alcyone, 2532,1582 (2-26-11)]

NOTE: It isn't necessary to allow the onions to shrink all the way back to planting size. After reaching the harvest stage, allow them to shrink one size then water to bring them back to harvest size...this completes one cycle as the counter appears to tick when harvest stage is reached. This is much faster than allowing them to shrink all the way back to planting size and yields the same result. The number of cycles required to reproduce seeds appears to vary by the number of onions normally harvested in a particular location. At my camp, I normally harvest 12 onions. For me to reproduce seeds requires 10 cycles. On the 10th harvest stage, I get 0 onions and 2 seeds. - Amisi

NOTE: Seems unrelated to how many times the plant reaches harvestable stage. Only factor for me seems to be how many times the plant grows one step. On my spot where yield on a regular grow is 2 onions i need to make the plant grow one step 15 times to reproduce the seeds. The ammount of times might be affected by that locations specific harvest. [[User:Nurkii|Nurkii]] 12:16, 15 September 2010 (EST)

NOTE: i did the grow to harvest and then let it go down one step and then go to harvest again. i repeated 11 times and harvested on the 12 time it said harvest. this is when i got the extra seed. the harvest-able amount i tested went from 7 onions my first three repeats to 3 onions on repeat 4 to 6, 1 onion repeat 7 to 10 and 0 onions 11 and 12 (12 is were i got my extra seed. then it went up to 1 onion on 13 to 15, 3 seeds 16 to 18 and up again in similar pattern

so if you are trying to find your reproduction amount just watch the onion harvest. if it says 1 or 0 you are within a couple. if you go from 0 to 1 on the next repeat then you probably went too far. i hope this will help. -wopper87

Confirmed: 11 cycles (water to harvestable, let shrink once, then water to harvestable = 2 cycles) to get onion seeds at Maia 1236, -5648. ~Serethos

Alcyone 1448,2780 - 15 waterings regardless of whether I let it shrink down 4 times or fewer times; number of harvests didn't matter, it had to be exactly 15 waterings when it was ready to harvest - 6 onions 1 seed for 4-7 waterings, 3 onions 1 seed for 8-10 waterings, 1 onion 1 seed for 11-14 waterings ~ UPDATE: After encountering a situation where exactly 15 waterings did *not* work, I wrote down the specific steps that *did*. Cycle #1: water 4 times as normal until harvest is reached, do *not* harvest, let it shrink down to initial planting size (shrinks 4 times), cycle #2: water 4 times as normal until harvest is reached, do *not* harvest, let it shrink down to initial planting size, cycle #3: water *3* times as normal, it will not reach harvest stage, let it shrink down to initial planting size (shrinks *3* times), cycle #4: water 4 times as normal until harvest is reached. Harvest! You will get 0 onions and 2 seeds. This is not the only correct method to get 2 seeds. ~ Augma

NOTE: Simple 2 seed, 0 onion process. Alcyone 1344,1972 Water onions to harvest. (Let them shrink 1 phase then rewater to harvest. Repeat this process 12 times and harvest.) ~HannaH

==[[Cucumbers]]==
Achievement knowledge "Have heard of Cucumbers Grew a Seed" in T5

*26 yeild with 1,1,4,4 - dymo

*1,1,1,1 = 13 - BlueGrass
*2,2,2,2 = 17 - BlueGrass
*3,3,3,3 = 17 - BlueGrass
*4,4,4,4 = 15 - BlueGrass
*5,5,5,5 = 11 - BlueGrass
*6,6,6,6 = 8 - BlueGrass
*7,7,7,7 = 8 - BlueGrass
*'''2,3,2,3 = 23 - BlueGrass'''
*3,2,3,2 = 15 - BlueGrass
*2,3,3,2 = 17 - BlueGrass
*2,2,3,2 = 16 - BlueGrass
*2,2,2,3 = 20 - BlueGrass

'''Reproduction''': Unknown 
NOT after mulching beetles 

==[[Watermelons]]==
Achievement knowledge "Have heard of Watermelons Grew a Seed" in T5

*26 yield with 1,1,4,2 - Dymo
*26 yield with 3,4,3,4 - mork (1,1,4,2 is 8 yield for me)

'''Reproduction''': Pick up a wild beetle then plant watermelon to get an extra seed. Only one seed will be produced regardless of amount of captured beetles or Watermelon Seeds planted. An extra seed will be produced any time after a capture and doesn't seem to have a time limit associated with it. -SoshiOPath 

Note: I have picked up at least 4 wild beetles, but when I tried gwoing seeds it didn't work. Rags 
PS to the note above, I was with Rags when she tried to grow the extra seed. The only thing I can think of is that the watermelon plant shrunk once during the watering. The second time she grew it "the correct way" and still didn't get the extra seed. So maybe you only get one chance (after catching a wild beetle) for the extra seed? ~ Augma 

==[[Peppers]]==

Grows on dirt.
16 yield from watering 1,6 and 2 for rest. --NOTE: This watering schedule did not work for me on any of the female avatars. So yields may be gender specific. Tamb 10/18 
15 yield from watering 7-7-2-2-2-1-7 works for all 3 female avatars, Logged in spouse (also female) and was able to repeat. - Tamb 10/18 
Pepper yield appears to vary with time of day -- same schedule above that yielded 15 peppers then (didn't document time of day), yielded 6 peppers at 12:32am Egypt time. -- Tamb 10/18 

Growth consists of 7 watering stages with choices of 1-7 jugs of water per stage. 
25 yeild watering each growth stage with this many jugs. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-harvest 

'''Reproduction''': Unknown 
NOT End Timer 
NOT Str Timer 
NOT Foc Timer 
NOT after catching a fish 
NOT after filleting a fish 
NOT after eating a fresh herb 
NOT after harvesting an herb 
NOT after mulching beetles 

== [[Eggplants]] ==

Grows on Sand. 
'''Reproduction''': Unknown 

[[Category:Guides]]

Insect Guide

2011-11-30T22:35:32Z

T5 Import: /* Basics */

Guide to Finding Insects
by Blueshift

== Basics ==
Excluding beetles and queen ants, there are 49 different species of insects in ATITD. These insects are used primarily for fishing lures, and also to cover the tuition costs of the increasingly expensive levels of the [[Fly Tying]] skill. They are split up into six classes, each class covering a different type of activity you can perform to find insects. These classes are:

*Tree Dwelling
*Herb Dwelling
*Water Dwelling
*Livestock Dwelling
*Ground Dwelling
*Crop Dwelling

Each of the above classes, with the exception of Crop Dwelling, contains 7 different insects (Crop Dwelling has 14). Some of the insects are more common than other ones. For example, among the Tree Dwelling insects, approximately half of all the clutches you find will be Ringed Wasps, approximately one quarter will be Woolly Aphids, one eighth will be Red Crickets, and so on such that only about 1% of the clutches you find will be Desert Millipedes, the rarest insect within the Tree Dwelling class. More detail on the rarities of the insects can be seen below, where each class of insect is covered.

The insects you receive are only defined by the class of insect (which covers the activity you are performing, for example Crop Dwelling in the case of harvesting carrots) and the rarity of that particular insect in question. This means that it doesn't matter whether you are growing carrots, leeks, or barley; any of the crop dwelling insects can be found on any of the crops, and the crop dwelling insects do not seem to prefer any type of crop over any other.

To maximize your collection, obviously you will want your [[Arthropodology]] skill to be as high as possible. I wouldn't personally recommend pushing your Arthropodology skill to the limit unless you have at least one permanent point of Strength and Dexterity, due to the burden the extra insects will place on your limited inventory space.

== Tree Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Gather wood

This is the simplest class of insects to cover; even players not looking for them will easily acquire even the rarest insects in this class over time due to extreme necessity of wood and frequency of having to gather it in ATITD.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Ringed Wasp || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Woolly Aphid || 2
|-
|Red Cricket || 3
|-
|Ash Centipede || 4
|-
|Horned Hookworm ||5
|-
|Golden Asp || 6
|-
|Desert Millipede || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Water Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Pick papyrus plants
*Gather Water
*Collect a gem from a Water Mine
*Diving

The best way to obtain the rarest insects here is by growing papyrus along the Nile. Picking a papyrus plant gives a good chance of finding a clutch, and it is rather easy to harvest hundreds of plants per hour if you are efficient. You will also gather many insects by collecting water in jugs and using the Water Mine, though these methods are not the ones to pursue if you are specifically trying to find the rarest insects.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Glass Worm || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Nippleworm || 2
|-
|Footworm || 3
|-
|Needleworm || 4
|-
|Bristleworm ||5
|-
|Oyster Mite || 6
|-
|Bloodworm || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Ground Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Digging
*Collecting Slate
*Collecting Limestone
*Collecting Clay
*Collecting Dirt
*Collecting Sand or Mud

By far the quickest way to gather these is attending a dig; you will have Mud Asps overflowing your pockets, and with some luck the rarer insects too. Unfortunately, this late in the tale digs are few and far between due to the presence of Steam Shovels. Therefore those looking for Queen Maggots and Corkscrew Asps are advised to collect a lot of slate, the second quickest method of obtaining Ground Dwelling Insects. Limestone is not bad either, but avoid collecting dirt and clay as methods of obtaining insects (you'll be lucky to obtain even 1 mud asp from collecting clay).

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Mud Asp || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Pickel Slug || 2
|-
|Clay Slug || 3
|-
|White Mealybug || 4
|-
|Blister Beetle ||5
|-
|Corkscrew Asp || 6
|-
|Queen Maggot || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Livestock Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Slaughtering Camels, Sheep, Hens, or Rabbits

This would seem to be a very hard class of insects to find, and indeed a lot of people have trouble here, but there is a simple solution: Rabbits! These breed so quickly and carrots are so easy to grow nowadays that with a couple of rabbit hutches under your command you will soon be overflowing with Livestock Dwelling Insects. Having a Modern Sheep Farm or two will definitely speed things up also and give you leather to boot. Hens are a good supplement, however camels are likely to be the slowest method of obtaining these insects.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Bat Mite || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Rose Mite || 2
|-
|Skinlicker || 3
|-
|White Sawfly || 4
|-
|Hairy Slug ||5
|-
|Toad Sawfly || 6
|-
|Stone Fly || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Herb Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Forage an herb, whether successful or not

Sadly, this is a hard class of insects to deal with, as there isn't much you can do to speed up your harvesting of herbs. The best solution is to forage often, and forage every single herb you see, even if it pains you to add to your overflowing pile of Discorea and Fool's Agar. Eating food that raises your speed and dexterity before heading out will increase the speed of your foraging and therefore your yield of the rarest insects in this class.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Sand Mite || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Slime Moth || 2
|-
|Honey Fly || 3
|-
|Grass Slug || 4
|-
|Salt Mite ||5
|-
|Camel Weevel || 6
|-
|Feather Midge || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Crop Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Harvest a bed of flax, barley, or wheat
*Harvest any vegetable
*Collect Thorns

The nightmare class; even after obtaining the "Harvested 77777 Flax" achievement it is highly unlikely you will have found all of these bugs; I do not know of single person who has the Crop Dwelling achievement (having found all 14 bugs in the class). Grow everything you can and often too; your best bet is to use a flax seed that produces a lot of seeds, little flax (to keep you from having to stop and unload flax too often), no watering required, and a good flax macro as well.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Spittlebug || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Orchid Hopper || 2
|-
|Fruit Maggot || 3
|-
|Leafhopper || 4
|-
|Woodmoth ||5
|-
|Snowberry Butterfly || 6
|-
|Ruby Hornborrer || 7
|-
|Rose Swallowtail || 8
|-
|Nightwing || 9
|-
|Leaf Snapper || 10
|-
|Dew Fly || 11
|-
|Clearwing || 12
|-
|Raspberry Moth || 13
|-
|Corn Maggot || 14 (Least common, good luck)
|}

Insect Guide

2011-11-30T22:05:08Z

T5 Import: /* Crop Dwelling Insects */

Guide to Finding Insects
by Blueshift

== Basics ==
''Warning! This guide is a work in progress and there may be errors present. I have kept extensive spreadsheets on my insect finds so I am hoping that this is mostly all correct, but I cannot be certain and it would take many people to verify this information for it to be truly correct. Please chat me ingame if you are certain something is wrong or if you have any input of your own on this subject.''

Excluding beetles and queen ants, there are 49 different species of insects in ATITD. These insects are used primarily for fishing lures, and also to cover the tuition costs of the increasingly expensive levels of the [[Fly Tying]] skill. They are split up into six classes, each class covering a different type of activity you can perform to find insects. These classes are:

*Tree Dwelling
*Herb Dwelling
*Water Dwelling
*Livestock Dwelling
*Ground Dwelling
*Crop Dwelling

Each of the above classes, with the exception of Crop Dwelling, contains 7 different insects (Crop Dwelling has 14). Some of the insects are more common than other ones. For example, among the Tree Dwelling insects, approximately half of all the clutches you find will be Ringed Wasps, approximately one quarter will be Woolly Aphids, one eighth will be Red Crickets, and so on such that only about 1% of the clutches you find will be Desert Millipedes, the rarest insect within the Tree Dwelling class. More detail on the rarities of the insects can be seen below, where each class of insect is covered.

The insects you receive are only defined by the class of insect (which covers the activity you are performing, for example Crop Dwelling in the case of harvesting carrots) and the rarity of that particular insect in question. This means that it doesn't matter whether you are growing carrots, leeks, or barley; any of the crop dwelling insects can be found on any of the crops, and the crop dwelling insects do not seem to prefer any type of crop over any other ''(Note- I think this is wrong now, based on cryptic comments from both Teppy and Telanoc. I've got to discover this secret! -Blueshift)''.

To maximize your collection, obviously you will want your [[Arthropodology]] skill to be as high as possible. I wouldn't personally recommend pushing your Arthropodology skill to the limit unless you have at least one permanent point of Strength and Dexterity, due to the burden the extra insects will place on your limited inventory space.

== Tree Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Gather wood

This is the simplest class of insects to cover; even players not looking for them will easily acquire even the rarest insects in this class over time due to extreme necessity of wood and frequency of having to gather it in ATITD.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Ringed Wasp || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Woolly Aphid || 2
|-
|Red Cricket || 3
|-
|Ash Centipede || 4
|-
|Horned Hookworm ||5
|-
|Golden Asp || 6
|-
|Desert Millipede || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Water Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Pick papyrus plants
*Gather Water
*Collect a gem from a Water Mine
*Diving

The best way to obtain the rarest insects here is by growing papyrus along the Nile. Picking a papyrus plant gives a good chance of finding a clutch, and it is rather easy to harvest hundreds of plants per hour if you are efficient. You will also gather many insects by collecting water in jugs and using the Water Mine, though these methods are not the ones to pursue if you are specifically trying to find the rarest insects.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Glass Worm || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Nippleworm || 2
|-
|Footworm || 3
|-
|Needleworm || 4
|-
|Bristleworm ||5
|-
|Oyster Mite || 6
|-
|Bloodworm || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Ground Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Digging
*Collecting Slate
*Collecting Limestone
*Collecting Clay
*Collecting Dirt
*Collecting Sand or Mud

By far the quickest way to gather these is attending a dig; you will have Mud Asps overflowing your pockets, and with some luck the rarer insects too. Unfortunately, this late in the tale digs are few and far between due to the presence of Steam Shovels. Therefore those looking for Queen Maggots and Corkscrew Asps are advised to collect a lot of slate, the second quickest method of obtaining Ground Dwelling Insects. Limestone is not bad either, but avoid collecting dirt and clay as methods of obtaining insects (you'll be lucky to obtain even 1 mud asp from collecting clay).

