20th Anniversary

Skyfall was an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of alter aeon. The main event was organised by, the creator and developer of the game, Dentin.

Storyline

After much anticipation, the event started on Thursday January 15 2015 when the following information was released

Pending Event Information
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The Alter Aeon 20th Anniversary Event is coming up, and the theme for
this year's event is 'skyfall'.  Skyfall was a legendary cataclysm
which some cultures rent mountains and created the deserts south of 
Jo'Kerin.  Careful readers may find obscure references to it in the
Great Library.
The main event starts the morning of Thursday, January 15, and will run
in stages through the weekend, until Sunday, January 18.  Between the
various quest stages, there may be other things planned.  See the 
'show schedule' command for per-day details.
All times will be server time, which is American PST (UTC-8).
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(see 'show schedule' for a schedule of events)

show schedule
Future Schedule of Events
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Events for Thursday, January 15:
8:00 am PST - Main event quest stage
10:00 am PST - 1995 server opened, and first 1995 challenge released.
12:00 pm PST - Main event quest stage
2:00 pm PST - Main event quest stage
4:00 pm PST - Area Tour - Wyvren's Hell
Events for Friday, January 16:
8:00 am PST - Main event quest stage
10:00 am PST - Second 1995 challenge released.
12:00 pm PST - Main event quest stage
2:00 pm PST - Main event quest stage
4:00 pm PST - Area Tour - Khinzai, surface and upper levels
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(see 'show event' for detailed event information)

A quick search of the library revealed the following books which gave some background info on the event.

lib search skyfall {{MUDdisplay| Books matching your search 'skyfall'

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13793 - a book entitled "The Giant Pyramid Builders" 26576 - a book entitled 'The Sundering of Giants'

13793 - a book entitled "The Giant Pyramid Builders"

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In ancient times, giants flourished across the mainland. They built great civilizations that spanned from ocean to ocean. Their only competition was the primordial dragons and faeries that dominated the world during the last days of the Age of Creation. Their civilizations disappeared near the beginning of the upheaval of the Age of Chaos in a catastrophic event known as Skyfall. Their descendants are believed to live on today as the various races of giants. Whatever they called themselves has been lost in antiquity. They are often called the Giant Pyramid Builders due to their propensity to construct huge earthen mounds and stone pyramids. Some scholars, finding this title to cumbersome, instead refer to them as the Progenitor Giants or simply the Progenitors. As to how the different types of giants arose today, there are many theories. Modern giants are extremely diverse in form, culture and language. Many are actively hostile towards other groups. One theory holds that the different civilizations of Progenitors were already racially divergent when they were founded. This theory contends that the common ancestors of giants are even more ancient than the Progenitors. One of the more popular theories is sometimes called the Big Utopia Theory. In this scenario, Progenitor society is composed of different races of giants all living together in harmony. Another theory proposes that Progenitor civilizations may have had rigid caste systems. They would have bred different kinds of giant for various purposes. This theory is not popular. The most commonly accepted theory is that the Progenitors were a singular race of giants that somehow diversified after their civilizations fell and the survivors scattered. This theory has some viable evidence to support it -- Progenitors often mummified their dead. Many well-preserved bodies have been studied. They average between nine and fourteen feet in height, and they do not retain any discernable elemental associations. The giants living closest to known Progenitor sites are the desert giants of the Ash Desert and the mountain giants of Cornia. Both of these varieties of giant have weak elemental associations and are between seven and fifteen feet tall. The desert giants in particular retain legends about their ancestors, centered around the pyramidal ruins of the Progenitors. However, this is not conclusive. The firbolgs of the southwestern forests are another small race of non-elemental giant. They live far from known Progenitor ruins. On the other end of the scale, the stone giants of the Ash Mountains average between twenty and thirty feet tall and have an overwhelmingly strong elemental earth affinity. The mysteries of the Giant Pyramid Builders will likely remain unsolved, until new evidence is discovered or a new method of study is devised. It should also be noted that not all races called giants are necessarily descendents of the Progenitors. For example, the so-called "shadow giants" that fought in the Great Wars are, by their own accounts, descended from matings between evil gods and sak'trids, a type of demon that is itself derived from hybrid demon-human stock. lib read 26576 26576 - a book entitled 'The Sundering of Giants'

