-The curtain rises: the dark story of Runes of Magic: Chapter IV - Lands of Despair-

In ‘Chapter IV – Lands of Despair’, the next chapter of Runes of Magic, you will be lured into a dark and forbidding new world. The Land of Malevolence has been ravaged by a deadly plague, which threatens to cast this new region into utter turmoil. Many of the people inhabiting this region have been struck down with an unknown illness, and the only hope for them are the curative effects of a curious ‘Divine Fruit’ available only from a travelling merchant. But this merchant is not quite what he seems – he is in fact none other than the fearsome and devious Demon Sismond, who spread this pestilence and is slowly but surely turning the region’s people into mindless zombies.

Sismond’s first objective was to seek out the Grafu family who bore Annelia, the young girl with a congenital heart condition. When Sismond arrived at the Grafu family castle, he found that Annelia’s condition had not improved to any great extent – she was still weak and her father, helpless. The merchant promised help and advised that the feeble Annelia be given a heart forged from runes. However, Lord Grafu would not entrust his daughter’s life to the demon and decided to sacrifice his own heart to save his beloved daughter. When she awoke to find her father lying listlessly on the floor, Sismond and his Fruits of the Gods made light work of manipulating her to his desires. He then implanted the rune heart into her father’s chest, which caused him to stir. Alas, he had lost all trace of humanity.

However, this was but the first step in his diabolical plan. His next goal was to infect all the races of the region, including the Fireboot Dwarves and the Rhino people of the Kalo Kingdom. These two races found themselves facing each other on the battlefield after Sismond brought one of the Dwarves under his control and had him murder Lanaik, son of a Lord of Kalon. Both sides are sending their armies and massive war machines to battle and are engaged in a fierce struggle for dominance of the region. However, only one seems to be profiting from the war – none other than Sismond himself. His devoted followers scour the battlefields for the corpses of the fallen and bring them to the Demon’s secret hideout, where he is making preparations for the final battle.

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Nothing seems to be able to put a stop to Sismond’s diabolical plans. Several villages have become addicted to his Fruits of the Gods, Undead creatures roam freely, bringing chaos, fear, and terror wherever they go, and the rampaging Fireboots and Kalon ensure a steady supply of corpses for the Demon’s covert experiments. Sismond has sent out vast swathes of scouts to patrol the land, and Annelia is proving to be a most powerful apprentice. It is now up to players to restore the peace in this troubled region by tackling the zombie plague and challenging Annelia to a deathmatch.

Sharpen your blades, dust off those arcane spellbooks and load up your quivers in preparation for Chapter IV. Sismond will show no mercy.

The closed beta servers for Runes of Magic: Chapter IV – Lands of Despair will be online for two more days. Beta participants have explored the expansive range of new content and have tried to take down Annelia the Puppet Master and her father, Lord Grafu, the final bosses of the 6 to 12 player instance - as yet to no avail*.

That’s not to say the raft of new content stops there. In the coming chapter, other hidden battlefields will be revealed, as well as two previously unknown races with a fierce and ancient rivalry: the Dwarves and a merciless tribe of Rhinos. As the chapter unfolds, you will find yourselves entangled in a story that explores the origins of this bitter rivalry and while the new images released today will give a sneak peak at what’s to come, they also raise several key questions.

Why are the two races engaged in such a bitter struggle? And, how will players be able to influence the outcome?

While each race’s disdain for the other is plain to see, there is more to this clash than initially meets the eye as a dark power lies in the shadows pulling the strings of war for their own person gain. Who, or what, is this power? For the time being, it remains a mystery.

Stay tuned as more will be revealed soon...

*This does not include the clearance of the instance for presentations, e.g. for the press.

Soon we shall unleash the next content update, opening up a new area for you to explore. In the remote confines of the Southern Janost Forest, new enemies await. Among the many additions that you might encounter is the new world boss, Amboriar; lying unanimated for thousands of years, Amboriar has awoken. It will be up to you to keep the powerful Amboriar from falling under the control of dark forces and wreaking havoc on Zandorya.

Amboriar was once one of the mighty Guardians, huge mechanical warriors forged to combat hoards of murderous demons in the ancient wars. After proving their valor in many battles, the Guardians were sent on a mission to free Zandorya. However, the warriors were attacked on route to the remote continent. Amboriar, its power source damaged, crashed down the side of a mountain where its power core finally overloaded. The giant machine remained there, buried under a pile of rubble that used to be the home of a mighty dwarf civilization.

A few years ago, in the bowels of the very same mountain, the remains of the Guardian were discovered by the bloodthirsty Baron Reuen von Jura. The specimen was so well preserved that it presented an incredible opportunity for the scientists of the Hand of Truth, the rebel faction aiming to overthrowthe throne of Zandorya. It would be easy to repair the power core of this robot and reprogram it into an all-mighty ally.