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Mud Asp || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Pickel Slug || 2
|-
|Clay Slug || 3
|-
|White Mealybug || 4
|-
|Blister Beetle ||5
|-
|Corkscrew Asp || 6
|-
|Queen Maggot || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Livestock Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Slaughtering Camels, Sheep, Hens, or Rabbits

This would seem to be a very hard class of insects to find, and indeed a lot of people have trouble here, but there is a simple solution: Rabbits! These breed so quickly and carrots are so easy to grow nowadays that with a couple of rabbit hutches under your command you will soon be overflowing with Livestock Dwelling Insects. Having a Modern Sheep Farm or two will definitely speed things up also and give you leather to boot. Hens are a good supplement, however camels are likely to be the slowest method of obtaining these insects.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Bat Mite || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Rose Mite || 2
|-
|Skinlicker || 3
|-
|White Sawfly || 4
|-
|Hairy Slug ||5
|-
|Toad Sawfly || 6
|-
|Stone Fly || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Herb Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Forage an herb, whether successful or not

Sadly, this is a hard class of insects to deal with, as there isn't much you can do to speed up your harvesting of herbs. The best solution is to forage often, and forage every single herb you see, even if it pains you to add to your overflowing pile of Discorea and Fool's Agar. Eating food that raises your speed and dexterity before heading out will increase the speed of your foraging and therefore your yield of the rarest insects in this class.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Sand Mite || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Slime Moth || 2
|-
|Honey Fly || 3
|-
|Grass Slug || 4
|-
|Salt Mite ||5
|-
|Camel Weevel || 6
|-
|Feather Midge || 7 (Least common)
|}

== Crop Dwelling Insects ==

How to obtain:
*Harvest a bed of flax, barley, or wheat
*Harvest any vegetable
*Collect Thorns

The nightmare class; even after obtaining the "Harvested 77777 Flax" achievement it is highly unlikely you will have found all of these bugs; I do not know of single person who has the Crop Dwelling achievement (having found all 14 bugs in the class). Grow everything you can and often too; your best bet is to use a flax seed that produces a lot of seeds, little flax (to keep you from having to stop and unload flax too often), no watering required, and a good flax macro as well.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="background-color:#FFF0CC"
!Insect Name!!Rarity Level
|-
|Spittlebug || 1 (Most common)
|-
|Orchid Hopper || 2
|-
|Fruit Maggot || 3
|-
|Leafhopper || 4
|-
|Woodmoth ||5
|-
|Snowberry Butterfly || 6
|-
|Ruby Hornborrer || 7
|-
|Rose Swallowtail || 8
|-
|Nightwing || 9
|-
|Leaf Snapper || 10
|-
|Dew Fly || 11
|-
|Clearwing || 12
|-
|Raspberry Moth || 13
|-
|Corn Maggot || 14 (Least common, good luck)
|}

Insect Guide

Monument of art and music

2011-11-30T10:17:06Z

T5 Import: /* Students (64) */

[[Monuments | < Monuments]]
<div style="border:3px blue solid;margin:10px">
<div style="margin:10px">

NOTE: 

 

If it turns out that there is more than one Art and Music monument, please create it as a subpage of this page; i.e. create a page '''Monuments/ArtMusic/OracleName''' where OracleName is the name of the person leading that monument. If you need help creating a new page, please ask a wikiadmin for help. 
</div>
</div>

= Monument of Art & Music =

A guildhall for the Monument of Art and Music project has been built at Taygete 898 6024 not far from the chariot stop. Applicants are automatically accepted. 
 
Note: The Discipline of Art and Music is suffering from a low number of disciples, and that number is currently less than the total required to build the Monument of Art and Music. I intend to proceed with the gathering of mats and the recruitment of monument builders in hopes that this situation will, one way or another, be remedied. --Murtha

Due to lack of interest from Teppy in reducing the number of disciples needed, I have torn down the site and rebuilt it to give us more time. PLease go repledge your support.

== Monument Location ==

Taygete 434 5621

==Test Idea==
* Note
Any suggestions or new test ideas please let us know

Test of the Sculpture

This test will be a challenge of creating beautiful sculptures out of the mats of egypt.
The test sculpture frame will hold 100 items and have a cost of 4 times the normal sculpture frames. It will act the same as normal frames except it will hold more than one color of raeli tiles.
Player will be provided with a list of mats they must use (randomized). They can fill in with other mats to finish their sculpture. In the case of impossible mats, each week a player can visit a Uart and get a new list.
Once sculpture is finished and opened, it can be judged by all initiates and up of art, using the same judging system of other art tests.
High score each week will pass.

= Monument Requirements =

'''Material requirements to build the Monument of Art and Music.'''

{| border="1" style="background-color:#ADD8E6" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="1"
|Material
|Need
|Have
|Pledged
|Notes
|-
|-
|Island Blue Marble (Plinth Base) ||300 || 300 || DONE ||
|-
|White Travertine (Plinth Base) || 300 || 300 || DONE ||
|-

|Aqua Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 || DONE ||
|-

|Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-

|Blue Violet Raeli Tiles ||127 ||127 || DONE ||
|-

|Cadet BlueRaeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-

|Carrot Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 || DONE ||
|-
|Chocolate Raeli Tiles ||127 || 127 || DONE ||
|-
|Crimson Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Dark Khaki Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Dark Orange Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Dark Orchid Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Dark Slate Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Dark Turquoise Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Dark Violet Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Deep Pink Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 || DONE||
|-
|Deep Sky Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127||DONE ||
|-
|Dodger Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 || DONE||
|-
|Fuchsia Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 ||DONE||
|-
|Golden Rod Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127||DONE ||
|-
|Gray Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Indian Red Raeli Tiles ||127 ||127 || DONE ||
|-
|Lawn Green Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Light Sea Green Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 || DONE ||
|-
|Lime Green Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 || DONE ||
|-
|Lime Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Medium Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Medium Orchid Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Medium Sea Green Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Medium Spring Green Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Medium Turquoise Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Medium Turquoise Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 || DONE ||
|-
|Medium Violet Red Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Olive Drab Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Pale Violet Red Raeli Tiles ||127 || 127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Peru Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Royal Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 || DONE ||
|-
|Siena Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Slate Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Slate Gray Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Spring Green Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Steel Blue Raeli Tiles || 127 || 127||DONE ||
|-
|Turquoise Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Violet Red Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Yellow Green Raeli Tiles || 127 ||127 ||DONE ||
|-
|Diving Gull Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Hawk Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Finch Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Nightingale Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Crane Chime || 7 || 6 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Parrot Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Pheasant Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Puffin Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Sparrow Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Diving Buzzard Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Buzzard Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Eagle Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Lark Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Nightingale Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Osprey Chime || 7 || 1 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Owl Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Pheasant Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Puffin Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Sparrow Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Floating Warbler Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Gliding Albatross Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Gliding Buzzard Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Gliding Gull Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Gliding Lark Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Gliding Nightingale Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Gliding Parrot Chime || 7 || 1 || DONE ||
|-
|Gliding Raven Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Albatross Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Buzzard Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Crane Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Finch Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Hawk Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Hummingbird Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Nightingale Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Osprey Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Owl Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Parrot Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Puffin Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Raven Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Hovering Warbler Chime || 7 || 7 ||DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Condor Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Eagle Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Lark Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Owl Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Parrot Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Puffin Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Raven Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Sparrow Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Soaring Warbler Chime || 7 || 7 || DONE ||
|-
|Cut Stone || 4500 || 4500 || DONE ||
|-
|Concrete (Pipe Outer Coverings) || 12,000 || 12000 || DONE ||
|-
|Gold Sheeting (Gilding) || 2000 || 2000 || DONE ||
|-
|Boards || 11700 ||11700|| DONE ||
|-
|Octec's Alloy Cable - To suspend the chimes || 300 ||300 || DONE ||
|-
|Fine Glass Pipe (For the Chimes) || 3500 || 3500 || DONE ||
|-
|}

= Monument Personnel =

== Oracles ==
*IMurtha
== Sages (2) ==
*Renard
*Testios

== Masters (4) ==
* Solaris
* Shiranai
* Lilinou
*Jaylenaeybarre

== Scribes (8) ==

* Ninfa
* Nori
* sheeba
*Kuupid
*ysabeau
*artemis
*thunderstorm

== Journeymen (16) ==
*Avanya
*Kaiya
*Kitten
*Rania
*Nissim
*Robare

== Prentices (32) ==
* Mariamom
* Sharae
* Tamb
* Jazkar
* PetrusIII
* Wampak
* Dedenav

== Students (64) ==
* Asheara
* Asnath
* Crashley
* Eclypse
* Indyatep
* Momra
* Monifa
* Nitocris
* Rehema
* Tashienna,
* bcoastaldawn
* candi
* diania
* inshepsut
* Augir
* Blueshift
* Nchanter
* Bognor
* Daniels
* galiath
* JosS
* Moses
* oni
* Osidion
* Zildjan
* darkfyre
* farmer
* kastou
* talos

Test of Isis Bounty

2011-11-29T23:53:15Z

T5 Import: /* Test Mechanics - Ship Debris */

== Test of Isis' Bounty Draft Proposal ==

===Abstract===

The Test of Isis' Bounty challenges players to find pieces of that legendary ship in Egypt's waters. Pieces can be fished up at a low rate from the shoreline, but to find the final pieces needed to pass, players will have to learn to construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are steerable but subject to prevailing winds and have a chance of breaking up at sea, depositing the player on a random shore. In order to learn to construct Small Sailboats, players will have to work together to research the Basic Shipbuilding technology. After passing the test, players will gain the ability to construct larger, sturdier, and more expensive ships, complete with cargo holds. In addition to fishing up pieces of Isis' Bounty or other ships, fishing will be changed so that other debris -- some desirable and some less so -- can be fished up. Players will also need to scour the seas for Treasure Caches, recovered with Winches, which may contain rare and plentiful booty. Players may continue to seek out even larger and rarer Treasure Caches once they have passed the test, using a Sturdy Winch installed upon their Master's Schooner.

===The Story===

There once was a band of 77 shipwrights in the employ of the Pharaoh. They were pious men and hard workers as well; day after day they performed the back-breaking labor necessary to construct and maintain the barges of the Pharaoh without complaint. They planed the timbers and masts without complaint, tarred leaks without complaint, and sewed vast sails without complaint. They felt neither exploited nor happy; indeed, the making of ships for the Pharaoh was no less natural nor automatic for these 77 shipwrights than the taking of breath.

The final ship that these 77 shipwrights constructed was by far the grandest; the Pharaoh Teppankhamun had ordered a great royal barge be built measuring 777 cubits in length, gilded and bejeweled from prow to stern, sails made from the finest silk, imported from China on the backs of hundreds of mules and porters. In a final touch, the Pharaoh ordered the sides to be adorned with mirrors so that the rising and setting sun would blind peasants with the brilliance of the Pharaoh as Teppankhamun plied the waters of the Nile with his retinue.

The ship was to be called Isis' Bounty. The Pharaoh Teppankhamun expected the construction to be completed in seven years; in order to meet this goal, the 77 shipwrights would have to work nearly around the clock, seven days a week. This was pious and proper, though, and the Pharaoh's doctors were kind enough to provide the shipwrights with drugs that would make two hours of sleep feel like eight. They worked on.

Twenty hours every day for three years they planed and tarred and sewed and lifted and carried and hammered and sawed. Many of the men appeared to age decades in this time. Nearly all lost their wives to their work. Some lost fingers or toes to errant lumber or dropped hammers; one lost an eye. Still, they worked without complaint.

Then, on the eve of the third anniversary of the start of their enterprise, a figure appeared in the shipyard, robed and faceless in the stark torch-shadows. This stranger watched the men work without a word for several hours, then he disappeared again. The men, absorbed as they were in their work, paid him little heed.

The next night the stranger appeared again. Again, he stood motionless for several hours, and again, he vanished without a sign or word.

This continued for seven nights. On the seventh night of the stranger's presence, the shipwrights felt a distinct sense of unease, as though something were about to happen. They deliberately avoided gazing upon the stranger, fearing that he might be an dark spirit sent by Set to undo their mighty labor. Again, the stranger disappeared without a sign.

On the eighth night, the stranger appeared to the shipwrights again. This time he was not silent. Rather he let out a cough that sounded rather like that of a tubercular old man.

"Greetings, shipwrights," the stranger said with another cough.

None answered. They kept on sawing and hammering and planing as though their survival depended upon it, which it did.

"Is this how you greet a sick old man, then?" the stranger continued. "I thought you were pious men."

Several of the men paused at this. No one had ever questioned their piety before.

"I see you hard at work, but for what if not to show your respect for your elders and betters and your devotion to our way of life?"

The youngest of the 77 blushed at this and lowered his adze. "Forgive us, father," he said. "We are on the strictest of schedules and must complete this barge for the Pharaoh in four years, else our lives will be forfeit."

The stranger stepped into the torchlight so that his face was clearly visible. It was wrinkled and weathered but kind. He wore an eyepatch over one eye. He was old enough to be the youngest's grandfather.

"In that case," the stranger said, "I have done you a grave disservice by slowing your progress. You must allow me to help you."

----

The stranger was skilled with a saw and a sewing needle and quick with a joke. He quickly became popular among the shipwrights. He worked long hours, just as the other shipwrights. And, he reasoned, with a seventy-eighth member helping the crew, the other shipwrights could each afford to have every 77th day off and still finish the barge on schedule. The crew, unfamiliar with the concept of a "day off" looked upon this philosopher-shipwright with admiration and gratitude.

For a long year the stranger worked with the shipwrights, side by side, sharing in their labors and in the ecstasy of brutal physical hardship. The others began to view this stranger as one of them; many even saw him as their leader. Before long, all considered him crucial to their success and called him "father".

"What are we doing here?" the stranger asked one day, pausing from his work.

The other shipwrights looked at him as though he had gone mad. "Why, we are building a barge for the Pharaoh, father."

"Yes, but to what end?"

The shipwrights were puzzled. "The only end there is, father. The Pharaoh's will."

The stranger thought hard about this and the men returned to their tasks.

"Why is there no other end than the Pharaoh's will?" he asked, after a time.

The men clambered over each other to answer.

"The Pharaoh brings the rains that flood the Nile and causes the sun to rise," said one.

"The Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies," said another.

"The Pharaoh teaches us respect for the Gods, and they in turn bring us prosperity and health," said a third.

The stranger smiled at this and nodded.

"You, who says that the Pharaoh brings the rains and causes the sun to rise: how does he do this?"

The interrogated shipwright thought for a moment. "Well," he said, "I suppose he must perform some secret and sacred ceremony for each."

The stranger nodded again. "Then I will tell you all my own secret: for many years, I was one of the Pharaoh's closest advisors. He went nowhere without me, did nothing without consulting me."

