Britain
The Capital City of Britannia has seen many changes over the past decade. They began during the Imbalance Storms, as the very walls of Castle Britannia cracked and split, and the Royal Mint was replaced by a sorcerous lighthouse by a bolt of lightning. As the storms continued, the land around the Castle subsided, sinking downwards until a great lake had formed where the moat had run, engulfing streets and buildings as it formed. The damage to the foundations of the castle and the instability of the area meant that once the Storms had ceased, it was simpler to build a new Castle on the site of the Royal Orchards as an administration center for the kingdom. The old castle remains sealed off, as a precaution to keep foolish explorers from being hurt by collapses.

With the Plague raging through the populace, the portions of the city on eastern side of the river running from the lake surrounding the old Castle is nearly unpopulated. Near the new Castle, a building has been converted into a plague house where the sick can come to find what treatment there is. The Britain Bank was burned in a riot, along with Cynthia the banker, but has since been refurbished, even to the complete repair of the Storm-brought lighthouse.

Buccaneer's Den
Years and centuries may pass, but this village remains the same, a den of vice and villains in which wise folk walk with their hands on their weapons, and wiser folk avoid entirely. The woods of the island are hunted by barbarians these days, but these shaggy foemen seem little different in nature to many of the folk of the town itself.

Rumours exist that those seeking training in the less noble arts might be able to find it in the Den, but such trainers are certain to be well hidden, perhaps in the semi-legendary tunnels that the Fellowship was once said to use.

Cove
A small village, Cove has suffered much in the last several years. The Necromancer Darkblade used the village to demonstrate his power, summoning undead to destroy all within. Eventually the undead were cleared, with the help of Darkblade himself, who sought cooperation from the folk of Britannia in his plans to defeat the Guardian.

The village has since been resettled by those who had escaped the devastation, and by new folk, but the mayor Lord Heather was not among those survivors, and his love, the Druid Jaana, retreated to make her home at the Shrine of Justice rather than return to a place so laden with sad memories.

After the events of the Armageddon spell, Rudyom was laid to rest near Cove. His grave is along the coast a little, near the site of his house.

Dawn
A city of mystery, lost since the Third Age of Darkness. Until now. Less than 18 months ago, the folk of Dawn revealed the continued presence of their city to the land of Britannia, offering to allow those who practiced the arts of Magery to settle.

Despite the fearsome beasts in the tunnels surrounding the city, now appearing to be underground, Dawn is a peaceful and safe place to visit for mages and nonmages alike. A place which all visitors should take the time to see is the Dawn Gardens, where visitors from many strange planes of reality have congregated. In many ways it seems that Dawn serves as a neutral meeting ground for emissaries from places that Britannian folk cannot even imagine.

As of the last year, Dawn has been sealed off from within, apparently to keep out the plague and other ill effects of the Armageddon spell. Until the inhabitants choose to once again allow access, Dawn might just as well not exist. In fact the Mysterious Stranger has appeared as enigmatically as usual, and stated that for now Dawn truly does not exist.

Jhelom
In the past decade, Jhelom has grown significantly, changing from a smallish village left behind in simpler times, to a significantly sized city, spreading across all of the Valorian Isles. However Jhelom's warrior past has not been forgotten, as attested by the Library of Scars, still the foremost school of weapons training in Britannia, and the large Arena used for fighting which has been built within the town.

The Imbalance Storms washed the bridges joining the islands away, but magic was used to create a solution. In the town center, teleporters will transport folk to the other islands, where similar teleporters may be used to return.

For several years, Jhelom and the surrounding territories were plagued by pirates. In slightly more recent times this problem has been halted in its tracks, as the ruins of the ancient citadel of Bordermarch rose again from the depths to the north of Jhelom. Lord British ordered the fortress rebuilt, and installed Lord Sentri there to oversee the defense of the area from the piratical hordes. He succeeded well, but in the wake of the Armageddon spell, Bordermarch is again deserted, and it remains to be seen if the pirates will again gather their strength.