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The Sundering of Giants Giants ruled over the eastern half of the continent early in the Age of Creation. Their empire was ruled by four brothers: Tutankhaten, Sulinar, Putahihumen, and Freheghemri. Each was an accomplished spellcaster. The giants of this time were a single, unified race. These giants built the giant pyramids that have survived until this day. Despite their immense power, many challengers rose up in attempt to de-throne the quartet. One of the most devastating attacks came in the form of an undead army that ravaged the land late in the kings' reign. Tutankhaten fell ill and was absent for most of the campaign, leaving the remaining three brothers to deal with the menace. By that time, the giants were growing quite old, so each king took upon himself an element to increase his strength and longevity. Tutankhaten used his druid powers and took hold of the very earth itself. Sulinar the sorcerer subdued and harnessed the power of lightning. Putahihumen took upon himself the element of fire, and Freheghemri that of ice. The children which they sired from this point on retained some of the elemental powers of their fathers, and so element-touched giants began to be circulated amongst the population. After a time, Putahihumen called a meeting of Sulinar and Freheghemri. He confessed to them that he had learned necromancy from the fire god Pyrenius, and that he had been teaching necromancy to Tutankhaten for some time in secret. He presented recently-discovered evidence that Tutankhaten had been behind the undead uprising that had nearly proved their undoing. Putahihumen believed that Tutankhaten was now an even more powerful necromancer than he was, and that Tutankhaten would soon make his move to remove them. They decided to act first. Sulinar, Putahihumen, and Freheghemri massed their armies and attacked Tutankhaten and giants loyal to him. Tutankhaten's magic proved to be too much for them. The three kings were defeated. When confronted by Tutankhaten at their last stand, the necromancer king tore their spirits free from their bodies and cast them into the Realm of Mists, leaving their bodies behind. What happened next is unclear. Many believe that Tutankhaten performed a powerful necromantic ritual using the life force of his fallen brothers. Others believe he invoked an unprecedented druidic rite. It is said that the light rained down from the night sky to scorch the lands. This event is known as Skyfall. Both the Great Desert and the Ash Desert may be scars from Skyfall. In the absence of any king to rule them, the giants seperated into their current races, reinforcing their elemental forms by selectively breeding with those of like element. The descendants of Tutankhaten became the stone giants. With their leader gone, they became reclusive and withdrawn. Some stone giants chose to live in the deserts, becoming the desert giants of today. The children of Sulinar became the storm giants. The storm giants attempted to follow in their father's footsteps, and storm giants have the reputation of being the most kind-hearted and altruistic of giantkind. A branch of storm giants took to the seas to live and became reef giants. Another branch of storm giants retreated to the astral plane of air to become fog giants and cloud giants. The descendants of Putahihumen are now fire giants. The ancient fire giants, seeking a world more hospitible to their fiery bodies, discovered the distant desert planet of Khinzhai. There, they made contact with a race of giants of similar appearance and evil disposition, with whom they have mingled freely ever since. The spawn of Freheghemri became the frost giants. They became a cruel and savage race. Giants untouched by any element remain, as well. It is said that the mountain giants best represent what the ancient giants would have look liked prior to their sundering. Other races of giants originally arose by mountain giants crossbreeding with one of the smaller races: firbolgs from dwarves, voadkyn from elves, verbeegs from humans, and hill giants from ogres. ))

Schedule

Dentin provided an approximate schedule of when each part of the event was expected to happen, It could be viewed by typing show schedule and was updated and revised as the event progressed. Due to real life commitments and unexpected problems, a few of the schedule items were momentarily delayed, however most of it happened on or near the times specified. Also following feedback from players more storyline was added to the main quest, which caused a delay on one of the quest stages.

1995 Port

also see 1995 Port

As part of the event a port of the 1995 version of the mud was made available. This showed just how far alter aeon had developed over the last twenty years and gave players a rare opportunity to experience what the game was like back in the day. A series of challenges were issued on board 5 they were:-

• Level a character to 20, consolation prizes were awarded for level 15 and extra credit given for level 25 and above.
• Find and wear a complete set of equipment where every piece is either exactly level 15, exactly level 20 or antievil flagged.
• Become either good or evil aligned.

Quests

• Investigate the murders in the slums
• Recover the stolen map data
• Investigate the break-in at the museum
• Drive Verreshe out of the slums
• Chased Verreshe to Jo'Kerin
• Defeat Verreshe in the ancient Codex
• Find out what happened to Ulianca Teven

New areas

• The city of Dorna
• A secluded house in the woods

New spells

• Mooncatcher
• Starcatcher
• fury of the heavens

Tours

Tours will given by Dentin are revealed background information and history behind the areas.

• Wyvren's Hell (January 15 4:00 pm PST )
• Khinzai, surface and upper levels (January 16 4:00 pm PST )

Event area

typing event goto 104 players were transported to a gathering place, going east several tables were laid out with slices of anniversary cake. Travelling west a member of the Anniversary Guild was selling: an Alter Aeon 20th anniversary t-shirt, a 20th anniversary commemorative bucket and a 20th anniversary frisbee.