The Pyroto Observer an entirely unofficial take on current events in the land of Pyroto

A Whole New Ballgame
In a post to the Pyroto Ideas/Alerts ether channel, Tombo recently announced that Pyroto is now going to start treating the mountains as entities separated by more than different message bands and different names in the Observe log:
       "Until recently, it was possible for wizards to cast any tactical spell with little regard to relative location. For example, you could drain somebody on another mountain. This will still be possible, but it will be somewhat more difficult, as we have brought the design of Pyroto into closer accord with Tim's specification. (He alluded to this in an earlier message on this channel.)
       "Now, if you want to attack or assist somebody on another mountain, you will have to either go there (using Visit or -- less practically -- Migrate), or use the Target spell to direct your subsequent spells at the other mountain.
       "When you target another mountain, certain things will change, such as your spell probabilities. The further away the targetted mountain, the harder it will be to successfully cast a spell towards it.
       "There are certain times when you will want to use the Target spell, and other times when visiting will be more appropriate. We will leave it up to you to discover the relative advantages of the two methods.
       "The only spells that will always work across mountains are Probe and Contact. Of course, as many wizards have already noticed, the Probe spell's information may not be complete if you are not actually visiting the mountain of the wizard you are probing.
       "Now that Pyroto has proper targetting in place, mountains have more autonomy. This is especially important now that we have several wizards who have achieved positions of great power. Nonetheless, it bears emphasizing that while intermountain attacks are indeed more difficult than before, mountains are not 'insulated' from each other."

The Standings
On Pyroto, FFTobago and Ninjalicious are now fewer than 20 levels away from the pinnacle. Jekyl, Mingus, MsMittens, and Thargor aren't very far behind, while Noodle Dwarf, Andreus, Jimbo, and Zelda have a longer way to go. Buggy, Bison, Persephone, JadeMage, Jan, Dark Heron, DigitalMan, Nighty, Angelsuki, RePhlux, Zephyr, Kingspoof, and N_Pickle make up Pyroto's Indigo band.
       Imaz continues to enlist more and more Magentas. The main batch -- consisting of AmbushBug, AvylaJewelSynda, Dilerium, Mr.Gene, Mr.Paul, Punky, Souldance and Squawkk -- are in the lead at about level 430. Their pal Robyn lags at 298. A newly-arrived climbing team consisting of Elgjeff, Munch, Polaris1, and Smallkat have now passed Cjilgott. Imaz's Indigoes are Jacee, Cygnals, Saltire, Questor, Modaddy, Travis122, Blue Ariel, Saphire1, Annabelle, Breckinshire, JulianBaynes, Lilithena, Olentzero, AceWebster, Iksniper and Kikenbak.
       In the aftermath of the "Restlech Improvement Project", the highest wizard remains Odinsday at 303, though a few levels below the highest active wizards are YT TIGER, Chameleon, TZOTL_LKR, Prometheus119, Myriad, Acapellican, and Tandyman. Restlech's horde of Indigoes include Thalamus, Fionn Mac Cumhail, Stamback, Rooster7, BaldMuppet, Galahadriel, Tempest, Prince Of Thieves, Panzermaus, MistyPlum, Miehele, Clare, KickMe! (formerly Soup/Juiceless/One-Two-Three-Four), Prospero, Havok, Genitalia, Daisyboo, Tsmaster, GurnB, Isabell, Harlequin, and Twilight.
       Aside from independent frontrunner Zeno at 272, Broppsfar's leadership seems to have divided up into three main climbing teams: in the lead, Amsha, BigHairedTelevangelist (formerly Omi), Laffsman, and Magenta Lizard; in second place, Copious, Joop, and Ljdarten; and in third, Bobtwonder, Cowboy Bebop, Okadan, Ultimate, and Version. Non-aligned Indigoes include Sark, Hobo, Bubba, Gorob, IAmAVerb, and ScourceLight.
       Paz Clafi is more than ever the turf of the Teeming Millions clan. Hovering at around 355, the main group of TM Magentas consists of BigRoryG, Bricker, Corrado, MtnMan, and UPSman, who have now pulled ahead of the highest non-TMer on the mountain, DejUhlVek. Another TMer, Rhiannon, rounds out the Magenta band. Indigoes include MadPoet, Shayna, BillyHack, Hemiola, SuezQz, Atrael, Harrimaniac, Boscibo, DePrest, Falc, and Rainmonger.
       Resting at 257, Zanzeeb has lead Iard Crimleu into the Magenta age, with others not very far behind. Founders Mr.Moonlight and Llewelyn are in second and third place, but native Crimleuian Turin has passed founder Koyn. Aside from immigrant Rysil and founder T.Starfollower, the rest of Iard Crimleu's rankers are now natives: Decadence, Syrdarya, Vidiot, Snowflake, and CrystalGuardian.