At this, the shipwrights lowered their faces in awe and submission.

"Do not lower your eyes!" the stranger said. "I am just a man. But I am a man who has seen many things: one year, as the rains began, I was with the Pharaoh on a hunting trip. I did not leave his side the entire time. No ritual was performed. Another year, he was in the midst of debauchery with his harem when the rains started; I saw it all. Strange ceremony, that, if it causes the skies to open. The Pharaoh is a late sleeper; it is rare that he is up early enough to see the sun rise, forget about having anything to do with causing its ascent. How, then, does he do such things?"

The men's faces were slack, many mouths wide with awe. None answered.

"You say that the Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies. This, indeed, is true. The state is orderly because it is an order that best suits the Pharaoh. He sleeps ten hours a day, has many wives and concubines, hunts when he wishes, rests upon finest silk and linen, and bathes in crystal-clear water scented with the finest perfumes. You work twenty hours a day, through blisters and lost limbs and domestic strife. The Pharaoh does indeed maintain order, but is this something which you should thank him for? And so he protects you from his enemies: these are his enemies, not yours. If Nubia or Eritrea were to conquer us, how would your lots be worsened? Only the Pharaoh and those closest to him would likely be gravely affected."

There were a few angry murmurs from the crowd. Some shook their heads, as though fighting off bad dreams.

"And you, who says that the Pharaoh, through some divine connection, brings us prosperity and health, would you step forward?"

The shipwright did so. He was as thin and stooped as a bent fishing pole. He was missing the pinky finger from his right hand, and his clothes were little more than rags. His face was haggard and unshaved; he looked far more like a long-neglected and starved convict than an artisan.

"Mark well this man," the stranger said to the shipwrights. "Does he seem to you to be an image of health or prosperity?"

The shipwrights stared at this, their brother in labor, as though they had never seen him before. The angry murmur became an angrier cascade of voices.

"Peace, men!" the stranger called. "Peace, please!"

They quieted reluctantly. Some turned to regard the half-finished juggernaut behind them; even ungilt, unmirrored, and unpainted, it seemed suddenly an abomination.

"This ship is by rights yours," the stranger said. "And, if you follow my advice, it will be."

----

The stranger then set to work altering the plans for the half-completed Isis' Bounty. An additional chamber would be added to the hold of the ship, accessible only by a secret door.

The next three years passed quickly, as the men worked not for the Pharaoh but rather for themselves. The ship was completed on time; indeed, it was an image of gaudy splendor, loudly proclaiming the Pharaoh's wealth and power to all who saw it. But the secret chamber, empty and inaccessible to all but the seventy-seven and one shipwrights, was invisible to all, masterfully hidden among the bowels of the ship by the shipwrights' skill.

The shipwrights were nowhere to be found at the ship's unveiling and dedication to Isis. They were not missed. The massive silk sails were unfurled, and the mirrors and gems and gold of the hull's plating made the ship shine as brightly as the morning sun.

The Pharaoh, along with seven of his most trusted advisors, seven of his most senior priests, seven of his favorite concubines, and seven eunuch bodyguards, boarded the ship. Such was the craft of the shipwrights that the ship could be steered by a single man: this man was the stranger. Now thin and bent and scraggly from his long labor, the Pharaoh could not recognize his former advisor, who took up the steerage at the ship's stern. The moorings were cut and the ship began to drift slowly down the Nile.

As Isis' Bounty journeyed, the Pharaoh and his retinue drank and debauched and laughed heartily. They beheld the farmers in their fields and the masons at work on houses and buildings of State, and all seemed as it should be.

Indeed, by the time the shipwrights emerged from the secret compartment, brandishing 77 simple but sharp knives, the Pharaoh and most of his entourage were passed out, drunk and satiated.

The only member of the retinue that was awake to behold the glinting of the knives in the moonlight was the youngest of the Pharaoh's concubines. She pleaded for mercy and was granted it. The rest were slain in their sleep.

----

After they had set the girl down on a nearby shore with a supply of food and water, the shipwrights took back to the water. Their plan was not yet finished.

The bodies of the Pharaoh and his train were dumped overboard to feed the crocodiles. The ship was turned around and pointed in the direction of the most sacred Valley of the Kings. As they sailed, peasants on the riverbanks turned away from the ship, thinking the Pharaoh to be on board; the seventy-eight were completely unhindered as they moored upon the holy dock reserved for the Pharaoh and priests come to place offerings at the tombs of dead Pharaohs.

With the stranger's help, the men opened the doors to the tombs of seven of Egypt's mightiest kings and entered boldly. In a few short days, they had managed to carry off half the wealth of ancient Egypt and load it upon Isis' Bounty. The bodies of Pharaohs were loaded as well, stacked on pallets like the carcasses of wild hogs.

----

"I must leave you now," said the stranger, once the last of the plunder had been secured. "I am old and would like to spend my last years in a quiet and domestic life. But listen to my words: this ship is yours, but the wealth of the kings rightfully belongs to the people of Egypt. Give it to them freely, or the gods will not favor you for long."

The men agreed to do so, and after many fond goodbyes, the stranger was set down upon the opposite shore. Isis' Bounty took to the Nile again, where the bodies of the ancient kings were dumped overboard.

----

The men immediately began to throw some of the plunder overboard, in the hopes that it would wash to the shore and be found by destitute laborers or be caught by poor fishermen in their nets. Stops were made at oases where camel drivers would rest, and treasure was shallowly buried to be exposed by shifting sands. Pearls and silks were buried in farmers' fields, to be upturned by plows.

For nearly seven years, the men distributed the wealth of the ancient Pharaohs in this manner, sailing up and down the Nile, into the Mediterranean, and even, some said, around Africa and along the banks of the Red Sea. And still, the trove of plunder seemed not a deben smaller. Some men believed that the gods had blessed them and their enterprise; some believed, instead, that it was a curse and that they would be doomed to sail the waters of the world for the remainder of time, sowing the waters with riches as a farmer seeds his fields.

They began to argue amongst themselves. Some said that they were on a holy mission and obliged to continue spreading wealth until the wealth was gone. Some said that they had done their duty and that they should dump the remainder of the plunder overboard and let the waters take it where they would. Others said that the remaining booty was theirs to keep, a token of the gods' appreciation for their work. These advocated taking the plunder and starting their own kingdom, a place where the good life could be enjoyed by all: a land of equality, with the shipwrights as judges, priests, and lords.

The arguments became more fierce as the weeks and months wore on. Factions began to form. Some talked openly of a split and taking control of the barge.

Finally, in the dead of night, all were awakened by the clanging of bells, rung by the shipwright who all regarded as the most pious. Isis' Bounty was on fire. The men escaped, but the ship, bellowing smoke and blazing nightmarishly in the reflections of ten thousand mirrors, sank into the cold, dark waters. Those shipwrights who carried the tale to Egypt would never say where. Some believe it was in the precise center of the Mediterranean; others claim that the ship was far from Egypt, anchored off of Sinai; most, though, believe that the treasures of the ancient world now line the bed of the Nile. As proof, they cite the appearance of the Nile in the midday sun; once, they say, the river was dull and muddy, but now, as all know, the Nile shines brilliantly when the sun is directly overhead, precisely as though its trough were lined by thousands of polished mirrors.

===New Mechanics and Content - Fishing Changes===

Fishing will be changed so that additional items can be fished up. These should be catchable anywhere at any time of day, and include the following:

*Silk Cloth
*Linen Cloth/Sails
*Gold Foil
*Mirrors
*Rope
*Boards

Anything else that would make sense to be part of the wreckage of Isis' Bounty or other shipwrecks is acceptable. The frequency of recovering these items should be on par with their rarity in the rest of the game -- so, for instance, boards might come up every 10th cast or so, but silk cloth might require 1000 casts. Additionally, occasionally players will fish up bits of Ship Debris (this is the item name). These should be fished at the rate of 1 per every 49 casts, on average. For more information on Ship Debris, see the section under Test Mechanics, below.

===Test Mechanics - Ship Debris===

Pieces of ship debris may be brought to Schools or Universities of the Human Body for indentification. The scientists there will take the piece of Debris and return either: a piece of Ordinary Ship Debris (item name), or a piece of Isis' Bounty. If it is a piece of Isis' Bounty, it will be labeled with the part of that ship that the debris came from -- so, for instance, the item returned might be named, "A Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty". The odds of any given piece of ship debris being from the Isis' Bounty depend on where and how it was found:

*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from shore has a very low (1 in 49) chance of being from Isis' Bounty. Only fragments of the Gilded Outer Hull can be fished up from shore.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from offshore (at least 5 coords from shore) has a decent chance of being from Isis' Bounty (1 in 14). Only pieces of the Gilded Outer Hull, Foredeck, Aftdeck, and Mainmast can be fished up at sea.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with a Small Treasure Cache is likely to be from Isis' Bounty (1 in 3 chance). Any part of the ship can be found in Small Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance that the piece will be from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold than the other types.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with an Ancient Treasure Cache is guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty. Any part can be found in Ancient Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance of the fragment being from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold.

The use of pieces of Isis' Bounty is detailed below. Pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris have two uses:

*777 pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris are needed to unlock Basic Shipbuilding at UBody. Once the tech has been unlocked, any player can learn Basic Shipbuilding 1. (This is a change from the earlier draft -- my calculations indicated that the previous number (7777) would require approximately 2000 man-hours of fishing to acquire; this means basic shipbuilding might never have become unlocked, particularly if the test isn't released early in the telling.)
*Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding 1, pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris can be turned in at the UBody where the tech is opened in exchange for knowledge. The scientists will examine the piece of ship debris and offer to instruct the player further on building simple ships -- each time the player does so, his/her Basic Shipbuilding skill will raise by 1, up to a maximum of 49.

Ordinary Ship Debris has no further uses.

===New Mechanics and Content - Small Sailboats===

Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding (see Ship Debris section above), they can construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are built water-side from the following materials:

*400 Boards
*3 Linen Sails
*30 Rope
*10 Tar
*100 Nails
*50 Iron (for the anchor)

Unlike ferries, sailboats cannot be disassembled and moved: once they are placed, the only way to move them to a new location is to sail them there. Also unlike ferries, sailboats can be steered. Some points of order on how sailboats are steered and handled:

*Sailboats cannot go in reverse.
*Sailboats traverse water of all depths.
*Steerage is precise -- unlike airships, direction is easily specified, but like airships, sailboats' speed is influenced by the airstream. This means that the speed of the boat is highly dependent upon wind direction (the wind compass should pop up when the player is at sea). If it is possible to do so, it would be excellent to be able to adjust the sails at sea for optimum wind use by an experienced sailor.
*Sailboats can be anchored, and should automatically anchor when a player exits one or logs off aboard one.
*Sailboats should be able to be boarded from a few coords away from shore by clicking upon them -- otherwise, lining a ship precisely up along a straight bit of shoreline could become tedious.
*Waypointing/Expedition Travel/Spousewarping should not be allowed to/from ships.
*Fishing should be allowed from ships. Ideally, ships should not stop moving for a cast -- it should be possible to trawl from a moving boat.

Small Sailboats are somewhat flimsily constructed. This means that there is a chance that a small sailboat may come apart at sea. If this happens, the ship, and winch (if installed, see Winches and Treasure Caches section below) are lost, and the player is deposited on a random shore. Additionally, to prevent Egypt becoming cluttered with thousands of derelict boats, small sailboats automatically decay after a period of time (see below).

The quality of a Small Sailboat is determined by the Basic Shipbuilding skill level of the builder. At higher quality levels:

*Ships have a significantly lower chance of coming apart at sea.
*Ships last longer. The lifespan in days should be equal to the builder's Basic Shipbuilding skill, up to a maximum of 21 days. At Basic Shipbuilding 1, a Small Sailboat will disintegrate after 1 day. At Basic Shipbuilding 21 and above, a small sailboat will live for three weeks. This lifespan can be prolonged indefinitely with maintenance: selecting "Maintain this Sailboat" from the ship's menu will refresh the ship's timer. This will also update the ship's other properties to the player's new/current level of Basic Shipbuilding.
*Ships are faster.
*Ships are less at the mercy of prevailing winds; even with unfavorable wind, a high-quality Small Sailboat should be able to move at a moderate rate.

===New Mechanics and Content - The Master's Schooner and Advanced Shipbuilding===

Once a player has passed the Test of Isis' Bounty, he/she will learn the skill Advanced Shipbuilding 1. This will allow said player to construct Master's Schooners. The cost of building a Master's Schooner is:

*1000 Boards
*1000 Glossy, Rotproof Boards
*50 Linen Sails
*200 Rope
*100 Tar
*1000 Nails
*10 Pulleys
*100 Gold Foil
*50 Bronze Straps
*500 Iron (for the Anchor)
*5 Steel Cable (for the Anchor Chain)

Master's Schooners obey the same mechanics as Small Sailboats (above), with a few exceptions:

*Master's Schooners never come apart at sea.
*Master's Schooners do not decay.
*Master's Schooners should have speed and wind resistance comparable to that of Small Sailboats built at Basic Shipbuilding 49.
*Master's Schooners may be fitted with Sturdy Winches (see Winches and Treasure Caches section).
*Master's Schooners have cargo holds.
*Either Advanced Shipbuilding (any level) or Basic Shipbuilding 21+ is required to operate a Master's Schooner.

The base capacity of a Master's Schooner's cargo hold is 25000 deben. This can be upgraded by a player with a high level of Advanced Shipbuilding. Advanced Shipbuilding 7 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 50000 deben, and Advanced Shipbuilding 49 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 100000 deben capacity. A nominal material cost may be associated with the first upgrade (to be determined). The final cargo hold upgrade should have a substantial material cost (also to be determined).

Higher levels of Advanced Shipbuilding can be learned by turning pieces of Isis' Bounty in to Ubody after the test has been completed.

===New Mechanics and Content - Winches and Treasure Caches===

Both Small Sailboats and Master's Schooners can be fitted with Light Winches. Only Master's Schooners can be fitted with Sturdy Winches.

The cost to build a Light Winch is:

*2 Pulleys
*30 Rope
*5 iron (for the hook)
*1 1-output Gearbox, determined by the Sailboat

The cost to build a Sturdy Winch is:

*5 Pulleys
*5 Steel Cable
*1 Large Gear
*10 steel (for the hook)
*1 3-output Gearbox, determined by the Schooner

Winches allow the recovery of Treasure Caches. Treasure caches are spotted while at sea and appear as a shimmering surrounding a dark spot; other visual representations are fine, but they should be easy to discern against the water at any time of day. They should have a relatively short visible range of around 10 coords. There are a couple of methods of finding Treasure Caches; the most straightforward is just to happen upon one. It is also possible, however, to narrow down the location of a Treasure Cache using an already-found Fragment of Isis' Bounty.

A player with a fragment of Isis' Bounty in their possession may examine it at any time. It will display one of three messages:

*"A rare artifact to be sure." In this case, there is no cache nearby.
*"The fragment shines even more gaudily than usual." In this case, there is a cache within 75 coordinates.
*"You get an uneasy feeling from this relic, as if it wanted something. Creepy." In this case, there is a cache within 25 coordinates.

