**>> SPYNET BULLETIN
 **>> EARTHDATE 95.05.14
 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE

 **>> Compiled by Hazed plus a team of specialist newsdroids
 **>> <SEND HAZED> your news and gossip and get paid good groats!


 **>> AN UNCONVENTIONAL CONVENTION!

Better late than never... this year's Official Federation (Un)Convention
will be held on June 23 to 25. Freya has generously offered use of her
farm as a venue where we can all get together, hang out and chat.

Fedders are welcome to come for the whole weekend, arriving on Friday
night and staying until Sunday, or for just part of the weekend. There
will be no organised events, although we'll be having a BBQ on Saturday
night.

The demi-Goddess Hazed will be in attendance, so if you haven't had the
pleasure (!) of meeting her, now is your chance.

You'll be expected to chip in some money towards food and drink, and if
possible bring along some edibles and drinkables. There's plenty of
floor space, so bring a sleeping bag, or if you wish you can bring a
tent and sleep outside.

Freya's Farm is about 100 miles north-west of New York City, in
Jeffersonville, near Route 17. For details of how to get there, please
send mail to Freya: on GEnie, mail id FEDASST, and on Delphi, mail id
FED4.


 **>> WEST COAST UNCON

West coast players needn't feel left out... Hazed and Bella will be over
in the San Francisco area in early July, and they would like you to join
them for a July 4th picnic! No details have been set yet, we'd like to
see how many of you are interested before making any arrangements. If
you'd like to come to the picnic, send mail to Hazed: on GEnie, mail id
FEDII.1, and on Delphi, mail id FED2.


 **>> UPDATED MANUALS

Hazed has updated all three parts of the online documentation, the
Idiot's Guide to Federation, and uploaded them onto GEnie and Delphi.
The Newbod's Guide and the Intermediate Guide have had minor changes
made, but the Advanced Guide now includes details of new features such
as investing in your planet, and workthing consumption.

She has also uploaded a slightly amended version of the Frequently Asked
Questions document, and a new file containing the common commands used
in Fed.

On GEnie, you can download the three manuals by selecting the menu
options on page 220, or you can download them from the library: files
#343 NEWBOD.TXT, #344 INTERMED.TXT and #346 ADVANCED.TXT. The other
files are in the library, #346 COMMANDS.TXT and #347 FEDFAQ.TXT.

On Delphi, the files are in the database in the Fed forum (GO GAMES FED
TALK DATA) called NEWBOD.TXT, INTERMED.TXT and ADVANCED.TXT,
COMMANDS.TXT and FEDFAQ.TXT.


 **>> TRADING SCHOOL - NEXT SUNDAY

A major part of the path to advancement in Federation is trading on the
Galactic commodities market. Buy Low - Sell High is the motto to
remember, and you can hear it being muttered under the breaths of
traders all over the Galaxy.

But just how do you do that? What should you buy? How do you know which
planets will give you good prices?

You can find out at our Trading School. Our top players will be giving
you the benefit of their experience and passing on hints and tips to
make your trading ventures successful.

The trading school is on Sunday, May 21th, at 7.00pm eastern, in Chez
Diesel, the Social Center of the Solar System. It's your chance to find
out how to be a successful trader, so don't miss it.


 **>> TEA AND QUESTIONS - WITH HAZED

Freya continues to hold her Tea and Questions sessions on Wednesday
evenings, giving you a chance to ask about any Fed matter that puzzles
you. This coming Wednesday, May 17th, Hazed will be in attendance,
giving you the chance to ask the demi-Goddess whatever you like about
Fed. The Tea and Questions with Hazed will be held at 9.00pm eastern.
Everyone is welcome.

Remember, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask!