Ether Channel Guide by Jbird
The number of posts is the total when I visited the site. I visted the A-L sites on Day 5644 and the M-Z sites on Day 5646, except for T & W which I visited on 5647. Again, the list is (I believe) a complete listing of the Ether channels that I can view at level 79 as of 5647. "Duh!" under Topics means that the subject matter of the channel is relatively obvious from the name. I have based my topic descriptions on an admittedly superficial examination, and the occasional channel (especially the ones marked General Discussion) might not be as general or as limited as I've indicated. Of course, there is no way to prevent off topic posts (the bane of Announcements) so there are always going to some of those on most active channels.

Channel Name	Creator	Posts	Topic
Acting	Buggy	21	Mostly acting-related stories.
Advice	Eris 23	125	Advice, mostly Pyroto-related.
Aeon Guild [32+]	theLotus	17	For members of the Aeon clan.
Ai	jbird	10	Artificial intelligence, Japan, Art. insemination.
Alternative Healing	mystm	12	Various healing practices.
Andreus' Ivory Tower	Andreus	206	General discussion.
Anime	wizshade	34	Japanese animation and comics.
Announcement Discuss	Buggy	1	Further discussion from Announcements.
Announcements	Tombo	664	General info, new channels.
Ansibles [45+]	soujirou	48	For inter-mountain communication.
Architecture Discussion	The_Almighty_Bob	13	Duh!
Ascend [200+]	Fatboy_fat	1	Created by mistake.
Asshole Says Fuck You [32+]	asshole	2	To insult the creator of the channel.
Babble	discotoe	13	"Humour, absurdity and Tony Danza."
Babies	Jan	46	Duh! (created for different reason)
Baseball	fftobago	109	Duh!
Beauty	Tim	87	What beauty is, what's beautiful.
Beer	Fionn Mac Cumhail	44	Frothy mix of yeast, malt and hops.
Bickering [64+]	BillyHack	30	For flame wars.
Big Beautiful Women	mystm	5	For support and adulation of BBW.
Blizzard Games	wizshade	9	Amazingly - about games by Blizzard Co.
Bloating Bullfrog	Tchernenko	27	General discussion.
Books, Books and more Boo	Prometheus119	367	Opinions, reviews.
Boredom [20+]	leshrac1	3	General discussion (not very busy).
Breckinshire Vs. The Worl	Breckinshire	17	General discussion.
Call of Cthulhu	spiralist	2	Horror, fantasy, fan cult classics, strangeness.
Calling All Goths	Kali	37	Come dressed in black.
Cat Chronicles	EeLz	6	About the creator's website, perhaps?
Cats	Tim	316	Felines galore.
Censorship	Tim	16	Pros and cons.
Clans	Lilth	30	The Land's various clans.
Clones [17+]	Elder	43	Issues raised by the technology of cloning.
Club 320 [320+]	One-Two-Three-Four	?	Exclusive club.
College Football	Munch	17	Gridirons and mortarboards.
Crafty Ideas	smallkat	59	For the artistic and the do-it-yourselfer.
D & D..is It Dead?	Tristanny	38	The role playing game and its derivatives.
Doctor Who	drwho	4	The TV show and the movie.
Dogs [20+]	runnerdog	68	Canines galore.
Domestic Violence	Rani	75	Issues arising and support for victims.
Dreams	fftobago	180	Analysis and description.
Elementals	Olentzero	481	What they are, what they do.
Eris 23 Zone [34+]	Eris 23	130	General discussion.
Erotic Short Stories	MistyPlum	25	E.S.S. and discussion of them.
Fear And Phobias	JadeMage	19	What scares you?
Friends	Shayna	25	Not just about the TV show.
Funnels [40+]	fftobago	56	Amazing - about funnels and similar words.
Funnies	MsMittens	274	Humor.
Gadgets [17+]	Veritas	24	What you like, what you want.
Games	UniqueCrash4	157	All kinds of games.
Gardening	Boscibo	42	Get a green thumb.
Gay	Rhiannon	98	Homosexuality.
Geography Of The Land	Saltire	75	Structure and language of the Land.
Grief	smallkat	2	"Duh!" - actual quote from 1st message.
Gripes	Eris 23	1	To complain about non-Pyroto things.
Haikooks	SunTzu	19	Posting English language haikus.
Hollywoodism [25+]	Harrimaniac	11	About movies mostly.
Horse Shit	SpiritMetari	18	I'm not sure WHAT this is about.
House And Home	fftobago	14	About living spaces.
Humannature/relationships	Plexxr	27	Duh!
Hummor	RePhlux	48	Like Funnies, but spelled wrong.
Imaz Knights [64+]	Andreus	13	Defunct? - about a dead clan.
Imaz: Low Level Wizards	Munch	104	Imaz issues.
Influence Of Art	Souldance	124	Fine-art-related discussion.
Jokes	Lucian	104	Again - Funnies? Hummor?
Jsacret [69+]	bmx_boy14	2	"Huh, what is this Ether for" - 1st post
Koach The Kiddies Kampaig	Mr.Gene	100	Related to a klan of Mr. Gene's?
Kontraversy	Mr.Gene	32	To be contraversial.
Laundry	Persephone	6	Laundry, and passing the time until it's done.
Life 101 [17+]	ChildofScorn	17	Life's lessons, and related discussion.