There are two types of Treasure Caches. An "ordinary" Treasure Cache can be fished up with either a Light Winch or a Sturdy Winch, and consists of an assortment of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (either Isis' Bounty or regular; see above for probabilities)
*An assortment of any of: Mirrors, Silk Cloth, Gems of any size, Cuttable/Cut Gems, Gold/silver/alloys (either raw, bars, foil, sheeting, or wire), very old wine (10+ vintages, rare flavors possible), spirits (rare types possible), paints, high-quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (8k hatchets, 6k distillation coils, etc), raeli tiles (rare types possible), incense (higher qualities possible).

The other type of Treasure Cache is the Ancient Treasure Cache. These should be substantially rarer and are only salvageable using a Sturdy Winch. If a player tries to recover an Ancient Treasure Cache using a Light Winch, they will receive a message that the cache is just too heavy to haul up using their winch. Ancient Treasure Caches consist of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty)
*Any of the treasure types found above, in greater quantities and slanted toward the rarer types (older vintages and rarer flavors of wine, more likely to have huge gems, rarer raeli tiles, rarer gem cuts, etc).
*1 Rare Item

Some suggestions for Rare Items found in Ancient Treasure Caches: very high quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (9500+ hatchets, 9000+ wineglasses, and so on), rare flax/wheat seeds with high yields, high quality knife templates, wings of horus, rare flower bulb strains, portable cornerstones, lightboxes, and so on. The relative probabilities of each of these items should be carefully balanced so as to not disrupt the economy of Egypt. This would also be a good spot for placement of story items.

===Passing===

In order to pass the Test of Isis' Bounty, players must find:

*1 Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty
*1 Fragment of the Aftdeck
*1 Fragment of the Mainmast
*1 Fragment of the Inner Hull
*1 Fragment of the Cargo Hold
*1 Fragment of the Cabin
*1 Fragment of the Gilded Outer Hull

Once a player has all these in his/her possession, they should be shown to the scientists at UBody for the zap. All seven fragments will be removed from the player's inventory when they do so.

Note that for a Fragment to count toward passing, it must have been recovered by the player trying to pass.

===Principles===

In order to complete the Principles of Isis' Bounty, a player should:

*Find a piece of Ship Debris
*Find a second piece of Ship Debris
*Show a piece of Ship Debris to Scientists at SBody or UBody
*Learn Basic Shipbuilding
*Construct a Small Sailboat
*Install a Light Winch
*Salvage any Treasure Cache
*Find 1 Piece of Isis' Bounty

A bit more involved than the principles for my other test idea, but this test is a bit more complicated. Principles should still be pretty straightforward once Basic Shipbuilding is unlocked.

===Conclusion===

This test idea started out as a treasure hunt on land, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that a Body test at sea would be a neat addition. It is pretty complex as written, but I have some more ideas for Rare Items that I'd like to add if it is feasible to do so (along the lines of the rewards from my Mountaineering Test idea).

Any suggestions are appreciated, particularly along the lines of items to be fished up or found in treasure caches. Any other ideas are welcome as well. Thanks for reading!

Test of Isis Bounty

2011-11-29T23:51:24Z

T5 Import: /* Test Mechanics - Ship Debris */

== Test of Isis' Bounty Draft Proposal ==

===Abstract===

The Test of Isis' Bounty challenges players to find pieces of that legendary ship in Egypt's waters. Pieces can be fished up at a low rate from the shoreline, but to find the final pieces needed to pass, players will have to learn to construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are steerable but subject to prevailing winds and have a chance of breaking up at sea, depositing the player on a random shore. In order to learn to construct Small Sailboats, players will have to work together to research the Basic Shipbuilding technology. After passing the test, players will gain the ability to construct larger, sturdier, and more expensive ships, complete with cargo holds. In addition to fishing up pieces of Isis' Bounty or other ships, fishing will be changed so that other debris -- some desirable and some less so -- can be fished up. Players will also need to scour the seas for Treasure Caches, recovered with Winches, which may contain rare and plentiful booty. Players may continue to seek out even larger and rarer Treasure Caches once they have passed the test, using a Sturdy Winch installed upon their Master's Schooner.

===The Story===

There once was a band of 77 shipwrights in the employ of the Pharaoh. They were pious men and hard workers as well; day after day they performed the back-breaking labor necessary to construct and maintain the barges of the Pharaoh without complaint. They planed the timbers and masts without complaint, tarred leaks without complaint, and sewed vast sails without complaint. They felt neither exploited nor happy; indeed, the making of ships for the Pharaoh was no less natural nor automatic for these 77 shipwrights than the taking of breath.

The final ship that these 77 shipwrights constructed was by far the grandest; the Pharaoh Teppankhamun had ordered a great royal barge be built measuring 777 cubits in length, gilded and bejeweled from prow to stern, sails made from the finest silk, imported from China on the backs of hundreds of mules and porters. In a final touch, the Pharaoh ordered the sides to be adorned with mirrors so that the rising and setting sun would blind peasants with the brilliance of the Pharaoh as Teppankhamun plied the waters of the Nile with his retinue.

The ship was to be called Isis' Bounty. The Pharaoh Teppankhamun expected the construction to be completed in seven years; in order to meet this goal, the 77 shipwrights would have to work nearly around the clock, seven days a week. This was pious and proper, though, and the Pharaoh's doctors were kind enough to provide the shipwrights with drugs that would make two hours of sleep feel like eight. They worked on.

Twenty hours every day for three years they planed and tarred and sewed and lifted and carried and hammered and sawed. Many of the men appeared to age decades in this time. Nearly all lost their wives to their work. Some lost fingers or toes to errant lumber or dropped hammers; one lost an eye. Still, they worked without complaint.

Then, on the eve of the third anniversary of the start of their enterprise, a figure appeared in the shipyard, robed and faceless in the stark torch-shadows. This stranger watched the men work without a word for several hours, then he disappeared again. The men, absorbed as they were in their work, paid him little heed.

The next night the stranger appeared again. Again, he stood motionless for several hours, and again, he vanished without a sign or word.

This continued for seven nights. On the seventh night of the stranger's presence, the shipwrights felt a distinct sense of unease, as though something were about to happen. They deliberately avoided gazing upon the stranger, fearing that he might be an dark spirit sent by Set to undo their mighty labor. Again, the stranger disappeared without a sign.

On the eighth night, the stranger appeared to the shipwrights again. This time he was not silent. Rather he let out a cough that sounded rather like that of a tubercular old man.

"Greetings, shipwrights," the stranger said with another cough.

None answered. They kept on sawing and hammering and planing as though their survival depended upon it, which it did.

"Is this how you greet a sick old man, then?" the stranger continued. "I thought you were pious men."

Several of the men paused at this. No one had ever questioned their piety before.

"I see you hard at work, but for what if not to show your respect for your elders and betters and your devotion to our way of life?"

The youngest of the 77 blushed at this and lowered his adze. "Forgive us, father," he said. "We are on the strictest of schedules and must complete this barge for the Pharaoh in four years, else our lives will be forfeit."

The stranger stepped into the torchlight so that his face was clearly visible. It was wrinkled and weathered but kind. He wore an eyepatch over one eye. He was old enough to be the youngest's grandfather.

"In that case," the stranger said, "I have done you a grave disservice by slowing your progress. You must allow me to help you."

----

The stranger was skilled with a saw and a sewing needle and quick with a joke. He quickly became popular among the shipwrights. He worked long hours, just as the other shipwrights. And, he reasoned, with a seventy-eighth member helping the crew, the other shipwrights could each afford to have every 77th day off and still finish the barge on schedule. The crew, unfamiliar with the concept of a "day off" looked upon this philosopher-shipwright with admiration and gratitude.

For a long year the stranger worked with the shipwrights, side by side, sharing in their labors and in the ecstasy of brutal physical hardship. The others began to view this stranger as one of them; many even saw him as their leader. Before long, all considered him crucial to their success and called him "father".

"What are we doing here?" the stranger asked one day, pausing from his work.

The other shipwrights looked at him as though he had gone mad. "Why, we are building a barge for the Pharaoh, father."

"Yes, but to what end?"

The shipwrights were puzzled. "The only end there is, father. The Pharaoh's will."

The stranger thought hard about this and the men returned to their tasks.

"Why is there no other end than the Pharaoh's will?" he asked, after a time.

The men clambered over each other to answer.

"The Pharaoh brings the rains that flood the Nile and causes the sun to rise," said one.

"The Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies," said another.

"The Pharaoh teaches us respect for the Gods, and they in turn bring us prosperity and health," said a third.

The stranger smiled at this and nodded.

"You, who says that the Pharaoh brings the rains and causes the sun to rise: how does he do this?"

The interrogated shipwright thought for a moment. "Well," he said, "I suppose he must perform some secret and sacred ceremony for each."

The stranger nodded again. "Then I will tell you all my own secret: for many years, I was one of the Pharaoh's closest advisors. He went nowhere without me, did nothing without consulting me."

At this, the shipwrights lowered their faces in awe and submission.

"Do not lower your eyes!" the stranger said. "I am just a man. But I am a man who has seen many things: one year, as the rains began, I was with the Pharaoh on a hunting trip. I did not leave his side the entire time. No ritual was performed. Another year, he was in the midst of debauchery with his harem when the rains started; I saw it all. Strange ceremony, that, if it causes the skies to open. The Pharaoh is a late sleeper; it is rare that he is up early enough to see the sun rise, forget about having anything to do with causing its ascent. How, then, does he do such things?"

The men's faces were slack, many mouths wide with awe. None answered.

"You say that the Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies. This, indeed, is true. The state is orderly because it is an order that best suits the Pharaoh. He sleeps ten hours a day, has many wives and concubines, hunts when he wishes, rests upon finest silk and linen, and bathes in crystal-clear water scented with the finest perfumes. You work twenty hours a day, through blisters and lost limbs and domestic strife. The Pharaoh does indeed maintain order, but is this something which you should thank him for? And so he protects you from his enemies: these are his enemies, not yours. If Nubia or Eritrea were to conquer us, how would your lots be worsened? Only the Pharaoh and those closest to him would likely be gravely affected."

There were a few angry murmurs from the crowd. Some shook their heads, as though fighting off bad dreams.

"And you, who says that the Pharaoh, through some divine connection, brings us prosperity and health, would you step forward?"

The shipwright did so. He was as thin and stooped as a bent fishing pole. He was missing the pinky finger from his right hand, and his clothes were little more than rags. His face was haggard and unshaved; he looked far more like a long-neglected and starved convict than an artisan.

"Mark well this man," the stranger said to the shipwrights. "Does he seem to you to be an image of health or prosperity?"

The shipwrights stared at this, their brother in labor, as though they had never seen him before. The angry murmur became an angrier cascade of voices.

"Peace, men!" the stranger called. "Peace, please!"

They quieted reluctantly. Some turned to regard the half-finished juggernaut behind them; even ungilt, unmirrored, and unpainted, it seemed suddenly an abomination.

"This ship is by rights yours," the stranger said. "And, if you follow my advice, it will be."

----

The stranger then set to work altering the plans for the half-completed Isis' Bounty. An additional chamber would be added to the hold of the ship, accessible only by a secret door.

The next three years passed quickly, as the men worked not for the Pharaoh but rather for themselves. The ship was completed on time; indeed, it was an image of gaudy splendor, loudly proclaiming the Pharaoh's wealth and power to all who saw it. But the secret chamber, empty and inaccessible to all but the seventy-seven and one shipwrights, was invisible to all, masterfully hidden among the bowels of the ship by the shipwrights' skill.

The shipwrights were nowhere to be found at the ship's unveiling and dedication to Isis. They were not missed. The massive silk sails were unfurled, and the mirrors and gems and gold of the hull's plating made the ship shine as brightly as the morning sun.

The Pharaoh, along with seven of his most trusted advisors, seven of his most senior priests, seven of his favorite concubines, and seven eunuch bodyguards, boarded the ship. Such was the craft of the shipwrights that the ship could be steered by a single man: this man was the stranger. Now thin and bent and scraggly from his long labor, the Pharaoh could not recognize his former advisor, who took up the steerage at the ship's stern. The moorings were cut and the ship began to drift slowly down the Nile.

As Isis' Bounty journeyed, the Pharaoh and his retinue drank and debauched and laughed heartily. They beheld the farmers in their fields and the masons at work on houses and buildings of State, and all seemed as it should be.

Indeed, by the time the shipwrights emerged from the secret compartment, brandishing 77 simple but sharp knives, the Pharaoh and most of his entourage were passed out, drunk and satiated.

The only member of the retinue that was awake to behold the glinting of the knives in the moonlight was the youngest of the Pharaoh's concubines. She pleaded for mercy and was granted it. The rest were slain in their sleep.

----

After they had set the girl down on a nearby shore with a supply of food and water, the shipwrights took back to the water. Their plan was not yet finished.

The bodies of the Pharaoh and his train were dumped overboard to feed the crocodiles. The ship was turned around and pointed in the direction of the most sacred Valley of the Kings. As they sailed, peasants on the riverbanks turned away from the ship, thinking the Pharaoh to be on board; the seventy-eight were completely unhindered as they moored upon the holy dock reserved for the Pharaoh and priests come to place offerings at the tombs of dead Pharaohs.

With the stranger's help, the men opened the doors to the tombs of seven of Egypt's mightiest kings and entered boldly. In a few short days, they had managed to carry off half the wealth of ancient Egypt and load it upon Isis' Bounty. The bodies of Pharaohs were loaded as well, stacked on pallets like the carcasses of wild hogs.

----

"I must leave you now," said the stranger, once the last of the plunder had been secured. "I am old and would like to spend my last years in a quiet and domestic life. But listen to my words: this ship is yours, but the wealth of the kings rightfully belongs to the people of Egypt. Give it to them freely, or the gods will not favor you for long."

The men agreed to do so, and after many fond goodbyes, the stranger was set down upon the opposite shore. Isis' Bounty took to the Nile again, where the bodies of the ancient kings were dumped overboard.

----

The men immediately began to throw some of the plunder overboard, in the hopes that it would wash to the shore and be found by destitute laborers or be caught by poor fishermen in their nets. Stops were made at oases where camel drivers would rest, and treasure was shallowly buried to be exposed by shifting sands. Pearls and silks were buried in farmers' fields, to be upturned by plows.

For nearly seven years, the men distributed the wealth of the ancient Pharaohs in this manner, sailing up and down the Nile, into the Mediterranean, and even, some said, around Africa and along the banks of the Red Sea. And still, the trove of plunder seemed not a deben smaller. Some men believed that the gods had blessed them and their enterprise; some believed, instead, that it was a curse and that they would be doomed to sail the waters of the world for the remainder of time, sowing the waters with riches as a farmer seeds his fields.

They began to argue amongst themselves. Some said that they were on a holy mission and obliged to continue spreading wealth until the wealth was gone. Some said that they had done their duty and that they should dump the remainder of the plunder overboard and let the waters take it where they would. Others said that the remaining booty was theirs to keep, a token of the gods' appreciation for their work. These advocated taking the plunder and starting their own kingdom, a place where the good life could be enjoyed by all: a land of equality, with the shipwrights as judges, priests, and lords.