At present, Jhelom is a no-go zone. Sealed off from the Moongate by a wall, and with cannon fired at passing ships, the results of evacuating the city during the Atarkan War seem to have been less than ideal.

Magincia
Over the past few years, it seems as if Magincia has been reborn. The Consortium, a rich group of merchants, has settled there, rebuilding the place to match the legendary Magincia of old tales. But the lordly airs of the Consortium, coupled with rumours of corruption and foul assasins drove most of the folk of New Magincia away, although Katrina, Companion of the Avatar, refuses to leave her ancient home.

Despite the surface beauty of Magincia however, there seems to be rot at the core. There has been a certain amount of speculation and vague but inconclusive evidence that the Consortium is the governing force behind the group of assassins known as the Black Circle. Not that anyone has been able to obtain conclusive proof of this. At least not anyone still living...

More recently an artefact from the Serpent Isle was found and put into use in the service of Britannia. (See Sir Aliai's Report of the Day for more details.) However when employed in Magincia, the wand failed to operate, strongly implying that while the city obeys Lord British in word, it is no longer truly a part of his realm...

Minoc
Events in the last decade have almost passed Minoc by. While Exodus did chose to attack the town, sending a horde of Deinonychi through from a place named Eodon, the creatures were halted before doing serious damage, especially once Zalim, the Mystic Tamer of Britain, appeared and brought many of the creatures under his control. Fortunately the Moongates summoned by Exodus were too small for the creature he named the Thunderer to pass through, or matters might have turned out quite differently.

For now, Minoc is much as it has always been. The remains of Owen's unfinished statue are in the town still, as are the ruins of the fellowship hall, and the mines of Mt Kendall to the east of Minoc are still a gathering point for many would-be miners.

Moonglow
Few changes have touched Moonglow itself of late. A magnificent Zoo has been built on the island, containing specimens of many magical beasts from strange places, and a magical maze containing teleporters to a number of spots around Verity Isle has been constructed in the town center, but there have been no major upheavals or disasters to note.

The Lycaeum however has had several ill events befall it. Firstly an irritated mage has transformed the ill-mannered talking fox named Frank into a form more suited to his personality, a pig. Perhaps that wasn't such an ill event after all. Unfortunately that spell has since been removed.

However the events of Armageddon cost the Lycaeum two of its most significant denizens. Both Mariah and Penumbra were missing for a time, lost on the other side of the Wall of Lights. However they have returned, and Mariah once again may be found in the Lycaeum.

Skara Brae
Skara Brae. A decade ago it was a blasted wasteland, haunted by the undead. Now it is a thriving town again, flourishing and growing.

The undead mage Horance has left the island now that the town has been rebuilt, as the folk there were uncomfortable with his presence. He lives on the island to the north, but appears lonely. Few visit him it seems. Within the town remains Caine, called the Tortured One, still practicing the alchemy which slew him. At the mainland dock the Ferryman still waits, collecting donations from passersby. He is bound to act as a ferryman at that spot, but the Imbalance Storms sunk his boat, and he needs funds to buy another.

Skara Brae is also noteworthy as the home of the Pathwarders, who seek to defend the roadways of Britannia and those who travel upon them.

Spektran
Welcome to the asylum. Martingo, Sultan of Spektran rules this place from his keep, sitting in the middle of the harbour created when the land subsided during the Imbalance Storms. Spektran is the place where the harmlessly insane of Britannia are encouraged to migrate, where they usually become devoted followers of Martingo. Many of the folk of New Magincia also moved here after the storms.

Terfin
City of the Gargoyles, Terfin has seen many upheavals in the last decade. They began with the Imbalance Storms, during which the entire island sunk beneath the sea, once again forcing the Gargoyle folk from their homes. They moved to the remaining Isle of Fire, once home to Exodus, and again rebuilt their homes and lives. The new Terfin is a truly magnificent place, despite the harsh desert conditions prevailing upon the island.