 **>> AND A TRIVIAL TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!

Last week, Lyrynna hosted another one of those trivia games, and a small
crowd gathered in CDs to try their hand (or equivalent) at some of her
questions.  One question from the game (the theme being bars, drinking
and sex) shows that people either don't pay attention to where they are,
or to the news:

>Lyrynna asks, 'Federation: WHERE DO YOU END UP AFTER PARTAKING OF
DIESEL'S EXECUTIVE SERVICES?'

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Aubie, 'the arth
hospital'.

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Renard, 'Mare's
Nest'.

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Silas, 'her bedroom'.

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Starsinger, 'The
Mare's Nest through some mystice door, I guess'.

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Pinnacle, 'In jail'.

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Ukla, 'Mare's Nest'.

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Kain, 'Mare's nest'.

>Your comms unit signals a tight beam message from Mantis, 'Rehab'.

Silas got 160 points for that question, as the answer is, of course,
Diesel's Boudoir!

Here are the scores for this past weeks game:  Congratulations to the
winners, and thanks to everyone for playing!

Renard --->      466
Starsinger --->  400
Silas --->       397
Ukla --->        273
Aubie --->       253
Kain --->        165
Nicole --->      119
Sparky --->       78
Pinnacle --->     65
Goddess --->      40

The next Fed Trivia will be on Sunday June 4th.


 **>> THE OFFICIAL POD WATCH

Aren, having anxiously awaited the hatching of Chrysalis, has taken it
upon himself to become the Official President of the Official POD Watch.
What this entails is painstakingly long and tedious hours of watching a
hanging cocoon for any signs of its hatching. The Official Job Task of
POD Watching is as follows:

 1) Watching
 2) More Watching
 3) Reporting that there is no change
 4) Watching for anymore signs of not changing
 5) Giving up and trading a bit
 6) Reporting the fact that there will be more watching
 7) Ordering incubation lamps
 8) Creative Watching (usually means watching it whilst being
upside-down
 9) Reporting a slight wiggle
10) Waiting <----- important bit here
11) Setting up and installing newly arrived lamps
12) Watching
13) Gathering wood for bonfire as an 'incentive'
14) Planning a Bar-B-Q to roast it for the delicious, crispy wings
15) Threatening
16) Watching and Watching and Watching

You get the idea!

Aren is not alone in this prestigious, if not fulfilling, watch. He has
recruited Sparrowhawk as another Official POD Watcher. Together they
carry out the daily routine listed above, never resting in their watch.
A truly commendable effort. Beings wanting a position in the Official
Watch need to contact Aren of Naug for assignments and duties. If you
don't wish to join in on the watch, and still want to participate, Aren
has announced that there will be collectable items on sale tomorrow!
Merchandise includes: POD Dolls, POD Keychains, POD-on-a-Stick, POD
Phone, Put a POD in your Pocket, POD Action Hero, and much much more!
Yours, for a limited time only, at the very low price of 9,998 groats!
Don't collect the real thing, go out and order your Official 'Official
POD Watch' merchandise today!


 **>> THE COLLECTED BECOMES THE COLLECTOR

Having been hunted, caught, jarred, set free, recaptured, threatened,
chased, and basically -*collected*-, Chrysalis decided to start its own
collection. It studied books, papers, and all manners of media to find
out which best suits its newly found fetish.

Three nights ago, the shimmering cocoon was seen starting its
collection. What was its passion? Stamps, golf balls, real-life human
fingernail clippings? None of these stirred its heart (or equivalent) So
what did the encaged bug start collecting with the aid of its branch?
STAR*.BODs! Yes, that's right! Chrysalis took up the collecting of
Stars. What can one so little possibly hope to collect huge flaming gas
suns with dinky planets orbiting it? Nothing at all! That is not what
Chrysalis started collecting. Its count is currently: Starman,
Starsinger, Starstruck, Starseeker, and Wildstar!


 **>> A BLOODY WEEK IN FED...

Remember how Kain became an evil creature of Shiva, with three
guardian's to protect him?

Instill started off the week by destroying Kain's first guardian. Little
did he realize the bloodbath he had started.