It is up to you to prevent this nightmare from coming to pass. No one would stand a chance in combat with the mechanical titan if the Hand of Truth army manages to completely restore its power source. Deep inside the Ruins of the Magnork Kingdom, a crucial battle for the future of Zandorya will take place; a battle so fierce that it will require the joint efforts of as many fighters as the king Callaway can muster.

For more information regarding the new world boss, further details will appear on our Chapter 3 content page soon.

The public vote at this year’s German Game Developer Award has gone to Runes of Magic, with the game lifting the trophy in the category of ‘Best International PC Game 2009’. A great award fitting for reaching yet another milestone: we can currently point to over 2.5 million registered players in the USA, Europe and Korea.

We summoned you to vote in the public ballot for your favourite games of 2009. Within the category of ‘Best International PC Game 2009’, Runes of Magic found itself having to battle it out with titles such as RISEN and Anno 1404. The award ceremony was held at a grand gala event in the Essen Lichtburg – Germany’s largest film theatre.

The award was accepted on behalf of Frogster and Runewaker Entertainment by Frogster management board member Dirk Weyel, who commented:

“We are thrilled to receive this trophy, especially with it being one awarded by actual players themselves. We would expressly like to thank our community and we'll continue to work intensively on offering players the maximum of fun with Runes of Magic.”

To celebrate the day and also as a thank-you, we're giving every player with a character that reached level 11 at least 100 Rubies which will be automatically credited to players’ accounts in the course of the day. Further information about the German Developer Awards can be found at: www.deutscher-entwicklerpreis.de

Further nominations!

Runes of Magic has also been nominated for further honours: In the ‘Massively’s End-of-the-Year Reader’s Choice Awards’ Runes of Magic entered into various categories by the editorial team. Voting is continuing up until 31st December of this year.

*Rubies have to be used within 30 days due to technical limitations.

Fabulous hardware prizes and ROCCAT Kone Unicum to be won

Christmas time is also coming to Taborea: A whole host of special events and offers around the season of goodwill is set to put Runes of Magic fans in a proper Christmas mood.

In mid-December we launch the ingame 'Snowflake Festival', where the game world will take on a true festive look. With the release of daily quests, adventurers will be able to play for gifts. Festive furniture as well as Christmas tree seeds, will be inviting adventurers to decorate their own game world houses.

But there are also solid prizes to be won in the Advent period:

In the ‘Creative Christmas Contest’ you can give your creativity free rein. Anything’s possible as long as it can be photographed.

The best submissions will be awarded prizes:

The top prize along with hardware such as flat-screen monitors and graphics cards is the ROCCAT Kone Max Customization Gaming Mouse, which is up for grabs with a unique hand-painted Runes of Magic design and valued at 500 Euros. The ROCCAT mouse, highly praised in the specialist press, is especially suited to RPG players, thanks to its macro capability.

Starting 04. December the official promo page gives more information!

Those who wish to take a look behind the scenes of Runes of Magic will find exactly what they want with this year's advent calendar:

Each day leading up to Christmas a little window will open to reveal exclusive artwork, screenshots, or pictures from the team.

Yesterday’s launch of "The Elven Prophecy", was a huge success. We now have 1.9 million registered users and are now offer our players the choice to play on now 19 servers in Europe and North America.

Right on time at 12:00h CEST players from across the world rushed the servers and started exploring the new content and the new features.

As a part of the launch, we distributed more than 1.7 million Euros worth of diamonds to our player-base and many more events and promotions are still ongoing!

We would like to take the opportunity to thank all our players and especially our testers - without you this success would not have been possible!

Thank you and enjoy the new content!

Your
Runes of Magic Team
 

Part of the Naga's Awakening content update, a new Public Encounter awaits the players of Runes of Magic.

Up to 150 high-level players can take part in the "Varanas Nightmare" public encounter that takes place before a nightmarish scenery of a burning, destroyed version of the great city.

Here for the first time the namesake of the first chapter, the Demon Lord, makes his first public appearance, haunting the sleep of one of Varanas' high ranking nobles.

The Public Encounter is divided into three stages. During stage one the players have to close 20 dimension portals that quickly regenerate and respawn. Phase two consists of a fight against several world bosses that too need to be defeated quickly to start phase three. Finally the players will face an opponent that is actively supported by the Demon Lord himself.

Once the final opponent is defeated the players not only bestow reputation and honour for mastering of the scenario but there is also an outstanding booty for the taking.

Aslan Valley, High Noon

A man stood by the side of the road that is meandering through the deep forests of Aslan. So far, so good, one might think - except that this man looked quite unusual - in fact he did not look like a human should look like.

"What is ye looking at?" he snapped at the passing adventurer.

"I am terribly sorry, but I noticed that your clothes look a bit strange on you... and... excuse me for being rude, but your smell is a bit..."

"...perf'ly normal far a Goblin." the creature rumbled, a mean grin spread across his face.

On hearing this, the adventurer jumped hurriedly backwards and reached for his sword,

"Calm down, oi did nae mean to do ye any harm! Oi even got something fer ye." the grin grew even wider.