To symbolize the alliance between the Gargoyles and the humans of Britannia, a moongate leading there has been opened in Castle Britannia, allowing free travel for all who desire it.

More recently the significant events in Terfin have been more social than geological. A minor faction among the Gargoyles sought to destroy all humans in revenge for the events of the time of the False Prophet, some 200 years agone. They made travel there risky, but it was their release of the Psyche of Exodus that made them truly dangerous to Britannia. One of the leaders turned out to be the local jeweler, but this was only discovered after he had framed Eksanamo (formerly known as Beh Lem, friend of the Avatar) for his own actions. The rebels have been crushed, although a few may have escaped their defeat.

After the Armageddon spell and the release of the plague, it has become evident that the Gargoyle folk are immune to the physical ill-effects of the infection. A few have been mentally afflicted however and fled outside the city walls, so visitors to Terfin who seek to explore the island should be careful.

Trinsic
Trinsic. Walled City of Honor and Paladins. And those walls and their defenders have been needed all too often in the last several years. Exodus sent Arachnians from the distant past of the Serpent Isle to attack the city, but those who entered before the Time Lord could seal the passageways opened by the Daemon Machine were slain or driven forth. Unfortunately it seems likely that the escapees have been breeding in the jungles to the south and west of Trinsic.

Of late, the plague and shortages of food have driven the goblins and other monstrous tribes to lay siege to the city, seeking to overwhelm the weakened defenders and to obtain desperately needed supplies of food. Travelers to the area should be careful, as both the Moongate and roads are guarded and they are almost certain to be attacked.

Despite the dangers, Trinsic is a place worthy of a visit for those who follow the path of Honor, for it contains a shrine to Sir Dupre, remembered for his honor and sacrifice to save two worlds.

As of several days agone, Trinsic was once again free from the siege, the foul horde being defeated by the combined forces of the Order of the Silver Serpent, the Pathwarders, the Wyrms, and the Order of Menton, assisted by other adventurers and a group of Dragons from Destard.

Vesper
Once a desert mining town, Vesper was given far too much water during the Imbalance Storms, flooding the town completely. Eventually the waters subsided and the folk rebuilt around the new river, refusing to leave their homes.

The disaster of the Flood proved to be a blessing in disguise for Vesper. In order to survive, humans and Gargoyles alike had to work together. When a gargoyle risks his own life to save a human child, it makes irrational prejudices seem foolish and petty. This laid the seed for Eksanamo, formerly Beh Lem, a traveling companion of the Avatar, to work to end the hostilities between the disparate peoples of Vesper for once and for all. Now gargoyles and humans both live together peacefully, a far cry from the mob rule and lynch mobs of a decade past.

More recent events seem to have had little effect on Vesper. Some force has animated the dead in the local graveyard, but the undead do not seem to stray far from that place, and have not bothered the town.

Yew
A peaceful town hidden in the heart of the Great Forest. But Yew has not always enjoyed the same peace as it does. A year agone the folk of the town were slaughtered by Nagas, summoned by Exodus from the Serpent Isle. The beasts were driven into the forest and a memorial to the slain erected in the center of the town. More recently the town was threatened by a Copper Wyrm, a great dragon that slew anything that crossed it's path, apparently for amusement. The Wyrm was eventually slain by adventurers, but it had an ill effect on the local animal population.

The Moongates
During the time of the Fellowship and the Black Gate, the Moongates were destroyed by the destruction of the Sphere Generator in the depths of Dungeon Despise. The Great Council worked long and hard to repair them, so that once again the Moongates linked distant parts of the land in time to the Moons Trammel and Fellucca. But no more.

In the recent past however, an unknown force struck at the Moongates once again. The spells of the Council were negated, leaving only blackened spots of bare stone where the gates had stood. And with the majority of the Great Council dead or missing in the aftermath of Armageddon, they could not repair matters.

