The morning mist still lingered along the banks of the stream, and in the little valley through which it flowed, as it wound its way to the sea. The small patrol of Celt Rangers made their way quietly along a path, alert for any sign of trouble. One always traveled cautiously here on the fringes of Hibernia, as there was always the threat of raiders from Albion, or worse - the wild Norsemen of Midgard. Manus stopped suddenly on the trail, he sensed something. As he peered through the fog a shape, large and threatening, began to form. "Troll..." he thought to himself." He signaled his men to hide and they immediately, seemingly magically, melted away into the forest. Manus crept forward and it soon became obvious that this was a large incursion by the northmen. Trolls, Kobolds and Norsemen - thirty at least, probably more. He watched their movements for a few moments then crept soundlessly back to the patrol. 

"This is bad Niall, very bad" he whispered, "I need you to run, run as fast as you can and warn the village that the Norsemen have come and in strength - at least thirty. Trolls, Kobolds and Norsemen. Tiorleach, you go too just in case. They seem to have just arrived from the sound of things. The rest of us will see if we can't delay them a bit longer, we still have the fog and they don't know that we're here. Hopefully we'll be able to make it back to you." None of the men who would stay behind believed that for a moment. They knew that this would most likely cost them their lives, but each minute they delayed the northmen was vital. Niall and Tiorleach moved out quickly and quietly. "Glaine ár gcroí, neart ár ngéag, agus beart de réir ár mbriathar" the men repeated together..."The purity of our hearts, the strength of our limbs, and our commitment to our vow" - their vow to protect Hibernia with their lives.

The time had come to fulfill that promise.

Mythic Entertainment's Dark Age of Camelot is one of the newest MMORPG's (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) just released. DAoC combines both player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) aspects of gameplay in a truly unique ORPG experience. Set in the time after the death of King Arthur, DAoC pits three reallms against each other in a struggle for power.

Players select one of the three realms when they create their character. All of the players additional characters must also be from that same realm (at least on any given server). This is done to promote a "team" flavor and to foster a sense of "nationality". There is no in-game communication between members of the different realms. Players can select from a variety of races and classes and players can build their character's power in a PvE setting without engaging in PvP. Then, when many ORPG's begin to become tedious and boring at high level DAoC provides the PvP option to spice up the game.

The basic idea behind PvP combat in DAoC is that each of the realms posesses relics which provide bonuses for their inhabitants - meaning, fighters will fight better and casters will cast more efficiently. One of the main ideas behind DAoC PvP combat is raiding the other realms to obtain their relics - and defending the relics of your own realm. A three-way game of "capture the flag" if you will. As players attain higher levels for their character, quests they recieve may also send the player into the fringes of their realm or indeed, into an opposing realm in order to fulfill their quests. This also provides opportunities for PvP combat.

All of DAoC's races and classes are designed to be balanced for both PvE and PvP play. Each class and race will have unique abilities which compliment each other, and which can contribute something different to a well balanced group - while maintaining the ability for viable solo play as well. 

All in all, DAoC promises to be a unique and exciting entry in the MMORPG genre.  

Find out more information at the official site www.darkageofcamelot.com , or at one of the many fan sites such as:

http://camelotvault.ign.com - Camelot Vault
http://camelot.stratics.com - Camelot Strategies and Tactics
http://camelot.xrgaming.com - Crossroads of Camelot

--Larry Marmora, Wizard's Keep staff