Second Kingdom

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I just tried out the online-game SECOND KINGDOM (which is advertised on the banners here on SP - try it out and see yourself!)

[*]Story and background:

THE LEGEND OF THE SECOND KINGDOM

Plentur the childless King of the First Kingdom died and his widow, Queen Fesora wanted to be sure that there would be a Second Kingdom. The aging Queen asked her faithful Sorcerer Fortan to create a son, but he refused, saying that he had no way to be sure that a child that he conjured up would be as kind and just as Plentur, the dead King.

The Queen was angry with Fortan. She realized that the wizard’s refusal sealed the fate of the kingdom, and she banished Fortan. As the Sorcerer walked away from the castle with his possessions, a lightning bolt descended from the heavens, struck the Sorcerer’s heart and killed him.
The Queen was distraught and guilt ridden at hearing of the death of the powerful Sorcerer. In her anguish she decided to seal the Sorcerer’s body in a golden skin to be sure that he would last for one thousand years, so the whole world would remember her husband’s faithful servant and friend. The body was dipped in molten gold, together with the lightning bolt, still stuck in the old Sorcerer’s heart. The encased body was displayed in the great hall of the palace; its golden sheen almost blinding anyone who looked at it.

The Queen, now desperate to find an heir, sent her most loyal general, Dorran to find a successor for her late husband, be it man or woman. Dorran was determined to come back with someone, kind and wise to rule the Second Kingdom. She set off with members of the palace guard.
The Kingdom was large and some parts had never been fully explored. To the west was the dark forest, the home of several dark Sorcerers, Trolls and other dark creatures. To the east was the light Forest where the Elves lived, to the north Faerie Hill. To the southwest, was the village of Trelmer, and to the northeast the village of Geldorn. Far to the north was the ocean that had never been crossed, and to the west, and the southeast lands of devastation where intrepid explorers vanished without a trace.
Word of the golden Sorcerer spread wide and soon reached a distant warlord named Gast. Gast and his band of marauders decided to steal the golden Sorcerer and melt it down for the gold. They headed for the castle and made plans to enter the great hall and steal the body in the dead of night. As the castle’s guard was depleted, the raid was successful and Gast carried off the golden wizard. The following morning his band lit a great fire and threw the encased sorcerer in to the flames. Within minutes, the gold melted and revealed a hollow shell but the old sorcerer’s body was gone. The lightning bolt, still encased, grew hot and exploded into 10 pieces, killing almost the entire band, and disfiguring Gast.

Gast recognized the magical powers of the fragments of lightning bolt and had his band gather them up. Gast named the fragments of the lightening bolt Segatur, after the legendary sword of the God of Storms. He decided that if the parts were kept together they could do him more harm, so he decided to send each of his surviving band off with a fragment to hide around the kingdom.
But Gast, now rich with the gold from the Sorcerer’s cast, had a second and more ambitious plan. He wanted to rule the Second Kingdom. He knew that if Dorran returned with an heir, his plan would fail. His only choice was to kill the Queen, or stop Dorran in her quest.
The surviving members of Gast’s band roamed the kingdom looking for ways to foil Dorran’s search, stealing, disrupting the lives of the villagers, and threatening the life of the Queen. The villagers learned of his plan and decided that if Gast became the new King they would live under a cruel ruler and their lives would be worth nothing. They decided to try to stop him from succeeding, and realized that there were three ways they could help: protect the Queen, help Dorran find an heir, and gather the pieces of the Segatur, which Gast so feared.

The villagers, with the help of the remaining Palace Guard, protected the queen from Gast’s terror and hunted for the parts of the Segatur. Periodically, a ghostly Fortan was seen in parts of the kingdom, delivering clues to the villagers as to where the fragments of the Segatur could be found.
The Trolls and Elves, aligned with the villagers, helped to stall the efforts of Gast and the Trolls. The Faeries, friends of the Queen, protected her and used their magical powers to keep Gast’s marauders away. The Sorcerers, the people able to reach the ghostly Fortan, kept the old Sorcerer aware of what was happening in the kingdom. They supported Dorran in her quest, and provided magic for the villagers who periodically needed to use their powers to fend off Gast’s evil intentions.

The story continues with you…

To sum it up:
Second Kingdom is a virtual world where you can live out the fantasy of a mystical land. You can be a Sorcerer, Faerie, Troll, Elf, or Villager, and interact with other members to follow quests, defeat a band of cutthroats and help put the rightful ruler on the throne of the Second Kingdom. You'll have your own private home that you can furnish, you'll meet other interesting players from around the world, and you'll be able to cast spells on other members, help or even hinder the quest.

Who knows, maybe you'll be the next ruler of the Second Kingdom ...


[*]My first impressions:
This game is amazing, my thoughts immediately drifted away to the good old days with the C64/ Amiga computer games, and amazingly the creators of Second Kingdom have managed to catch the air of these days when creating the graphics for Second Kingdom.
The game interface is simple and intuituive, it's easy to get into how to handle the game: Just click on something and choose the menue options.
I think once there emerged a larger web community the game will be a strongly socializing game. It is also pretty modest in its sys requirements and will therefor run on older PCs without problems. Installed size is small.


Next post covers features of the game ... and maybe some screenshots ... ... stay tuned!

[This message has been edited by Ragusa (edited May 27, 2002).]

 

Yeah, I've been there. Too bad you have to pay, or else I would be there right now. Anyways, post those screenshots.

 

Looks pretty interesting Ragusa. Good background story too.

 

Game Features:

[*]Avatar:
You have an avatatar and this thing is pretty important for the game, eventually you can put some major effort in creating a unique char. There you can get a clue on the various opportunities you have to choose of:
The avatar shop
Various faces

[*]Moods:
You can give your avatar a friendly or sullen look, reflecting his current mood as can be seen here:
Happy Fairie
Happy fairie, jumping happily
Grumpy Fairie

[*]Interface:
The interface is as said intuitive and simple and easy to operate as seen here:
Menue

[*]The world of the second Kingdom:
The world is colourful and obviously made with love, some examples here:

Fairies in the forrest
Inside a house
Map of the second Kingdom

These are my first impressions from day 1 of my Second-Kingdom-Experience. Reports about actualy gaming underway ..

[This message has been edited by Ragusa (edited May 27, 2002).]