Kain's Menasaur then battled Gallahad over a prize of a kiss from Helena
to the winner. Much to Helena's dismay, Kain's guardian won. Helena was
forced to make good on her offer, but says she gave Gallahad a "much
better" consolation kiss the next morning. She also wants all of Fed to
believe that's all Kain got - or will get! A likely story, considering
the mood Kain was in for quite some time.

Asrianna defeated Menasaur later that day after a gruesome battle. She
insisted that the 20 Meg reward had nothing to do with her reasons for
taking on the fight, but rather that she wished to eliminate this evil
from Fed. Nonetheless, she didn't return the reward despite the fact
Kain was left almost penniless. Apparently, there are no hard feelings
between the two, for they were later rumored to be seen plotting the
demise of Tellurian and splitting the reward. Coincidence? Or has
Asrianna been tempted by the ways of evil? More nefarious still, will
Asrianna abandon her planet and become a bounty hunter instead? Beaming
happily at Asrianna's success, Duke Chance was asked to comment on the
question. "I'd rather she not," he stated quietly, and refused to
comment further.

Strangely enough, Bgg was seen later that evening lying in ambush for
Kain - in orbit around Troy! This newsdroid caught up to Bgg and Helena
on Troy the next evening. Bgg summed his motives up in a word -
"Personal." When asked to elaborate:

>'My question was whether you have any comment on why you were waiting
to ambush Kain last night', says Asrianna.

>'a small one... Kain has really begun to irritate me, and all know that
I have been a very patient person...', says Bgg.

>Bgg says, 'he thinks that it is funny when he cranks up the Air
Conditioning... and me, dressed like this.', Bgg says.

>Helena tries to keep Bgg warm...

>'He has made advances to my one and only love... many, many advances.
I can no longer tolerate his foolishness...', says Bgg.

>Bgg thinks he might be the jealous type...

>Your comms unit crackles with a message from Bgg, 'come to me oh my
Kainburger...'

>Helena says, 'he said I melted his wings'

Bgg continued to say that Kain would most certainly be removing that
statue of Helena from Troy in the very near future. This reporter did
not try the "in" command for the statue - the Freudian ramifications
were just too much for her.

Kain was then seen bragging that he has a third and even stronger
guardian, and offered another 20 Meg reward to any who could defeat this
new guardian. He did stipulate, however, Squires and below only. This
would eliminate Bgg from collecting on that reward... but not
necessarily eliminate Bgg from trying as soon as he catches up to
Kain... Jacko beat Bgg to the punch and decided to tackle Kain's new
guardian himself. After another bloody battle, this evil guardian too
was defeated. If all of Kain's evil guardians have been killed, what now
of Kain?

Duke Chance is rumored to be plotting vengeance on Niceguy for attacking
Asrianna during her battle with Menasaur. Asrianna insisted that she
handled that nicely by dispatching Niceguy herself, but Chance growled
that he didn't want Fedders to think they could get away with "messing
with his main squeeze." Asrianna appreciated the sentiment, of course,
but couldn't help wondering if there were any back-up "squeezes" hanging
around.

One of the sadder casualties this week was Asrianna's dog. While
valiantly attempting to defend his mistress against the Menasaur, he was
viciously clawed in the hips, and was unable to be healed. Her dog is
now crippled for life, but is expected to live a few more years. Her
other dog, Angus, has taken over duties as watchdog, and has been seen
shedding all over Fed.

Topping the bloodbath this weekend, is of course former Duke Sean's
battle with Balor. The story of that battle may just fall into Fed
legend, and this reporter leaves that tale to another to tell.