The arguments became more fierce as the weeks and months wore on. Factions began to form. Some talked openly of a split and taking control of the barge.

Finally, in the dead of night, all were awakened by the clanging of bells, rung by the shipwright who all regarded as the most pious. Isis' Bounty was on fire. The men escaped, but the ship, bellowing smoke and blazing nightmarishly in the reflections of ten thousand mirrors, sank into the cold, dark waters. Those shipwrights who carried the tale to Egypt would never say where. Some believe it was in the precise center of the Mediterranean; others claim that the ship was far from Egypt, anchored off of Sinai; most, though, believe that the treasures of the ancient world now line the bed of the Nile. As proof, they cite the appearance of the Nile in the midday sun; once, they say, the river was dull and muddy, but now, as all know, the Nile shines brilliantly when the sun is directly overhead, precisely as though its trough were lined by thousands of polished mirrors.

===New Mechanics and Content - Fishing Changes===

Fishing will be changed so that additional items can be fished up. These should be catchable anywhere at any time of day, and include the following:

*Silk Cloth
*Linen Cloth/Sails
*Gold Foil
*Mirrors
*Rope
*Boards

Anything else that would make sense to be part of the wreckage of Isis' Bounty or other shipwrecks is acceptable. The frequency of recovering these items should be on par with their rarity in the rest of the game -- so, for instance, boards might come up every 10th cast or so, but silk cloth might require 1000 casts. Additionally, occasionally players will fish up bits of Ship Debris (this is the item name). These should be fished at the rate of 1 per every 49 casts, on average. For more information on Ship Debris, see the section under Test Mechanics, below.

===Test Mechanics - Ship Debris===

Pieces of ship debris may be brought to Schools or Universities of the Human Body for indentification. The scientists there will take the piece of Debris and return either: a piece of Ordinary Ship Debris (item name), or a piece of Isis' Bounty. If it is a piece of Isis' Bounty, it will be labeled with the part of that ship that the debris came from -- so, for instance, the item returned might be named, "A Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty". The odds of any given piece of ship debris being from the Isis' Bounty depend on where and how it was found:

*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from shore has a very low (1 in 49) chance of being from Isis' Bounty. Only fragments of the Gilded Outer Hull can be fished up from shore.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from offshore (at least 5 coords from shore) has a decent chance of being from Isis' Bounty (1 in 14). Only pieces of the Gilded Outer Hull, Foredeck, Aftdeck, and Mainmast can be fished up at sea.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with a Small Treasure Cache is likely to be from Isis' Bounty (1 in 3 chance). Any part of the ship can be found in Small Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance that the piece will be from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold than the other types.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with an Ancient Treasure Cache is guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty. Any part can be found in Ancient Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance of the fragment being from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold.

The use of pieces of Isis' Bounty is detailed below. Pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris have two uses:

*777 pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris are needed to unlock Basic Shipbuilding at UBody. Once the tech has been unlocked, any player can learn Basic Shipbuilding 1. (This is a change from the earlier draft -- my calculations indicated that the previous number 7777 would require approximately 2000 man-hours of fishing to acquire; this means basic shipbuilding might never have become unlocked.)
*Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding 1, pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris can be turned in at the UBody where the tech is opened in exchange for knowledge. The scientists will examine the piece of ship debris and offer to instruct the player further on building simple ships -- each time the player does so, his/her Basic Shipbuilding skill will raise by 1, up to a maximum of 49.

Ordinary Ship Debris has no further uses.

===New Mechanics and Content - Small Sailboats===

Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding (see Ship Debris section above), they can construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are built water-side from the following materials:

*400 Boards
*3 Linen Sails
*30 Rope
*10 Tar
*100 Nails
*50 Iron (for the anchor)

Unlike ferries, sailboats cannot be disassembled and moved: once they are placed, the only way to move them to a new location is to sail them there. Also unlike ferries, sailboats can be steered. Some points of order on how sailboats are steered and handled:

*Sailboats cannot go in reverse.
*Sailboats traverse water of all depths.
*Steerage is precise -- unlike airships, direction is easily specified, but like airships, sailboats' speed is influenced by the airstream. This means that the speed of the boat is highly dependent upon wind direction (the wind compass should pop up when the player is at sea). If it is possible to do so, it would be excellent to be able to adjust the sails at sea for optimum wind use by an experienced sailor.
*Sailboats can be anchored, and should automatically anchor when a player exits one or logs off aboard one.
*Sailboats should be able to be boarded from a few coords away from shore by clicking upon them -- otherwise, lining a ship precisely up along a straight bit of shoreline could become tedious.
*Waypointing/Expedition Travel/Spousewarping should not be allowed to/from ships.
*Fishing should be allowed from ships. Ideally, ships should not stop moving for a cast -- it should be possible to trawl from a moving boat.

Small Sailboats are somewhat flimsily constructed. This means that there is a chance that a small sailboat may come apart at sea. If this happens, the ship, and winch (if installed, see Winches and Treasure Caches section below) are lost, and the player is deposited on a random shore. Additionally, to prevent Egypt becoming cluttered with thousands of derelict boats, small sailboats automatically decay after a period of time (see below).

The quality of a Small Sailboat is determined by the Basic Shipbuilding skill level of the builder. At higher quality levels:

*Ships have a significantly lower chance of coming apart at sea.
*Ships last longer. The lifespan in days should be equal to the builder's Basic Shipbuilding skill, up to a maximum of 21 days. At Basic Shipbuilding 1, a Small Sailboat will disintegrate after 1 day. At Basic Shipbuilding 21 and above, a small sailboat will live for three weeks. This lifespan can be prolonged indefinitely with maintenance: selecting "Maintain this Sailboat" from the ship's menu will refresh the ship's timer. This will also update the ship's other properties to the player's new/current level of Basic Shipbuilding.
*Ships are faster.
*Ships are less at the mercy of prevailing winds; even with unfavorable wind, a high-quality Small Sailboat should be able to move at a moderate rate.

===New Mechanics and Content - The Master's Schooner and Advanced Shipbuilding===

Once a player has passed the Test of Isis' Bounty, he/she will learn the skill Advanced Shipbuilding 1. This will allow said player to construct Master's Schooners. The cost of building a Master's Schooner is:

*1000 Boards
*1000 Glossy, Rotproof Boards
*50 Linen Sails
*200 Rope
*100 Tar
*1000 Nails
*10 Pulleys
*100 Gold Foil
*50 Bronze Straps
*500 Iron (for the Anchor)
*5 Steel Cable (for the Anchor Chain)

Master's Schooners obey the same mechanics as Small Sailboats (above), with a few exceptions:

*Master's Schooners never come apart at sea.
*Master's Schooners do not decay.
*Master's Schooners should have speed and wind resistance comparable to that of Small Sailboats built at Basic Shipbuilding 49.
*Master's Schooners may be fitted with Sturdy Winches (see Winches and Treasure Caches section).
*Master's Schooners have cargo holds.
*Either Advanced Shipbuilding (any level) or Basic Shipbuilding 21+ is required to operate a Master's Schooner.

The base capacity of a Master's Schooner's cargo hold is 25000 deben. This can be upgraded by a player with a high level of Advanced Shipbuilding. Advanced Shipbuilding 7 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 50000 deben, and Advanced Shipbuilding 49 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 100000 deben capacity. A nominal material cost may be associated with the first upgrade (to be determined). The final cargo hold upgrade should have a substantial material cost (also to be determined).

Higher levels of Advanced Shipbuilding can be learned by turning pieces of Isis' Bounty in to Ubody after the test has been completed.

===New Mechanics and Content - Winches and Treasure Caches===

Both Small Sailboats and Master's Schooners can be fitted with Light Winches. Only Master's Schooners can be fitted with Sturdy Winches.

The cost to build a Light Winch is:

*2 Pulleys
*30 Rope
*5 iron (for the hook)
*1 1-output Gearbox, determined by the Sailboat

The cost to build a Sturdy Winch is:

*5 Pulleys
*5 Steel Cable
*1 Large Gear
*10 steel (for the hook)
*1 3-output Gearbox, determined by the Schooner

Winches allow the recovery of Treasure Caches. Treasure caches are spotted while at sea and appear as a shimmering surrounding a dark spot; other visual representations are fine, but they should be easy to discern against the water at any time of day. They should have a relatively short visible range of around 10 coords. There are a couple of methods of finding Treasure Caches; the most straightforward is just to happen upon one. It is also possible, however, to narrow down the location of a Treasure Cache using an already-found Fragment of Isis' Bounty.

A player with a fragment of Isis' Bounty in their possession may examine it at any time. It will display one of three messages:

*"A rare artifact to be sure." In this case, there is no cache nearby.
*"The fragment shines even more gaudily than usual." In this case, there is a cache within 75 coordinates.
*"You get an uneasy feeling from this relic, as if it wanted something. Creepy." In this case, there is a cache within 25 coordinates.

There are two types of Treasure Caches. An "ordinary" Treasure Cache can be fished up with either a Light Winch or a Sturdy Winch, and consists of an assortment of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (either Isis' Bounty or regular; see above for probabilities)
*An assortment of any of: Mirrors, Silk Cloth, Gems of any size, Cuttable/Cut Gems, Gold/silver/alloys (either raw, bars, foil, sheeting, or wire), very old wine (10+ vintages, rare flavors possible), spirits (rare types possible), paints, high-quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (8k hatchets, 6k distillation coils, etc), raeli tiles (rare types possible), incense (higher qualities possible).

The other type of Treasure Cache is the Ancient Treasure Cache. These should be substantially rarer and are only salvageable using a Sturdy Winch. If a player tries to recover an Ancient Treasure Cache using a Light Winch, they will receive a message that the cache is just too heavy to haul up using their winch. Ancient Treasure Caches consist of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty)
*Any of the treasure types found above, in greater quantities and slanted toward the rarer types (older vintages and rarer flavors of wine, more likely to have huge gems, rarer raeli tiles, rarer gem cuts, etc).
*1 Rare Item

Some suggestions for Rare Items found in Ancient Treasure Caches: very high quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (9500+ hatchets, 9000+ wineglasses, and so on), rare flax/wheat seeds with high yields, high quality knife templates, wings of horus, rare flower bulb strains, portable cornerstones, lightboxes, and so on. The relative probabilities of each of these items should be carefully balanced so as to not disrupt the economy of Egypt. This would also be a good spot for placement of story items.

===Passing===

In order to pass the Test of Isis' Bounty, players must find:

*1 Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty
*1 Fragment of the Aftdeck
*1 Fragment of the Mainmast
*1 Fragment of the Inner Hull
*1 Fragment of the Cargo Hold
*1 Fragment of the Cabin
*1 Fragment of the Gilded Outer Hull

Once a player has all these in his/her possession, they should be shown to the scientists at UBody for the zap. All seven fragments will be removed from the player's inventory when they do so.

Note that for a Fragment to count toward passing, it must have been recovered by the player trying to pass.

===Principles===

In order to complete the Principles of Isis' Bounty, a player should:

*Find a piece of Ship Debris
*Find a second piece of Ship Debris
*Show a piece of Ship Debris to Scientists at SBody or UBody
*Learn Basic Shipbuilding
*Construct a Small Sailboat
*Install a Light Winch
*Salvage any Treasure Cache
*Find 1 Piece of Isis' Bounty

A bit more involved than the principles for my other test idea, but this test is a bit more complicated. Principles should still be pretty straightforward once Basic Shipbuilding is unlocked.

===Conclusion===

This test idea started out as a treasure hunt on land, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that a Body test at sea would be a neat addition. It is pretty complex as written, but I have some more ideas for Rare Items that I'd like to add if it is feasible to do so (along the lines of the rewards from my Mountaineering Test idea).

Any suggestions are appreciated, particularly along the lines of items to be fished up or found in treasure caches. Any other ideas are welcome as well. Thanks for reading!

File:Salrilk400.jpg

2011-11-29T18:24:04Z

T5 Import:

File:Salrilk399.jpg

2011-11-29T18:18:58Z

T5 Import:

Test of Isis Bounty

2011-11-29T18:16:43Z

T5 Import: /* New Mechanics and Content - Winches and Treasure Caches */

== Test of Isis' Bounty Draft Proposal ==

===Abstract===

The Test of Isis' Bounty challenges players to find pieces of that legendary ship in Egypt's waters. Pieces can be fished up at a low rate from the shoreline, but to find the final pieces needed to pass, players will have to learn to construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are steerable but subject to prevailing winds and have a chance of breaking up at sea, depositing the player on a random shore. In order to learn to construct Small Sailboats, players will have to work together to research the Basic Shipbuilding technology. After passing the test, players will gain the ability to construct larger, sturdier, and more expensive ships, complete with cargo holds. In addition to fishing up pieces of Isis' Bounty or other ships, fishing will be changed so that other debris -- some desirable and some less so -- can be fished up. Players will also need to scour the seas for Treasure Caches, recovered with Winches, which may contain rare and plentiful booty. Players may continue to seek out even larger and rarer Treasure Caches once they have passed the test, using a Sturdy Winch installed upon their Master's Schooner.

===The Story===

There once was a band of 77 shipwrights in the employ of the Pharaoh. They were pious men and hard workers as well; day after day they performed the back-breaking labor necessary to construct and maintain the barges of the Pharaoh without complaint. They planed the timbers and masts without complaint, tarred leaks without complaint, and sewed vast sails without complaint. They felt neither exploited nor happy; indeed, the making of ships for the Pharaoh was no less natural nor automatic for these 77 shipwrights than the taking of breath.

The final ship that these 77 shipwrights constructed was by far the grandest; the Pharaoh Teppankhamun had ordered a great royal barge be built measuring 777 cubits in length, gilded and bejeweled from prow to stern, sails made from the finest silk, imported from China on the backs of hundreds of mules and porters. In a final touch, the Pharaoh ordered the sides to be adorned with mirrors so that the rising and setting sun would blind peasants with the brilliance of the Pharaoh as Teppankhamun plied the waters of the Nile with his retinue.

The ship was to be called Isis' Bounty. The Pharaoh Teppankhamun expected the construction to be completed in seven years; in order to meet this goal, the 77 shipwrights would have to work nearly around the clock, seven days a week. This was pious and proper, though, and the Pharaoh's doctors were kind enough to provide the shipwrights with drugs that would make two hours of sleep feel like eight. They worked on.

Twenty hours every day for three years they planed and tarred and sewed and lifted and carried and hammered and sawed. Many of the men appeared to age decades in this time. Nearly all lost their wives to their work. Some lost fingers or toes to errant lumber or dropped hammers; one lost an eye. Still, they worked without complaint.

Then, on the eve of the third anniversary of the start of their enterprise, a figure appeared in the shipyard, robed and faceless in the stark torch-shadows. This stranger watched the men work without a word for several hours, then he disappeared again. The men, absorbed as they were in their work, paid him little heed.

The next night the stranger appeared again. Again, he stood motionless for several hours, and again, he vanished without a sign or word.