Love, Romance, Intimacy	Tim	10	Full title is- L, R, I, Sex.
Macintosh	MsMittens	28	For those with Apple computers.
Magenta Club [256+]	Andreus	?	Exclusive club.
Magic The Gathering	Archbringer	26	The card game.
Metaphysics	nighty	26	Mostly about spiritual and paranormal stuff.
Military	wan_fam	3	Life in the military and military matters.
Mountain Politics	MagusMacabre	215	What it's like elsewhere in the Land.
Mouse's Hidden Hole [32+]	panzermaus	18	General discussion.
Movies	angelsuki	386	Opinions and reviews.
Mpsims [23+]	Lucian	268	General discussion.
Muppet Love [32+]	BaldMuppet	403	General discussion (generally silly).
Music	Mojo	158	Opinions and reviews.
Musicians [18+]	Throckwoddle	24	Stories and support.
My Very Own Ether Topic	Isabell	152	General discussion
Mysteries	Harrimaniac	29	Conspiracy theory, UFOs and other mysteries.
Newbies	JBlaster	2	Support and advice.
Newly Sanctified [25+]	Willow12	3	Hmm- I'm not the only one confused by this.
Night Owls	BigHairedTelevangelist	10	For late night general discussions.
Outdoors [32+]	BigRoryG	30	What to do, where to go.
Paintball	Aeschelus	2	Duh!
Parenting	modaddy	27	Advice and Q&A.
Pentacenturion Club [500+]	Munch	0	Exclusive club.
Pinnacle's Peak [512]	Munch	0	Exclusive club.
Plugh [20+]	Cygnals	4	For "real old timers" to talk about BBSs.
Poetry	YT TIGER	171	Reviews, opinions, submissions.
Promotion Guidelines	wizshade	24	Issues about promoting and demoting others.
Prose Writing	Andreus	269	Short story submissions and discussion.
Protectors Of The Realm	Cara_Mystique	33	General discussion about life in the Land.
Pyroto Wish List	UPSman	9	What you'd like to be able to do.
Pyroto: Ideas/Alerts	Tim	551	The more technical aspects of Pyroto.
Pyrotoholics Anonymous	AvylaJewelSyndra	22	Is this like having A.A. in a bar?
Questions	Irift	42	Q&A variety - NOT Mentor's Qs.
Quitting Smoking	MetalTiger	78	Support and advice.
Rant [32+]	Lucian	36	To complain about non-Pyroto stuff.
Rat!	leighcheri	7	General discussion.
Recipes	MsMittens	110	Recipe trading and cooking tips.
Restlech	EeLz	48	Restlech's battles come to the Ether.
Restlech Improvement Proj	Andreus	110	Ideas for improving that mountain.
Riddle Channel	wizshade	187	For asking and answering- non Pyroto.
Roleplaying Fantasy	wizshade	69	Fantasy RPGs discussions.
Romance Channel	Maya	50	For posting romance fiction and discussion.
Sex Things You Should Kno [64+]	Andreus	285	About the two-backed beast.
Shakespeare [50+]	BigRoryG	56	The Bard's channel.
Spell Experiments	wizshade	29	How various spells work.
Stephen King My Favorite	Mhoram	23	About the master of popular macabre.
Stitch [50+]	Miehele	135	Mostly the creator's ramblings.
Stoners	daisyboo	69	For fans of theStone.com website.
Story Circle	Harlequin	12	A continuing story - you write what's next.
Stuff: Assorted	wizshade	46	General discussion.
Syndicated Television	Larkspur	19	Opinions and reviews.
Tamislane Manor	Lord Tamislane	42	General discussion.
Team Forming	Harrimaniac	12	Wizards seeking partners in climb.
Teeming Millions	Bricker	1121	For members of the Teeming Millions clan.
Teeming Millions Stuff	BigRoryG	29	Much less active than the above.
The Anything Goes Channel	Lord Cajigas	52	Duh!
The Bike Shop	Thalamus	4	Everything two wheeled (and three?).
The Highlanders [32+]	RePhlux	48	For members of the Highlanders clan.
The Owlt House [23+]	AllyssaTheOwl	21	Another story circle.
The Pyroto Observer	wyldman	77	About TPO website.
The Pyroto Realm	Spazz	8	About TPR website.
Tidaretti	kingspoof	34	The elemental gets its own channel.
Top Ten Lists	GurnB	20	Lists, lists and more lists.
Toronto	One-Two-Three-Four	133	Hogtown galore.
Tv Sci-fi	Exentrica	36	Opinions and reviews.
Uk	Shadow	48	Great Britain's channel.
Unrequited Love [64+]	BigRoryG	45	For tales of woe.
Vampires & Mages Wanted	Rysil	37	For roleplaying on-line.
Vegetarians	semali	1	Mostly for vegetarian recipes.
Video Games	eswhang	81	Opinions and reviews.
Wanderer's Haven	Mr.Moonlight	34	Travelogues from Pyroto's wanderers.
War Room	Andreus	111	How to fight & influence wizards.
What If	SpiritMetari	34	The possibilities...
Wiccan And Pagan Spiritua	LadyMockingbird	181	Spirits and witchcraft.
Willow Hut	angelsuki	157	General discussion.
Work	fftobago	46	What we're not doing here on Pyroto.
Writers, & How To Be One	Andreus	108	Submissions and opinions - see Prose.
Writing	LordofMight	21	Not very active.
Xyroto	Souldance	51	"Shared gibberish of us all."
Yucky Stuff	Persephone	16	Food-related.
Yummy Stuff	Persephone	160	Food-related.
Zan'z Muze	Zanzeeb	76	Another story circle.

