Shades and the Dark Lord
The Dark Lord has commanded that the we disperse into the various races and integrate ourselves to appear as if we are one of them. In order to do this, we have to maintain a spell, the transmogrifying spell, for the entire duration that we conceal our true nature as spies for The Dark Lord. Which means we’ll have to be… social. It also means that we’ll have to find power stones in order to have enough magic to stay transmogrified. That orc-blasted fool! Ahh excuse me, The Dark Lord (may he live for a quite a long time) is the true and unjust Dark Lord…
Anyways, since each of us has been undercover for quite some time now, no one really knows who is working for the Dark Lord and who isn’t. The only real way to identify other shades will be through a pass code that The Dark Lord instructed us to use once we were to arrive to meet the Ear-Things. Nor do we know who The Dark Lord is (which is terrifying), however, he did say that he would communicate instructions to us through Dark Tongue symbols, an infallible code that only befuddles the rest of the ignorant races. We can’t mess this up; The Dark Lord is already under a lot of stress… he blew up Jimmy last Thursday. We have to make an alliance with the Ear-Things before the other races do… it’s them or us.
Anyways, since each of us has been undercover for quite some time now, no one really knows who is working for the Dark Lord and who isn’t. The only real way to identify other shades will be through a pass code that The Dark Lord instructed us to use once we were to arrive to meet the Ear-Things. Nor do we know who The Dark Lord is (which is terrifying), however, he did say that he would communicate instructions to us through Dark Tongue symbols, an infallible code that only befuddles the rest of the ignorant races. We can’t mess this up; The Dark Lord is already under a lot of stress… he blew up Jimmy last Thursday. We have to make an alliance with the Ear-Things before the other races do… it’s them or us.
You are a spy. You've spent the last five years infiltrating the ranks of the southern races, and all your hard work has finally payed off.
The fools chose you to be part of the delegation they're sending to establish relations with the Ear-Things. The Dark Lord will be SOOO pleased. He may even promote you to Dungeon duty.
Your job is to figure out who the other Shade spies are at the meeting and establish communications with the commander immediately. You won't recognize any of them in their disguises, so you'll have to use the pass phrases:
QUESTION: Do you have any beetle biscuits?
ANSWER: No, but the honey is delicious.
The fools chose you to be part of the delegation they're sending to establish relations with the Ear-Things. The Dark Lord will be SOOO pleased. He may even promote you to Dungeon duty.
Your job is to figure out who the other Shade spies are at the meeting and establish communications with the commander immediately. You won't recognize any of them in their disguises, so you'll have to use the pass phrases:
QUESTION: Do you have any beetle biscuits?
ANSWER: No, but the honey is delicious.
The Shades have the advantage of being able to communicate in Dark Tongue -- which only they can read.
Here's how it works:
Here's how it works:
Burt ("The Dark One!") will leave your messages in dark tongue which he will place around the area.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|- +4---^ |
| +3--^
You will use a cipher, which is 3412 to move the letters up that many counts. If the code is:
H E K J Q D D C I B M Y J A C Z L X
3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 +
=====================================
K I L L T H E E L F N A M E D B O B = Kill the Elf named Bob
H | E | K | J | Q | D | D | C | I | B | M | Y | J | A | C | Z | L | X |
3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
K | I | L | L | T | H | E | E | L | F | N | A | M | E | D | B | O | B |
In essence, repeat the cipher along the message and then add the equivalent number of steps down the alphabet chain in order to find the right letter.
NOTE: Don't get excited. There is no elf named Bob in this game.
Normally Shades have gray skin, large black eyes, and are unusually fond of wearing hooded black robes to obscure their features. They tend towards depression and speak in low droning voices. If Professor Snape had gray skin and wore and black hooded cloak, he'd make a fine Shade.
Since the Shades will all be separated into different races, you must learn to act like the race you are pretending to be part of. Which generally means actually being social. Ew. You would rather step on The Dark One’s foot than talk to one of these gross races. However, you can’t blow your cover, so you’re just going to have to suck it up and at least try to talk to these slugs.
Since the Shades will all be separated into different races, you must learn to act like the race you are pretending to be part of. Which generally means actually being social. Ew. You would rather step on The Dark One’s foot than talk to one of these gross races. However, you can’t blow your cover, so you’re just going to have to suck it up and at least try to talk to these slugs.
- Dwarves love rootbeer and like dark places (thank badness).
- Elves like heights, are polite (‘polite’), value honor, and have the most ridiculous accents…
- Sylva have this weird sort of social issue since they suck the life out of you when you get close to them (it’s gotta bad for whoever is masquerading as one of them), and yet still want to be included.
- Chaim are super militaristic and rigid… something you could work with.
- Wizards are basically birdbrains that talk about philosophy and who knows what. Good luck even remotely fitting in with those loons.
Of course you won’t come in your beautiful Shade robes. You have to look like these foul creatures, don’t you?
- You’ve heard the Dwarves say that they should wear their ‘fancy’ apparel… which is apparently armor, spiked helmets, and the lot… so basically what they wear all the time anyways
- The Elves have been preparing their elaborate (ugly) costumes for months now… all the talk about lace and instruments is making you physically ill.
- They appear to favor greens, browns, and blue colors, as if they were still trying to blend into the forest.
- The Sylva dress like the poor peasant trash they are -- except they are fond of wearing vines wrapped around their clothing.
- Wizards favor pointy hats, robes, and some sort of staff. Apparently it works for all occasions.
- Chaim dress like soldiers -- even the females.