This continued for seven nights. On the seventh night of the stranger's presence, the shipwrights felt a distinct sense of unease, as though something were about to happen. They deliberately avoided gazing upon the stranger, fearing that he might be an dark spirit sent by Set to undo their mighty labor. Again, the stranger disappeared without a sign.

On the eighth night, the stranger appeared to the shipwrights again. This time he was not silent. Rather he let out a cough that sounded rather like that of a tubercular old man.

"Greetings, shipwrights," the stranger said with another cough.

None answered. They kept on sawing and hammering and planing as though their survival depended upon it, which it did.

"Is this how you greet a sick old man, then?" the stranger continued. "I thought you were pious men."

Several of the men paused at this. No one had ever questioned their piety before.

"I see you hard at work, but for what if not to show your respect for your elders and betters and your devotion to our way of life?"

The youngest of the 77 blushed at this and lowered his adze. "Forgive us, father," he said. "We are on the strictest of schedules and must complete this barge for the Pharaoh in four years, else our lives will be forfeit."

The stranger stepped into the torchlight so that his face was clearly visible. It was wrinkled and weathered but kind. He wore an eyepatch over one eye. He was old enough to be the youngest's grandfather.

"In that case," the stranger said, "I have done you a grave disservice by slowing your progress. You must allow me to help you."

----

The stranger was skilled with a saw and a sewing needle and quick with a joke. He quickly became popular among the shipwrights. He worked long hours, just as the other shipwrights. And, he reasoned, with a seventy-eighth member helping the crew, the other shipwrights could each afford to have every 77th day off and still finish the barge on schedule. The crew, unfamiliar with the concept of a "day off" looked upon this philosopher-shipwright with admiration and gratitude.

For a long year the stranger worked with the shipwrights, side by side, sharing in their labors and in the ecstasy of brutal physical hardship. The others began to view this stranger as one of them; many even saw him as their leader. Before long, all considered him crucial to their success and called him "father".

"What are we doing here?" the stranger asked one day, pausing from his work.

The other shipwrights looked at him as though he had gone mad. "Why, we are building a barge for the Pharaoh, father."

"Yes, but to what end?"

The shipwrights were puzzled. "The only end there is, father. The Pharaoh's will."

The stranger thought hard about this and the men returned to their tasks.

"Why is there no other end than the Pharaoh's will?" he asked, after a time.

The men clambered over each other to answer.

"The Pharaoh brings the rains that flood the Nile and causes the sun to rise," said one.

"The Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies," said another.

"The Pharaoh teaches us respect for the Gods, and they in turn bring us prosperity and health," said a third.

The stranger smiled at this and nodded.

"You, who says that the Pharaoh brings the rains and causes the sun to rise: how does he do this?"

The interrogated shipwright thought for a moment. "Well," he said, "I suppose he must perform some secret and sacred ceremony for each."

The stranger nodded again. "Then I will tell you all my own secret: for many years, I was one of the Pharaoh's closest advisors. He went nowhere without me, did nothing without consulting me."

At this, the shipwrights lowered their faces in awe and submission.

"Do not lower your eyes!" the stranger said. "I am just a man. But I am a man who has seen many things: one year, as the rains began, I was with the Pharaoh on a hunting trip. I did not leave his side the entire time. No ritual was performed. Another year, he was in the midst of debauchery with his harem when the rains started; I saw it all. Strange ceremony, that, if it causes the skies to open. The Pharaoh is a late sleeper; it is rare that he is up early enough to see the sun rise, forget about having anything to do with causing its ascent. How, then, does he do such things?"

The men's faces were slack, many mouths wide with awe. None answered.

"You say that the Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies. This, indeed, is true. The state is orderly because it is an order that best suits the Pharaoh. He sleeps ten hours a day, has many wives and concubines, hunts when he wishes, rests upon finest silk and linen, and bathes in crystal-clear water scented with the finest perfumes. You work twenty hours a day, through blisters and lost limbs and domestic strife. The Pharaoh does indeed maintain order, but is this something which you should thank him for? And so he protects you from his enemies: these are his enemies, not yours. If Nubia or Eritrea were to conquer us, how would your lots be worsened? Only the Pharaoh and those closest to him would likely be gravely affected."

There were a few angry murmurs from the crowd. Some shook their heads, as though fighting off bad dreams.

"And you, who says that the Pharaoh, through some divine connection, brings us prosperity and health, would you step forward?"

The shipwright did so. He was as thin and stooped as a bent fishing pole. He was missing the pinky finger from his right hand, and his clothes were little more than rags. His face was haggard and unshaved; he looked far more like a long-neglected and starved convict than an artisan.

"Mark well this man," the stranger said to the shipwrights. "Does he seem to you to be an image of health or prosperity?"

The shipwrights stared at this, their brother in labor, as though they had never seen him before. The angry murmur became an angrier cascade of voices.

"Peace, men!" the stranger called. "Peace, please!"

They quieted reluctantly. Some turned to regard the half-finished juggernaut behind them; even ungilt, unmirrored, and unpainted, it seemed suddenly an abomination.

"This ship is by rights yours," the stranger said. "And, if you follow my advice, it will be."

----

The stranger then set to work altering the plans for the half-completed Isis' Bounty. An additional chamber would be added to the hold of the ship, accessible only by a secret door.

The next three years passed quickly, as the men worked not for the Pharaoh but rather for themselves. The ship was completed on time; indeed, it was an image of gaudy splendor, loudly proclaiming the Pharaoh's wealth and power to all who saw it. But the secret chamber, empty and inaccessible to all but the seventy-seven and one shipwrights, was invisible to all, masterfully hidden among the bowels of the ship by the shipwrights' skill.

The shipwrights were nowhere to be found at the ship's unveiling and dedication to Isis. They were not missed. The massive silk sails were unfurled, and the mirrors and gems and gold of the hull's plating made the ship shine as brightly as the morning sun.

The Pharaoh, along with seven of his most trusted advisors, seven of his most senior priests, seven of his favorite concubines, and seven eunuch bodyguards, boarded the ship. Such was the craft of the shipwrights that the ship could be steered by a single man: this man was the stranger. Now thin and bent and scraggly from his long labor, the Pharaoh could not recognize his former advisor, who took up the steerage at the ship's stern. The moorings were cut and the ship began to drift slowly down the Nile.

As Isis' Bounty journeyed, the Pharaoh and his retinue drank and debauched and laughed heartily. They beheld the farmers in their fields and the masons at work on houses and buildings of State, and all seemed as it should be.

Indeed, by the time the shipwrights emerged from the secret compartment, brandishing 77 simple but sharp knives, the Pharaoh and most of his entourage were passed out, drunk and satiated.

The only member of the retinue that was awake to behold the glinting of the knives in the moonlight was the youngest of the Pharaoh's concubines. She pleaded for mercy and was granted it. The rest were slain in their sleep.

----

After they had set the girl down on a nearby shore with a supply of food and water, the shipwrights took back to the water. Their plan was not yet finished.

The bodies of the Pharaoh and his train were dumped overboard to feed the crocodiles. The ship was turned around and pointed in the direction of the most sacred Valley of the Kings. As they sailed, peasants on the riverbanks turned away from the ship, thinking the Pharaoh to be on board; the seventy-eight were completely unhindered as they moored upon the holy dock reserved for the Pharaoh and priests come to place offerings at the tombs of dead Pharaohs.

With the stranger's help, the men opened the doors to the tombs of seven of Egypt's mightiest kings and entered boldly. In a few short days, they had managed to carry off half the wealth of ancient Egypt and load it upon Isis' Bounty. The bodies of Pharaohs were loaded as well, stacked on pallets like the carcasses of wild hogs.

----

"I must leave you now," said the stranger, once the last of the plunder had been secured. "I am old and would like to spend my last years in a quiet and domestic life. But listen to my words: this ship is yours, but the wealth of the kings rightfully belongs to the people of Egypt. Give it to them freely, or the gods will not favor you for long."

The men agreed to do so, and after many fond goodbyes, the stranger was set down upon the opposite shore. Isis' Bounty took to the Nile again, where the bodies of the ancient kings were dumped overboard.

----

The men immediately began to throw some of the plunder overboard, in the hopes that it would wash to the shore and be found by destitute laborers or be caught by poor fishermen in their nets. Stops were made at oases where camel drivers would rest, and treasure was shallowly buried to be exposed by shifting sands. Pearls and silks were buried in farmers' fields, to be upturned by plows.

For nearly seven years, the men distributed the wealth of the ancient Pharaohs in this manner, sailing up and down the Nile, into the Mediterranean, and even, some said, around Africa and along the banks of the Red Sea. And still, the trove of plunder seemed not a deben smaller. Some men believed that the gods had blessed them and their enterprise; some believed, instead, that it was a curse and that they would be doomed to sail the waters of the world for the remainder of time, sowing the waters with riches as a farmer seeds his fields.

They began to argue amongst themselves. Some said that they were on a holy mission and obliged to continue spreading wealth until the wealth was gone. Some said that they had done their duty and that they should dump the remainder of the plunder overboard and let the waters take it where they would. Others said that the remaining booty was theirs to keep, a token of the gods' appreciation for their work. These advocated taking the plunder and starting their own kingdom, a place where the good life could be enjoyed by all: a land of equality, with the shipwrights as judges, priests, and lords.

The arguments became more fierce as the weeks and months wore on. Factions began to form. Some talked openly of a split and taking control of the barge.

Finally, in the dead of night, all were awakened by the clanging of bells, rung by the shipwright who all regarded as the most pious. Isis' Bounty was on fire. The men escaped, but the ship, bellowing smoke and blazing nightmarishly in the reflections of ten thousand mirrors, sank into the cold, dark waters. Those shipwrights who carried the tale to Egypt would never say where. Some believe it was in the precise center of the Mediterranean; others claim that the ship was far from Egypt, anchored off of Sinai; most, though, believe that the treasures of the ancient world now line the bed of the Nile. As proof, they cite the appearance of the Nile in the midday sun; once, they say, the river was dull and muddy, but now, as all know, the Nile shines brilliantly when the sun is directly overhead, precisely as though its trough were lined by thousands of polished mirrors.

===New Mechanics and Content - Fishing Changes===

Fishing will be changed so that additional items can be fished up. These should be catchable anywhere at any time of day, and include the following:

*Silk Cloth
*Linen Cloth/Sails
*Gold Foil
*Mirrors
*Rope
*Boards

Anything else that would make sense to be part of the wreckage of Isis' Bounty or other shipwrecks is acceptable. The frequency of recovering these items should be on par with their rarity in the rest of the game -- so, for instance, boards might come up every 10th cast or so, but silk cloth might require 1000 casts. Additionally, occasionally players will fish up bits of Ship Debris (this is the item name). These should be fished at the rate of 1 per every 49 casts, on average. For more information on Ship Debris, see the section under Test Mechanics, below.

===Test Mechanics - Ship Debris===

Pieces of ship debris may be brought to Schools or Universities of the Human Body for indentification. The scientists there will take the piece of Debris and return either: a piece of Ordinary Ship Debris (item name), or a piece of Isis' Bounty. If it is a piece of Isis' Bounty, it will be labeled with the part of that ship that the debris came from -- so, for instance, the item returned might be named, "A Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty". The odds of any given piece of ship debris being from the Isis' Bounty depend on where and how it was found:

*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from shore has a very low (1 in 49) chance of being from Isis' Bounty. Only fragments of the Gilded Outer Hull can be fished up from shore.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from offshore (at least 5 coords from shore) has a decent chance of being from Isis' Bounty (1 in 14). Only pieces of the Gilded Outer Hull, Foredeck, Aftdeck, and Mainmast can be fished up at sea.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with a Small Treasure Cache is likely to be from Isis' Bounty (1 in 3 chance). Any part of the ship can be found in Small Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance that the piece will be from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold than the other types.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with an Ancient Treasure Cache is guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty. Any part can be found in Ancient Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance of the fragment being from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold.

The use of pieces of Isis' Bounty is detailed below. Pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris have two uses:

*7777 pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris are needed to unlock Basic Shipbuilding at UBody. Once the tech has been unlocked, any player can learn Basic Shipbuilding 1.
*Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding 1, pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris can be turned in at the UBody where the tech is opened in exchange for knowledge. The scientists will examine the piece of ship debris and offer to instruct the player further on building simple ships -- each time the player does so, his/her Basic Shipbuilding skill will raise by 1, up to a maximum of 49.

Ordinary Ship Debris has no further uses.

===New Mechanics and Content - Small Sailboats===

Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding (see Ship Debris section above), they can construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are built water-side from the following materials:

*400 Boards
*3 Linen Sails
*30 Rope
*10 Tar
*100 Nails
*50 Iron (for the anchor)

Unlike ferries, sailboats cannot be disassembled and moved: once they are placed, the only way to move them to a new location is to sail them there. Also unlike ferries, sailboats can be steered. Some points of order on how sailboats are steered and handled:

*Sailboats cannot go in reverse.
*Sailboats traverse water of all depths.
*Steerage is precise -- unlike airships, direction is easily specified, but like airships, sailboats' speed is influenced by the airstream. This means that the speed of the boat is highly dependent upon wind direction (the wind compass should pop up when the player is at sea). If it is possible to do so, it would be excellent to be able to adjust the sails at sea for optimum wind use by an experienced sailor.
*Sailboats can be anchored, and should automatically anchor when a player exits one or logs off aboard one.
*Sailboats should be able to be boarded from a few coords away from shore by clicking upon them -- otherwise, lining a ship precisely up along a straight bit of shoreline could become tedious.
*Waypointing/Expedition Travel/Spousewarping should not be allowed to/from ships.
*Fishing should be allowed from ships. Ideally, ships should not stop moving for a cast -- it should be possible to trawl from a moving boat.

Small Sailboats are somewhat flimsily constructed. This means that there is a chance that a small sailboat may come apart at sea. If this happens, the ship, and winch (if installed, see Winches and Treasure Caches section below) are lost, and the player is deposited on a random shore. Additionally, to prevent Egypt becoming cluttered with thousands of derelict boats, small sailboats automatically decay after a period of time (see below).

The quality of a Small Sailboat is determined by the Basic Shipbuilding skill level of the builder. At higher quality levels:

*Ships have a significantly lower chance of coming apart at sea.
*Ships last longer. The lifespan in days should be equal to the builder's Basic Shipbuilding skill, up to a maximum of 21 days. At Basic Shipbuilding 1, a Small Sailboat will disintegrate after 1 day. At Basic Shipbuilding 21 and above, a small sailboat will live for three weeks. This lifespan can be prolonged indefinitely with maintenance: selecting "Maintain this Sailboat" from the ship's menu will refresh the ship's timer. This will also update the ship's other properties to the player's new/current level of Basic Shipbuilding.
*Ships are faster.
*Ships are less at the mercy of prevailing winds; even with unfavorable wind, a high-quality Small Sailboat should be able to move at a moderate rate.