 
Miss Manna
Dear Miss Manna,
Everyone on my mountain hates me!!!1 I would like to migrate to Beppsvaerb as soon as I get the manna. Or should I just change my name in the meantime?
Restless on Restlech

Gentle Wizard,
Much as in real life, it's hard to shed a reputation in the Land. Changing your name might get you a little ways -- but it's ultimately traceable and definitely costly.
       Migrating is a good option for people who aren't satisfied with their mountains, however, your problem sounds more like people on your mountain are unsatisfied with you. Consider taking a look at your behaviour and finding out what you can do to make amends. Then, even if you choose to eventually Migrate, you'll leave with a better understanding of wizard relations, and without a nasty reputation on your tail.

Meet Your Overlords: AmbushBug
Since being ally-less and quite thoroughly stomped during the "Imaz Revolution" of 5586, AmbushBug has bounced back in a big way: he is now one of the main forces on the Land's largest climbing team. What makes him tick?

You are now the only remaining, active victim of the "Imaz Revolution" of 5586. Has your initial perspective on that conflict changed at all with time?
From an initial perspective of being in negs for three days, yes. But it hasn't changed much since about 5600, when the dust had settled and I was back on the track to Magenta. In the recovery time, I conducted my own investigations and published some of the results to anyone who'd listen. I didn't totally finish with that process until after the wizard formerly known as Soup was toppled last week.

How so?
Soup had protected a Restlech wizard from my investigations around 5601, by Hurling a message I'd placed on Restlech at the time. Soup also ranked me at that time. When he was removed, I reminded myself of this and picked up again with that wizard, closing the matter to my satisfaction through talks.