 **>> THE DEATH OF SEAN DOUGHERTY
      by Seamus O'Flannigan

The Old Man had a story to tell. Young Huck Finn could see it in his
aged face as he walked into Chez Diesel, the Social Center of the
Galaxy. And Finn knew all about stories and tales and legends and myths
and fables and yarns and the general weaving of words for entertainment.
The Old Man settled down into a chair across from Finn who was the only
other inhabitant in CDs and it was apparent that the elder was
nonplussed that the cafe was devoid of a larger audience. So when the
Old Man introduced himself as Amergin, bard to the Sidhe, who had come
to relate the Tale of the Death of Sean Dougherty, Duke of Eire, Finn
allowed as how he would love to hear the tale.

Amergin tugged at the collar of his light cloak and tapped the empty
table in front of him. "The words flow more easily from a wet mouth."

So Huck Finn bought a sarsaparilla for himself and a dark stout for the
bard who drank deeply from his mug before beginning:

"For as long as legends have been told, the Fomorians and the Tuatha De
Danann have been at war. A marriage of politic between the two ancient
enemies had been proposed by the Fomorian King Balor though never
accepted by the De Danann liege, Nuada Silverhand whose grandniece,
Kara, was coveted by Balor's like-named grandson. This proposal was
further hindered by the return of Devon Skye, born of Sidhe father and
human mother, to Tir'na'nOg.

Finn interrupted, "I done thought ya was gonna tell how Duke Sean met
his Maker?"

The cloaked man smiled politely at the young lad and with a sip of ale
cleared his throat. "The background of a tale is important to place its
climax in the proper perspective... now as I was saying...

"On the day that Devon and Kara were to wed, the young Balor attempted
to assassinate Skye; however, Kara shielded her new husband (so great
was her love for him) and died in his arms."

Huck avoided mentioning that Devon seemed to be forever losing his mates
and lovers to tragic ends as the old storyteller continued with how
Devon had come to Federation territory to start his life anew and had
eventually formed a friendship with Sean that had grown to something
greater.

"In a ritual of Making, Devon bonded with Sean and by their combined
blood joined their two clans as one. Brothers." Amergin paused wistfully
and sipped again from his mug. "As close as any two brothers born of the
same womb... perhaps closer as each would have given his life for the
other... which ultimately each did.

Huck Finn leaned forward. Now Amergin was getting to the good part, the
duel. Grand and glorious battle, swords clashing, damsels in distress...
and blood. 
"Prince Balor came to Fed space to continue the Fomor-Danann War and to
kill Devon for having taken Kara from him. Whether it was an attempt to
draw Devon out or to punish his friends and family, Balor brought great
suffering to the people of Eire. Many brave Eireann lads died defending
the duchy as Balor decimated the Fleet.

"Balor managed to shield his true intentions from the Ne Galdur clan who
gave him a base from which to launch his operations. And this eventually
led to Senator Tellurian pledging himself as Balor's second in a Death
Duel with Devon Skye while Duchess Aja declared Balor as her Champion.

Huck Finn tapped his foot on the floor. "Right. Right. And Sean agreed
to stand by Devon. But what about the duel? How come Devon arrived
late?"

Amergin shook his head at the impatience of youth. "Balor had no
intention of losing that duel and had sabotaged Devon's ship. Devon and
Mara survived the crash though they were severely injured. And thus
Devon could not arrive in time to stop Sean from taking his place in the
duel. The very thing which Balor had wanted for Sean's lack of skill
with the blade was well known."

Finn sipped excitedly at the sarsaparilla as Amergin began to weave the
tale of the duel.

"Knowing that Devon would not show up, Balor demeaned the honor of the
Skye clan and of the people of Eire, pushing Sean until the duke drew
his blade and the duel began. Tellurian attempted to halt the fight
aware of the imbalance in the combat but his words went unheard as Balor
and Sean clashed. The only caution heeded that night was sending the
pregnant Siobhan to the Temple of Dana out of harm's way... or so they
thought.

"Balor toyed with Sean there in the Great Room on Tanarith, whacking the
young Celt's backside with his sword, Poison, teasing Sean with his
superior skills at swordplay. Too quickly, the battle ended as Balor
cleaved Sean from shoulder to chest, causing the duke to drop his family
sword which shattered in twain.