===New Mechanics and Content - The Master's Schooner and Advanced Shipbuilding===

Once a player has passed the Test of Isis' Bounty, he/she will learn the skill Advanced Shipbuilding 1. This will allow said player to construct Master's Schooners. The cost of building a Master's Schooner is:

*1000 Boards
*1000 Glossy, Rotproof Boards
*50 Linen Sails
*200 Rope
*100 Tar
*1000 Nails
*10 Pulleys
*100 Gold Foil
*50 Bronze Straps
*500 Iron (for the Anchor)
*5 Steel Cable (for the Anchor Chain)

Master's Schooners obey the same mechanics as Small Sailboats (above), with a few exceptions:

*Master's Schooners never come apart at sea.
*Master's Schooners do not decay.
*Master's Schooners should have speed and wind resistance comparable to that of Small Sailboats built at Basic Shipbuilding 49.
*Master's Schooners may be fitted with Sturdy Winches (see Winches and Treasure Caches section).
*Master's Schooners have cargo holds.
*Either Advanced Shipbuilding (any level) or Basic Shipbuilding 21+ is required to operate a Master's Schooner.

The base capacity of a Master's Schooner's cargo hold is 25000 deben. This can be upgraded by a player with a high level of Advanced Shipbuilding. Advanced Shipbuilding 7 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 50000 deben, and Advanced Shipbuilding 49 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 100000 deben capacity. A nominal material cost may be associated with the first upgrade (to be determined). The final cargo hold upgrade should have a substantial material cost (also to be determined).

Higher levels of Advanced Shipbuilding can be learned by turning pieces of Isis' Bounty in to Ubody after the test has been completed.

===New Mechanics and Content - Winches and Treasure Caches===

Both Small Sailboats and Master's Schooners can be fitted with Light Winches. Only Master's Schooners can be fitted with Sturdy Winches.

The cost to build a Light Winch is:

*2 Pulleys
*30 Rope
*5 iron (for the hook)
*1 1-output Gearbox, determined by the Sailboat

The cost to build a Sturdy Winch is:

*5 Pulleys
*5 Steel Cable
*1 Large Gear
*10 steel (for the hook)
*1 3-output Gearbox, determined by the Schooner

Winches allow the recovery of Treasure Caches. Treasure caches are spotted while at sea and appear as a shimmering surrounding a dark spot; other visual representations are fine, but they should be easy to discern against the water at any time of day. They should have a relatively short visible range of around 10 coords. There are a couple of methods of finding Treasure Caches; the most straightforward is just to happen upon one. It is also possible, however, to narrow down the location of a Treasure Cache using an already-found Fragment of Isis' Bounty.

A player with a fragment of Isis' Bounty in their possession may examine it at any time. It will display one of three messages:

*"A rare artifact to be sure." In this case, there is no cache nearby.
*"The fragment shines even more gaudily than usual." In this case, there is a cache within 75 coordinates.
*"You get an uneasy feeling from this relic, as if it wanted something. Creepy." In this case, there is a cache within 25 coordinates.

There are two types of Treasure Caches. An "ordinary" Treasure Cache can be fished up with either a Light Winch or a Sturdy Winch, and consists of an assortment of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (either Isis' Bounty or regular; see above for probabilities)
*An assortment of any of: Mirrors, Silk Cloth, Gems of any size, Cuttable/Cut Gems, Gold/silver/alloys (either raw, bars, foil, sheeting, or wire), very old wine (10+ vintages, rare flavors possible), spirits (rare types possible), paints, high-quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (8k hatchets, 6k distillation coils, etc), raeli tiles (rare types possible), incense (higher qualities possible).

The other type of Treasure Cache is the Ancient Treasure Cache. These should be substantially rarer and are only salvageable using a Sturdy Winch. If a player tries to recover an Ancient Treasure Cache using a Light Winch, they will receive a message that the cache is just too heavy to haul up using their winch. Ancient Treasure Caches consist of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty)
*Any of the treasure types found above, in greater quantities and slanted toward the rarer types (older vintages and rarer flavors of wine, more likely to have huge gems, rarer raeli tiles, rarer gem cuts, etc).
*1 Rare Item

Some suggestions for Rare Items found in Ancient Treasure Caches: very high quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (9500+ hatchets, 9000+ wineglasses, and so on), rare flax/wheat seeds with high yields, high quality knife templates, wings of horus, rare flower bulb strains, portable cornerstones, lightboxes, and so on. The relative probabilities of each of these items should be carefully balanced so as to not disrupt the economy of Egypt. This would also be a good spot for placement of story items.

===Passing===

In order to pass the Test of Isis' Bounty, players must find:

*1 Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty
*1 Fragment of the Aftdeck
*1 Fragment of the Mainmast
*1 Fragment of the Inner Hull
*1 Fragment of the Cargo Hold
*1 Fragment of the Cabin
*1 Fragment of the Gilded Outer Hull

Once a player has all these in his/her possession, they should be shown to the scientists at UBody for the zap. All seven fragments will be removed from the player's inventory when they do so.

Note that for a Fragment to count toward passing, it must have been recovered by the player trying to pass.

===Principles===

In order to complete the Principles of Isis' Bounty, a player should:

*Find a piece of Ship Debris
*Find a second piece of Ship Debris
*Show a piece of Ship Debris to Scientists at SBody or UBody
*Learn Basic Shipbuilding
*Construct a Small Sailboat
*Install a Light Winch
*Salvage any Treasure Cache
*Find 1 Piece of Isis' Bounty

A bit more involved than the principles for my other test idea, but this test is a bit more complicated. Principles should still be pretty straightforward once Basic Shipbuilding is unlocked.

===Conclusion===

This test idea started out as a treasure hunt on land, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that a Body test at sea would be a neat addition. It is pretty complex as written, but I have some more ideas for Rare Items that I'd like to add if it is feasible to do so (along the lines of the rewards from my Mountaineering Test idea).

Any suggestions are appreciated, particularly along the lines of items to be fished up or found in treasure caches. Any other ideas are welcome as well. Thanks for reading!

Test of Isis Bounty

2011-11-29T18:13:27Z

T5 Import: /* New Mechanics and Content - Winches and Treasure Caches */

== Test of Isis' Bounty Draft Proposal ==

===Abstract===

The Test of Isis' Bounty challenges players to find pieces of that legendary ship in Egypt's waters. Pieces can be fished up at a low rate from the shoreline, but to find the final pieces needed to pass, players will have to learn to construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are steerable but subject to prevailing winds and have a chance of breaking up at sea, depositing the player on a random shore. In order to learn to construct Small Sailboats, players will have to work together to research the Basic Shipbuilding technology. After passing the test, players will gain the ability to construct larger, sturdier, and more expensive ships, complete with cargo holds. In addition to fishing up pieces of Isis' Bounty or other ships, fishing will be changed so that other debris -- some desirable and some less so -- can be fished up. Players will also need to scour the seas for Treasure Caches, recovered with Winches, which may contain rare and plentiful booty. Players may continue to seek out even larger and rarer Treasure Caches once they have passed the test, using a Sturdy Winch installed upon their Master's Schooner.

===The Story===

There once was a band of 77 shipwrights in the employ of the Pharaoh. They were pious men and hard workers as well; day after day they performed the back-breaking labor necessary to construct and maintain the barges of the Pharaoh without complaint. They planed the timbers and masts without complaint, tarred leaks without complaint, and sewed vast sails without complaint. They felt neither exploited nor happy; indeed, the making of ships for the Pharaoh was no less natural nor automatic for these 77 shipwrights than the taking of breath.

The final ship that these 77 shipwrights constructed was by far the grandest; the Pharaoh Teppankhamun had ordered a great royal barge be built measuring 777 cubits in length, gilded and bejeweled from prow to stern, sails made from the finest silk, imported from China on the backs of hundreds of mules and porters. In a final touch, the Pharaoh ordered the sides to be adorned with mirrors so that the rising and setting sun would blind peasants with the brilliance of the Pharaoh as Teppankhamun plied the waters of the Nile with his retinue.

The ship was to be called Isis' Bounty. The Pharaoh Teppankhamun expected the construction to be completed in seven years; in order to meet this goal, the 77 shipwrights would have to work nearly around the clock, seven days a week. This was pious and proper, though, and the Pharaoh's doctors were kind enough to provide the shipwrights with drugs that would make two hours of sleep feel like eight. They worked on.

Twenty hours every day for three years they planed and tarred and sewed and lifted and carried and hammered and sawed. Many of the men appeared to age decades in this time. Nearly all lost their wives to their work. Some lost fingers or toes to errant lumber or dropped hammers; one lost an eye. Still, they worked without complaint.

Then, on the eve of the third anniversary of the start of their enterprise, a figure appeared in the shipyard, robed and faceless in the stark torch-shadows. This stranger watched the men work without a word for several hours, then he disappeared again. The men, absorbed as they were in their work, paid him little heed.

The next night the stranger appeared again. Again, he stood motionless for several hours, and again, he vanished without a sign or word.

This continued for seven nights. On the seventh night of the stranger's presence, the shipwrights felt a distinct sense of unease, as though something were about to happen. They deliberately avoided gazing upon the stranger, fearing that he might be an dark spirit sent by Set to undo their mighty labor. Again, the stranger disappeared without a sign.

On the eighth night, the stranger appeared to the shipwrights again. This time he was not silent. Rather he let out a cough that sounded rather like that of a tubercular old man.

"Greetings, shipwrights," the stranger said with another cough.

None answered. They kept on sawing and hammering and planing as though their survival depended upon it, which it did.

"Is this how you greet a sick old man, then?" the stranger continued. "I thought you were pious men."

Several of the men paused at this. No one had ever questioned their piety before.

"I see you hard at work, but for what if not to show your respect for your elders and betters and your devotion to our way of life?"

The youngest of the 77 blushed at this and lowered his adze. "Forgive us, father," he said. "We are on the strictest of schedules and must complete this barge for the Pharaoh in four years, else our lives will be forfeit."

The stranger stepped into the torchlight so that his face was clearly visible. It was wrinkled and weathered but kind. He wore an eyepatch over one eye. He was old enough to be the youngest's grandfather.

"In that case," the stranger said, "I have done you a grave disservice by slowing your progress. You must allow me to help you."

----

The stranger was skilled with a saw and a sewing needle and quick with a joke. He quickly became popular among the shipwrights. He worked long hours, just as the other shipwrights. And, he reasoned, with a seventy-eighth member helping the crew, the other shipwrights could each afford to have every 77th day off and still finish the barge on schedule. The crew, unfamiliar with the concept of a "day off" looked upon this philosopher-shipwright with admiration and gratitude.

For a long year the stranger worked with the shipwrights, side by side, sharing in their labors and in the ecstasy of brutal physical hardship. The others began to view this stranger as one of them; many even saw him as their leader. Before long, all considered him crucial to their success and called him "father".

"What are we doing here?" the stranger asked one day, pausing from his work.

The other shipwrights looked at him as though he had gone mad. "Why, we are building a barge for the Pharaoh, father."

"Yes, but to what end?"

The shipwrights were puzzled. "The only end there is, father. The Pharaoh's will."

The stranger thought hard about this and the men returned to their tasks.

"Why is there no other end than the Pharaoh's will?" he asked, after a time.

The men clambered over each other to answer.

"The Pharaoh brings the rains that flood the Nile and causes the sun to rise," said one.

"The Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies," said another.

"The Pharaoh teaches us respect for the Gods, and they in turn bring us prosperity and health," said a third.

The stranger smiled at this and nodded.

"You, who says that the Pharaoh brings the rains and causes the sun to rise: how does he do this?"

The interrogated shipwright thought for a moment. "Well," he said, "I suppose he must perform some secret and sacred ceremony for each."

The stranger nodded again. "Then I will tell you all my own secret: for many years, I was one of the Pharaoh's closest advisors. He went nowhere without me, did nothing without consulting me."

At this, the shipwrights lowered their faces in awe and submission.

"Do not lower your eyes!" the stranger said. "I am just a man. But I am a man who has seen many things: one year, as the rains began, I was with the Pharaoh on a hunting trip. I did not leave his side the entire time. No ritual was performed. Another year, he was in the midst of debauchery with his harem when the rains started; I saw it all. Strange ceremony, that, if it causes the skies to open. The Pharaoh is a late sleeper; it is rare that he is up early enough to see the sun rise, forget about having anything to do with causing its ascent. How, then, does he do such things?"

The men's faces were slack, many mouths wide with awe. None answered.

"You say that the Pharaoh maintains an orderly state and protects us from enemies. This, indeed, is true. The state is orderly because it is an order that best suits the Pharaoh. He sleeps ten hours a day, has many wives and concubines, hunts when he wishes, rests upon finest silk and linen, and bathes in crystal-clear water scented with the finest perfumes. You work twenty hours a day, through blisters and lost limbs and domestic strife. The Pharaoh does indeed maintain order, but is this something which you should thank him for? And so he protects you from his enemies: these are his enemies, not yours. If Nubia or Eritrea were to conquer us, how would your lots be worsened? Only the Pharaoh and those closest to him would likely be gravely affected."

There were a few angry murmurs from the crowd. Some shook their heads, as though fighting off bad dreams.

"And you, who says that the Pharaoh, through some divine connection, brings us prosperity and health, would you step forward?"

The shipwright did so. He was as thin and stooped as a bent fishing pole. He was missing the pinky finger from his right hand, and his clothes were little more than rags. His face was haggard and unshaved; he looked far more like a long-neglected and starved convict than an artisan.

"Mark well this man," the stranger said to the shipwrights. "Does he seem to you to be an image of health or prosperity?"

The shipwrights stared at this, their brother in labor, as though they had never seen him before. The angry murmur became an angrier cascade of voices.

"Peace, men!" the stranger called. "Peace, please!"

They quieted reluctantly. Some turned to regard the half-finished juggernaut behind them; even ungilt, unmirrored, and unpainted, it seemed suddenly an abomination.

"This ship is by rights yours," the stranger said. "And, if you follow my advice, it will be."

----

The stranger then set to work altering the plans for the half-completed Isis' Bounty. An additional chamber would be added to the hold of the ship, accessible only by a secret door.

The next three years passed quickly, as the men worked not for the Pharaoh but rather for themselves. The ship was completed on time; indeed, it was an image of gaudy splendor, loudly proclaiming the Pharaoh's wealth and power to all who saw it. But the secret chamber, empty and inaccessible to all but the seventy-seven and one shipwrights, was invisible to all, masterfully hidden among the bowels of the ship by the shipwrights' skill.

The shipwrights were nowhere to be found at the ship's unveiling and dedication to Isis. They were not missed. The massive silk sails were unfurled, and the mirrors and gems and gold of the hull's plating made the ship shine as brightly as the morning sun.

The Pharaoh, along with seven of his most trusted advisors, seven of his most senior priests, seven of his favorite concubines, and seven eunuch bodyguards, boarded the ship. Such was the craft of the shipwrights that the ship could be steered by a single man: this man was the stranger. Now thin and bent and scraggly from his long labor, the Pharaoh could not recognize his former advisor, who took up the steerage at the ship's stern. The moorings were cut and the ship began to drift slowly down the Nile.

As Isis' Bounty journeyed, the Pharaoh and his retinue drank and debauched and laughed heartily. They beheld the farmers in their fields and the masons at work on houses and buildings of State, and all seemed as it should be.

Indeed, by the time the shipwrights emerged from the secret compartment, brandishing 77 simple but sharp knives, the Pharaoh and most of his entourage were passed out, drunk and satiated.