What regrets, if any, do you have about your Pyrotian career?
That I never climbed in bonus (had a high esteem). At the present time, having been a victim of two kamikaze's, I'll be a pentacenturion well before my esteem breaks 120. But when I was just starting out, I didn't know about climbing in bonus, and I was in Blue robes before I found out that an esteem of around 85 wasn't all that great.

What's your opinion on mass promotions?
I discourage dragging noncontributing wizards up a mountain. On Imaz we talk these things out; It's not much of an issue at the moment - it's clear to the present population that being promoted a lot has its drawbacks (esteemwise, question-list building).

Would it be fair comment to say you're the most active wizard on Imaz right now?
I don't think I post the most messages. Logins, well, from 5640 to 5649, Tombo logged in 50 times, then, yes, I logged in 43 times, then Saphire1 has 33 logins, and Kwil has 32... So OK, I'm the most active.

What about spell-casting-wise?
Sometimes I've "taken point" in demoting or otherwise disciplining new wizards, other times I haven't. Most recently I demoted a wizard 27 levels [while he was online], saw that the point of contention was cleared up, and promoted him back the levels, all within the same visit to the mountain.

You're in a climbing team with quite a few other wizards right now. Do you find it awkward having so many allies?
We all may be in a climbing team, but we remain a rather independent bunch. Theory is, the more of us there are, the faster we can climb, and the better we can support each other in the climb.

So, you don't find it awkward?
Not in the slightest, at the moment. We'll see, should we ever be pressed to deal with a crisis as a group. I wouldn't characterize our climbing group as a "clan".

Aside from reaching the top, what goals do you pursue in Pyrotoland?
The everlasting search for a good argument. I'll stir up trouble, tweak some noses with an obnoxious message, to get something interesting started.

What are the main strengths and weaknesses of Imaz, relative to the other mountains?
I don't Visit other mountains as often as I should, so my information on some may be out of date. Being that the race to Pentacenturion seems lost to those two speedy wizards on Pyroto Mountain, we'll just have to settle for second (seeing as how we're currently third, behind a medium sized group or Pyrotians, at least there's some challenge remaining).

Aside from yourself, who do you think are Imaz's best and worst rolemodels, and why?
Well, I don't think Imaz has a worst rolemodel, every time there's a candidate for the position they end up Migrating for some reason (i.e., we chase 'em off). I don't think of myself, or anyone for that matter, as a role model - it's just not my bag to "celebritize" people. If pressed, I'd say to look up to Mr.Gene; every wizard should endeavor to let their individuality shine through their messages.

You have a reputation as a zombie buster. What's your opinion on cheating?
Depends on the particular cheat. Zombie-ism is rather abhorrent to me.

What are some less abhorrent cheats?
That would be telling. One cheat nearly everyone is familiar with, is opening a new bannamanna window just for the Patience. This has the implicit, of not explicit, sanction of the Servants. Other things do not, and I've been asked not to share them.

Are there any spells you have a special fondness or disdain towards?
Nobody likes being kamikaze'd, I mentioned that I was twice a victim of that one myself. As for fondness, I have to say that I miss Befuddle and Bedazzle - they were two adversarial spells which did little harm, so they were quite useful in "sending a message" without having to resort to Drain, Demote, or particularly fiery rhetoric.

In terms of system improvements, what do you think the servants' top priorities should be?
First, fix the banners. And not for our sake, for theirs - financial matters should take the front seat in any business. Second, the integrity of the master Pyroto question list is my favorite cause.

Any other thoughts?
I'll close with a quotation, which I recently used in an Imaz blue band message: "Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires." (Machiavelli, The Prince)

Souldance invites you to a satirical look at Pyroto

The Geographers of the Land need your Mentor names and Survey data. Visit the Geography of the Land ether or the website at www.geocities.com/ xsaltire

Spazz invites you to visit The Pyroto Realm www.geocities.com/ flyingcow2013

Psst... want an ad, cheap? Contact or e-mail Ninjalicious and we can work something out.

Admin Notes
Apologies in advance, but there will be no 5660 edition of TPO, as I'll be on vacation that week and don't want to worry about deadlines while I'm gone. I'm sure nothing interesting will be happening in the next 10 days anyhow. I'll try to make the 5670 edition extra-special by way of apology. Please do consider submitting articles about your mountain to Ninjalicious; there's no possible way I can keep up with everything interesting on eight active mountains!
       P.S. Interested parties can access older issues of TPO here.

"Pyroto" and a bunch of other words here are trademarks of Pyroto, Inc.

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