"Ye know, us Goblins hae an old tradition. There's this game we play. Ye know, te find out who's the strongest of us Goblins."

"And... what does that have to do with me?" the adventurer asked, his hand still gripping the handle of his sword.

"Ach, that's easy! Ye just gi' me some wager an' ye can join the brawl. Should ye win, ye might get a title o' honour - an' who knows, maybe e'en mo."

After a few minutes pondering this offer, curiosity got the better of our brave adventurer and he shook hands with the Goblin. Following the man's instructions, the adventurer found himself in one of the Goblins' many caves to face the challenge and win the title....

...if only that stupid Goblin costume wasn't so uncomfortable.

The newest Runes of Magic mini-game takes you into the exciting world of those green-skinned creatures we only knew as despicable enemies - but no longer now! Get dressed as a Goblin and meet them in their dungeon.

There you are invited to take part in a challenge that requires more than just a fancy dress! Only the bravest and wildest of adventurers may eventually win the title of "Goblin Hero".

Apart from this and two more titles, there is a chance to carry home the Goblin treasure as well! Isn't that reason enough to put on the Goblin costume and dive into the fray more than once?

Have fun!

*slap* "Stupid insects!", the aging warrior growled while trying to make his way through the swampy puddles, flailing his arms this way and that to repel the mosquitoes zeroing in on him. His helmet's visor didn't make things easier.

"You should have listened to me," the mage said. "This potion of mine might not smell too nice, but it definitely would have solved *that* problem for you." This said she focused on her spell that keept her hovering just millimetres above the surface of the slimy swamp's surface. Rolling up the sleeves of her robe she said with a smirk "As you can see: not a single sting."

"Oh, do shut up! Keep looking where you are going, lest you tumble over and your spell makes you land head-first in this slurry!" the warrior replied, only provoking a wider grin and a giggle.

On their way exploring the newly discovered lands in the north-east of Ravenfell, the two were met with exotic plants, high as mountains, and these marshes full insects lusting for the blood of wary travellers. And they met the all but peaceful Tiktaalik, creatures half fish, half man, chasing them through half the bog they now were stranded in.

Some of the adventurers exploring these lands before them, mentioned a human settlement. That was where they were heading. It couldn't be far, just behind those trees over there! Maybe they knew more about the Trolls and the Naga - and maybe they had a quest or two that would pay for their expenses and reveal more of the secrets these foul creatures might harbour.

Welcome to the Weeping Coast!

The next big update to Runes of Magic already is already heralding its approach!

Before "Chapter Two: The Elven Prophecy" will be released, we already implement a new zone for Runes of Magic: "The Weeping Coast".

The swap landscape with its branching channels lies north-east of Ravenfell and crawls with the fish-like Tiktaalik, Nagas, Trolls and many more dangerous creatures. With the release of that zone we will raise the level limit to 52 and introduce 200 new quests.

Scheduled for August this year the release of the 'Weeping Coast' marks the start of the multi-stage launch of 'The Elven Prophecy'.

A new trailer has been added to our video-section that offers a glimpse into the new territory.

In September "Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy" will lead players into new game regions characterized by elfish lore like an elven island at the shore of Ravenfell.

After having lived in secrecy for ages, the elves are surrounded by an aura of mystery and aloofness. Nevertheless they are considered as one of Taborea’s oldest peoples. Because of their particular affinity with nature, the elves are mostly to be found in the remote and undisturbed areas of Taborea’s large forests. Members of the elven people are characterized by an extraordinary intelligence and dexterity. Their metal-working skills are on a par with those of the dwarves, whereas their style is much more filigree.

The design of elvish weapons is of great elegance, almost fragility. But in the hands of an elvish fighter, they reveal an impressive effectiveness. A decisive influence on the effects of the elvish weapons derives from their owner’s purity and affinity with nature. Because of their esthetical value, the renowned elvish long swords and longbows are of great attractiveness for humans, too. But only the elves themselves possess the mental skills necessary to handle such elegant weapons.

Yore, the elvish kingdom has been located in the area of the present Aslan valley. Therefore the valley is also known as ‘The Origin’. The elven kingdom was shattered in the time of the primeval war against the demons. After an oracle prophecy, a part of the elven people abandoned the area under prince Isnasil to keep clear of the conflict.

A second faction under king Antaikolon affronted the combat. To avoid such confrontations for the future, the elven king had a magical wall erected in the aftermath to hold back the evil Naga people being allied with the demons. By inserting the holy elven sword ‘Arclight’ into the wall, he rendered it unsurmountable.

Since that time, the descendants of the elven fighters around Antaikolon served as guardians and paladins of the holy sword ‘Arclight’ dedicating themselves devotedly to the improvement of their martial arts. When elven prince Sig’aylas removed the holy sword ‘Arclight’ from the wall hundreds of years later to defend his human truelove, the wall perished and the naga threat flared up once again.

With the upcoming ‘Chapter II - The Elven Prophecy’ for Runes of Magic, the Elves will enter the game world of Taborea.