The only member of the retinue that was awake to behold the glinting of the knives in the moonlight was the youngest of the Pharaoh's concubines. She pleaded for mercy and was granted it. The rest were slain in their sleep.

----

After they had set the girl down on a nearby shore with a supply of food and water, the shipwrights took back to the water. Their plan was not yet finished.

The bodies of the Pharaoh and his train were dumped overboard to feed the crocodiles. The ship was turned around and pointed in the direction of the most sacred Valley of the Kings. As they sailed, peasants on the riverbanks turned away from the ship, thinking the Pharaoh to be on board; the seventy-eight were completely unhindered as they moored upon the holy dock reserved for the Pharaoh and priests come to place offerings at the tombs of dead Pharaohs.

With the stranger's help, the men opened the doors to the tombs of seven of Egypt's mightiest kings and entered boldly. In a few short days, they had managed to carry off half the wealth of ancient Egypt and load it upon Isis' Bounty. The bodies of Pharaohs were loaded as well, stacked on pallets like the carcasses of wild hogs.

----

"I must leave you now," said the stranger, once the last of the plunder had been secured. "I am old and would like to spend my last years in a quiet and domestic life. But listen to my words: this ship is yours, but the wealth of the kings rightfully belongs to the people of Egypt. Give it to them freely, or the gods will not favor you for long."

The men agreed to do so, and after many fond goodbyes, the stranger was set down upon the opposite shore. Isis' Bounty took to the Nile again, where the bodies of the ancient kings were dumped overboard.

----

The men immediately began to throw some of the plunder overboard, in the hopes that it would wash to the shore and be found by destitute laborers or be caught by poor fishermen in their nets. Stops were made at oases where camel drivers would rest, and treasure was shallowly buried to be exposed by shifting sands. Pearls and silks were buried in farmers' fields, to be upturned by plows.

For nearly seven years, the men distributed the wealth of the ancient Pharaohs in this manner, sailing up and down the Nile, into the Mediterranean, and even, some said, around Africa and along the banks of the Red Sea. And still, the trove of plunder seemed not a deben smaller. Some men believed that the gods had blessed them and their enterprise; some believed, instead, that it was a curse and that they would be doomed to sail the waters of the world for the remainder of time, sowing the waters with riches as a farmer seeds his fields.

They began to argue amongst themselves. Some said that they were on a holy mission and obliged to continue spreading wealth until the wealth was gone. Some said that they had done their duty and that they should dump the remainder of the plunder overboard and let the waters take it where they would. Others said that the remaining booty was theirs to keep, a token of the gods' appreciation for their work. These advocated taking the plunder and starting their own kingdom, a place where the good life could be enjoyed by all: a land of equality, with the shipwrights as judges, priests, and lords.

The arguments became more fierce as the weeks and months wore on. Factions began to form. Some talked openly of a split and taking control of the barge.

Finally, in the dead of night, all were awakened by the clanging of bells, rung by the shipwright who all regarded as the most pious. Isis' Bounty was on fire. The men escaped, but the ship, bellowing smoke and blazing nightmarishly in the reflections of ten thousand mirrors, sank into the cold, dark waters. Those shipwrights who carried the tale to Egypt would never say where. Some believe it was in the precise center of the Mediterranean; others claim that the ship was far from Egypt, anchored off of Sinai; most, though, believe that the treasures of the ancient world now line the bed of the Nile. As proof, they cite the appearance of the Nile in the midday sun; once, they say, the river was dull and muddy, but now, as all know, the Nile shines brilliantly when the sun is directly overhead, precisely as though its trough were lined by thousands of polished mirrors.

===New Mechanics and Content - Fishing Changes===

Fishing will be changed so that additional items can be fished up. These should be catchable anywhere at any time of day, and include the following:

*Silk Cloth
*Linen Cloth/Sails
*Gold Foil
*Mirrors
*Rope
*Boards

Anything else that would make sense to be part of the wreckage of Isis' Bounty or other shipwrecks is acceptable. The frequency of recovering these items should be on par with their rarity in the rest of the game -- so, for instance, boards might come up every 10th cast or so, but silk cloth might require 1000 casts. Additionally, occasionally players will fish up bits of Ship Debris (this is the item name). These should be fished at the rate of 1 per every 49 casts, on average. For more information on Ship Debris, see the section under Test Mechanics, below.

===Test Mechanics - Ship Debris===

Pieces of ship debris may be brought to Schools or Universities of the Human Body for indentification. The scientists there will take the piece of Debris and return either: a piece of Ordinary Ship Debris (item name), or a piece of Isis' Bounty. If it is a piece of Isis' Bounty, it will be labeled with the part of that ship that the debris came from -- so, for instance, the item returned might be named, "A Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty". The odds of any given piece of ship debris being from the Isis' Bounty depend on where and how it was found:

*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from shore has a very low (1 in 49) chance of being from Isis' Bounty. Only fragments of the Gilded Outer Hull can be fished up from shore.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up from offshore (at least 5 coords from shore) has a decent chance of being from Isis' Bounty (1 in 14). Only pieces of the Gilded Outer Hull, Foredeck, Aftdeck, and Mainmast can be fished up at sea.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with a Small Treasure Cache is likely to be from Isis' Bounty (1 in 3 chance). Any part of the ship can be found in Small Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance that the piece will be from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold than the other types.
*A piece of Ship Debris fished up along with an Ancient Treasure Cache is guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty. Any part can be found in Ancient Treasure Caches, but there is a greater chance of the fragment being from either the Cabin, Inner Hull, or Cargo Hold.

The use of pieces of Isis' Bounty is detailed below. Pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris have two uses:

*7777 pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris are needed to unlock Basic Shipbuilding at UBody. Once the tech has been unlocked, any player can learn Basic Shipbuilding 1.
*Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding 1, pieces of Ordinary Ship Debris can be turned in at the UBody where the tech is opened in exchange for knowledge. The scientists will examine the piece of ship debris and offer to instruct the player further on building simple ships -- each time the player does so, his/her Basic Shipbuilding skill will raise by 1, up to a maximum of 49.

Ordinary Ship Debris has no further uses.

===New Mechanics and Content - Small Sailboats===

Once a player has learned Basic Shipbuilding (see Ship Debris section above), they can construct Small Sailboats. Small Sailboats are built water-side from the following materials:

*400 Boards
*3 Linen Sails
*30 Rope
*10 Tar
*100 Nails
*50 Iron (for the anchor)

Unlike ferries, sailboats cannot be disassembled and moved: once they are placed, the only way to move them to a new location is to sail them there. Also unlike ferries, sailboats can be steered. Some points of order on how sailboats are steered and handled:

*Sailboats cannot go in reverse.
*Sailboats traverse water of all depths.
*Steerage is precise -- unlike airships, direction is easily specified, but like airships, sailboats' speed is influenced by the airstream. This means that the speed of the boat is highly dependent upon wind direction (the wind compass should pop up when the player is at sea). If it is possible to do so, it would be excellent to be able to adjust the sails at sea for optimum wind use by an experienced sailor.
*Sailboats can be anchored, and should automatically anchor when a player exits one or logs off aboard one.
*Sailboats should be able to be boarded from a few coords away from shore by clicking upon them -- otherwise, lining a ship precisely up along a straight bit of shoreline could become tedious.
*Waypointing/Expedition Travel/Spousewarping should not be allowed to/from ships.
*Fishing should be allowed from ships. Ideally, ships should not stop moving for a cast -- it should be possible to trawl from a moving boat.

Small Sailboats are somewhat flimsily constructed. This means that there is a chance that a small sailboat may come apart at sea. If this happens, the ship, and winch (if installed, see Winches and Treasure Caches section below) are lost, and the player is deposited on a random shore. Additionally, to prevent Egypt becoming cluttered with thousands of derelict boats, small sailboats automatically decay after a period of time (see below).

The quality of a Small Sailboat is determined by the Basic Shipbuilding skill level of the builder. At higher quality levels:

*Ships have a significantly lower chance of coming apart at sea.
*Ships last longer. The lifespan in days should be equal to the builder's Basic Shipbuilding skill, up to a maximum of 21 days. At Basic Shipbuilding 1, a Small Sailboat will disintegrate after 1 day. At Basic Shipbuilding 21 and above, a small sailboat will live for three weeks. This lifespan can be prolonged indefinitely with maintenance: selecting "Maintain this Sailboat" from the ship's menu will refresh the ship's timer. This will also update the ship's other properties to the player's new/current level of Basic Shipbuilding.
*Ships are faster.
*Ships are less at the mercy of prevailing winds; even with unfavorable wind, a high-quality Small Sailboat should be able to move at a moderate rate.

===New Mechanics and Content - The Master's Schooner and Advanced Shipbuilding===

Once a player has passed the Test of Isis' Bounty, he/she will learn the skill Advanced Shipbuilding 1. This will allow said player to construct Master's Schooners. The cost of building a Master's Schooner is:

*1000 Boards
*1000 Glossy, Rotproof Boards
*50 Linen Sails
*200 Rope
*100 Tar
*1000 Nails
*10 Pulleys
*100 Gold Foil
*50 Bronze Straps
*500 Iron (for the Anchor)
*5 Steel Cable (for the Anchor Chain)

Master's Schooners obey the same mechanics as Small Sailboats (above), with a few exceptions:

*Master's Schooners never come apart at sea.
*Master's Schooners do not decay.
*Master's Schooners should have speed and wind resistance comparable to that of Small Sailboats built at Basic Shipbuilding 49.
*Master's Schooners may be fitted with Sturdy Winches (see Winches and Treasure Caches section).
*Master's Schooners have cargo holds.
*Either Advanced Shipbuilding (any level) or Basic Shipbuilding 21+ is required to operate a Master's Schooner.

The base capacity of a Master's Schooner's cargo hold is 25000 deben. This can be upgraded by a player with a high level of Advanced Shipbuilding. Advanced Shipbuilding 7 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 50000 deben, and Advanced Shipbuilding 49 is required to upgrade the Schooner's cargo hold to 100000 deben capacity. A nominal material cost may be associated with the first upgrade (to be determined). The final cargo hold upgrade should have a substantial material cost (also to be determined).

Higher levels of Advanced Shipbuilding can be learned by turning pieces of Isis' Bounty in to Ubody after the test has been completed.

===New Mechanics and Content - Winches and Treasure Caches===

Both Small Sailboats and Master's Schooners can be fitted with Light Winches. Only Master's Schooners can be fitted with Sturdy Winches.

The cost to build a Light Winch is:

*2 Pulleys
*30 Rope
*5 iron (for the hook)
*1 1-output Gearbox, determined by the Sailboat

The cost to build a Sturdy Winch is:

*5 Pulleys
*5 Steel Cable
*1 Large Gear
*10 steel (for the hook)
*1 3-output Gearbox, determined by the Schooner

Winches allow the recovery of Treasure Caches. Treasure caches are spotted while at sea and appear as a shimmering surrounding a dark spot; other visual representations are fine, but they should be easy to discern against the water at any time of day. Treasure caches should spawn in any reasonably large bodies of water; they should not spawn in puddles, but at minimum, should spawn in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Nile, the long river in the Southeast part of the map that joins the Nile, and the long river that runs through what used to be the Desert of Shades. They should have a relatively short visible range of around 10 coords. There are a couple of methods of finding Treasure Caches; the most straightforward is just to happen upon one. It is also possible, however, to narrow down the location of a Treasure Cache using an already-found Fragment of Isis' Bounty.

A player with a fragment of Isis' Bounty in their possession may examine it at any time. It will display one of three messages:

*"A rare artifact to be sure." In this case, there is no cache nearby.
*"The fragment shines even more gaudily than usual." In this case, there is a cache within 75 coordinates.
*"You get an uneasy feeling from this relic, as if it wanted something. Creepy." In this case, there is a cache within 25 coordinates.

There are two types of Treasure Caches. An "ordinary" Treasure Cache can be fished up with either a Light Winch or a Sturdy Winch, and consists of an assortment of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (either Isis' Bounty or regular; see above for probabilities)
*An assortment of any of: Mirrors, Silk Cloth, Gems of any size, Cuttable/Cut Gems, Gold/silver/alloys (either raw, bars, foil, sheeting, or wire), very old wine (10+ vintages, rare flavors possible), spirits (rare types possible), paints, high-quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (8k hatchets, 6k distillation coils, etc), raeli tiles (rare types possible), incense (higher qualities possible).

The other type of Treasure Cache is the Ancient Treasure Cache. These should be substantially rarer and are only salvageable using a Sturdy Winch. If a player tries to recover an Ancient Treasure Cache using a Light Winch, they will receive a message that the cache is just too heavy to haul up using their winch. Ancient Treasure Caches consist of the following:

*1 Piece of Ship Debris (guaranteed to be from Isis' Bounty)
*Any of the treasure types found above, in greater quantities and slanted toward the rarer types (older vintages and rarer flavors of wine, more likely to have huge gems, rarer raeli tiles, rarer gem cuts, etc).
*1 Rare Item

Some suggestions for Rare Items found in Ancient Treasure Caches: very high quality blacksmithed/glassblown items (9500+ hatchets, 9000+ wineglasses, and so on), rare flax/wheat seeds with high yields, high quality knife templates, wings of horus, rare flower bulb strains, portable cornerstones, lightboxes, and so on. The relative probabilities of each of these items should be carefully balanced so as to not disrupt the economy of Egypt. This would also be a good spot for placement of story items.

===Passing===

In order to pass the Test of Isis' Bounty, players must find:

*1 Fragment of the Foredeck of Isis' Bounty
*1 Fragment of the Aftdeck
*1 Fragment of the Mainmast
*1 Fragment of the Inner Hull
*1 Fragment of the Cargo Hold
*1 Fragment of the Cabin
*1 Fragment of the Gilded Outer Hull

Once a player has all these in his/her possession, they should be shown to the scientists at UBody for the zap. All seven fragments will be removed from the player's inventory when they do so.

Note that for a Fragment to count toward passing, it must have been recovered by the player trying to pass.

===Principles===

In order to complete the Principles of Isis' Bounty, a player should:

*Find a piece of Ship Debris
*Find a second piece of Ship Debris
*Show a piece of Ship Debris to Scientists at SBody or UBody
*Learn Basic Shipbuilding
*Construct a Small Sailboat
*Install a Light Winch
*Salvage any Treasure Cache
*Find 1 Piece of Isis' Bounty

A bit more involved than the principles for my other test idea, but this test is a bit more complicated. Principles should still be pretty straightforward once Basic Shipbuilding is unlocked.

===Conclusion===

This test idea started out as a treasure hunt on land, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that a Body test at sea would be a neat addition. It is pretty complex as written, but I have some more ideas for Rare Items that I'd like to add if it is feasible to do so (along the lines of the rewards from my Mountaineering Test idea).

Any suggestions are appreciated, particularly along the lines of items to be fished up or found in treasure caches. Any other ideas are welcome as well. Thanks for reading!

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2011-11-29T18:12:42Z

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Test of Isis Bounty

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2011-11-28T23:22:58Z

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2011-11-28T23:11:53Z

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