"Balor immediately created a portal to the Temple and traveled there to
harass Siobhan. What his true intentions were is unknown for before
Balor could do much more than threaten her, the irate Sean arrived to
defend his wife's honor and the lives of his unborn children. So great
was Sean's desire for Balor's blood that the duke failed to use the
cloning facilties in the hospital. But he had a reason to be confident.

"Sean arrived at the temple carrying the crystal sword, Caladcholg, a
Sidhe-made sword which endows its wielder with strength and grace in
battle. And now it was Balor's turn to be humiliated in combat. Time and
time again, Sean met every thrust and now feeble parry from Balor. And
without doubt Sean would've won the fight were it not for the black
magicks employed by Balor.

"Sean was felled not by sword but by a ball of black flame... a most
dishonorable way to end a duel. But as Balor stepped forward to take
Sean's life, Sean made a last ditch attempt to slay his opponent,
driving an iron dagger into Balor's left eye... iron the bane of the
faerie folk weakened Balor and drove him to his knees."

Finn had stopped sipping his drink.

"And that is when Devon appeared, burnt and wounded from the crash. Sean
handed Caladcholg to his brother who without hesitation threw it across
the room, burying the blade in Balor's chest. And Aja distraught at her
Champion's demise returned in kind by stabbing Devon with a magical
blade that dampened his powers. Devon was unable to stop his brother's
journey to the Summerlands.

"Sean Dougherty, Duke of Eire, Blade of the Goddess Dana, gave his life
for family and honor.

Finn interrupted, "But he returned..."

"Yes, but at a terrible cost after his family had pleaded with Dana to
save Sean's life. Siobhan fostered one of her unborn twins to the Sidhe
while Devon Skye traded his life for his brother's," said Amergin,
pausing to savor a bit of the ale. "And for that bargain, Devon paid
twice."

"Dana could not stop Sean's journey to the Summerlands, however. She had
no dominion over the cloning technology of Fed and Sean had already
passed from the mortal plane... so she could only arrange to bring back
his memories and soul in a new body."

Finn shuddered as he asked, "You said Devon *paid* twice... so you must
know the future. So how did he die? Did they ever get Balor?"

Amergin rose from his seat, finishing the ale with a final swallow. "I
shall save those tales for another Time. Suffice it to say that
Tellurian and Devon allied to hunt down the Fomorian assassin and in
that alliance forever put aside past differences. It was the start of a
grand age in Federation space... but the first years were difficult
times and death followed them."

Amergin paused at the door as he gathered the cloak around him to leave
Diesel's and the young boy from Missouri behind. "Faith and Hope, Huck
Finn. Sean lived for it, he died for it... and it brought him back."

Faith and Hope.


 **>> MORE CHANGE IN EIRE

Newsdroids have been scrambling this week to keep up with the activity
in the Eire duchy. Prior to the duel on Tanarith between Sean and Balor,
the droids detected an unusual undertaking at the Skye Dairy ranch. The
milkmaids were all dismissed and their quarters cleared out. Their
cottage is allegedly being renovated for the future-duke Ciaran. The
photography studio at the Dairy complex was also shut down and the
Tanarith photographer has been offered a job with FedBoy Enterprises in
time for the "Girls of Snark."

Newsdroids following Devon Skye have spied him in the company of Mara.
Last seen in the back seat of a buckboard driven by a short,
elegantly-dressed man who declared "No patty fingers if you please", it
appears that Devon is courting once again. Alas, poor Mara.


 **>> WANTED: A DUCHY TO JOIN

Stud is now an Explorer, and is working on his planet - he hopes to have
it linked into the game by next weekend. Which leaves him with a
decision to make: which duchy to join? He's really not sure, and he'd
like to hear from the Dukes what their duchies can offer him and why he
should join up with them.