Fortunately two Mages were available to step into the gap. Sutek, assisted by Horance and drawing strength from a group of lesser mages, worked to restore some function to the gates. Now they form a loop that encircles Britannia, each gate leading to the next in an unvarying sequence.

The Britain Moongate opens to the city of Trinsic.
The Trinsic Moongate opens to the city of Moonglow.
The Moonglow Moongate opens to the city of Jhelom.
The Jhelom Moongate opens to the city of New Magincia.
The New Magincia Moongate opens to the city of Minoc.
The Minoc Moongate opens to the city of Yew.
The Yew Moongate opens to the city of Skara Brae.
And the Skara Brae Moongate returns to the city of Britain.

Spiritwood
Spiritwood has always had an eerie reputation, but it is in comparatively recent times that it has become as ill as the tales would suggest.

A group of dark Druids, seeking to increase their own power rather than work within nature, joined in a ritual to unleash the dark side of Nature itself. They succeeded, but the being called Silas destroyed their bodies and enslaved their spirits in the process. Silas made Spiritwood into a nightmare place, where only a fool would dare tread. Unfortunately duty can drive good men to places even a fool would fear. And so it was with Spiritwood...

Upon the request of Shamino, the group called the Pathwarders sought to investigate Spiritwood and the force within. They found Silas. Within months the Pathwarders were no more, falling one by one to the Dark Ranger and his creatures. Then Silas seemed to go into hibernation, and once again Spiritwood became a safer (comparatively speaking) place to visit.

Seasons turn, and time passes, and when the Pathwarders rose again from the past, so to did Silas rise to confront them anew, filling Spiritwood again with his monsters. This time however, it was the Pathwarders and their allies who prevailed, returning Silas to the elemental force which he had been before the ancient summoning. But his creatures yet remain, and Spiritwood is still a place where only the foolish tread.

Dagger Isle
Site of the Shrine of Honesty, and of the Dungeon of Deceit. Now also the site of a frozen wasteland, haunted by otherworldly beasts that love the magical cold.

This is the tale that is told, revealed in fury by the Powers that Be...

Once in another world there were a folk who called themselves the Sintacians. They lived in lands far colder than Britannia, so cold in fact that the Sintacians would die if they became warm enough for ice to melt.

Unfortunately they were forced to share their lands with folk as human as you are. And those humans did not wish to live in peace. Using summoning spells, the humans brought elementals of fire and other creatures from the flaming realms, and set them the task of building volcanoes, raising the temperature of the land to destroy the Sintacians.

No race will stand idly by and allow themselves to be exterminated, and the Sintacians were no exception to this. Their Shamans mixed the blood of a dragon and the essence of a water elemental, and thus created the Ice Dragon, a magical generator of ice and cold, and the lesser ice and snow golems that now are found on the Dagger Isle.

The magical power of the Ice Dragon was immense. It destroyed the fire beings summoned by the humans, becoming the champion and defender of the Sintacians, but even its might was insufficient to undo the damage which had been done and destroy the volcanoes. The Sintacian shamans worked again, creating a portal into another world, focusing their magical generator onto a large island there. Once it was cool enough for their survival, the Sintacian race moved through the portal to the island, bringing with them their generator, and their defender, the Ice Dragon. While the portal was open, many other creatures of their realm also moved through the gateway, and they remain upon the island, once called Dagger Isle, but now more often known as the Ice Isle.

If that was all, their would be little else to say, but there is more that must be revealed. The magical generator is fueled by blood, and the Sintacians need a constant supply. More, since it was humans who drove them from their home, they seek human blood for fuel, for they make no distinction between their former foes and the inhabitants of Britannia. Such being the case, their Ice Dragon has stationed itself in the vicinity of the Dungeon Deceit, using magic and it's treasure to lure in the foolhardy. It is a magical beast, and should it be destroyed, its connection with the Cold Generator will restore it in short order. The Sintacians too will attack humans for both vengeance and blood, and thus it is that the creatures called by humans Frostmen are a peril to those who venture to the once green Dagger Isle.