Dukes, please drop him some sendmail or send him internet mail to
STUD@MAIL.ON-LINE.CO.UK.


 **>> PLANETS AND DUCHIES

Things have changed at the top... with Sean's death, we're down to seven
duchies. The former Eire planets have all had to find themselves new
homes.

There's a new planet, too. Wildstar, who has been playing Fed for many
years under various guises, and who has been an Explorer 14 different
times, finally wrote a planet. Pakua, in the system Darkwind, will be
reviewed next week.

Helena's Troy is now a mining world, and Raven's Dichotomy is a
technical planet.

Here's what the duchies look like now.

Silk's Fortymile has three worlds: Maxwell's Dawn, Emmi's Addis and
Surfer's Surf.

Zagmar's Valaria has seven planets: Akiko's Mirai, Rakshasa's Utopia,
Cicero's Roma, Bgg's Cafe, Ukla's Fubar, Page's Classic and Ciaran's
Ulster.

Amigan's Athens has five: Neuromancer's Paradigm, Talisan's Skan,
Brawn's Outpost, Drspock's Corona and Scrooge's Hermitage.

Aren's Naug controls just three: Devon's Tanarith, Thomas' Haven and
Erica's Trilight.

The monster duchy is Chance's Chaos, with twelve worlds in his domain:
Byterunner's Parabit, Skurge's Vannitel, Cheri's Aise, Windman's Storm,
Raven's Dichotomy, Galena's Mallavia, Silas' Silo, Cygnus' Dark,
Kainaw's Tisnar, Helena's Troy, Asrianna's Sine and Chicago's City.

Aja's Sphinx has six worlds: Mosquito's Sutra, Dirge's Qushmarrah,
Corinthus' Laconia, Tellurani's Citadel, Ceinwen's Greenvale and the new
planet Darkwind, owned by Wildstar.

Finally, Budwarp's Epini has control of eight: Deirdre's Cove, Astrin's
Ymris, Sorak's Tyr, Brandy's Nexus, Satriani's Opera, Kain's Empyrean,
Spacesinger's Blockhead and China's Satin.


 **>> SPYNET REVIEW

Duke Sean went d-d in a shocking fight, see our earlier report for
details. Adventurer Jacko also went d-d on Dierdre's planet.

The new Captains were Deron, Creator, Beni, Saryon, Sue, Dana, Sean
(back from the dead), Sparrowhawk, Logi, Banzar, Aubrey and Joe.

Apollo, Sparrowhawk, Sue, Logi and Dibdevlin were promoted to Adventurer
or Adventureuse.

The Traders Guild has new members with Hallo, Sue, Blargg, Sparrowhawk,
Lothar and Logi.

Kirchansky, Lori and Sparrowhawk reached the rank of Merchant.

The awesome JP puzzle was cracked by Stud, Starsinger and Kirchansky.

Deth, Stud and Gallahad solved the fiendish GM puzzle. All three went on
to become Explorers.

Wildstar became the newest Squire as his planet was linked into the
game.

Helena was promoted to Thane, and Raven promoted twice, to Industrialist
and then Technocrat.


 **>> CONTACTS

The following information will appear at the end of every News Bulletin,
so you don't have to read it if you already know it.

The current Federation Game Hosts are: Freya, Phoenix, Chrysalis,
Lyrynna, Grannie, Sparky and Zzzax. Their function is to answer
questions, help new players get started, and make fun things happen.

In the event of a problem or question, you can:

 * talk to Hazed or one of the Game Hosts in the game

 * <SEND> a message to Hazed

 * send mail on your host system to the Federation team:
   on GEnie, mail FEDII.2 or use the option on the main Fed page
   on Delphi, mail FED2 or use the option on the main Fed page
   on Cris, mail FEDERATION2

You can buy a copy of the very excellent Idiot's Guide to Federation for
the paltry sum of $15.95. On GEnie, type ORDER from any main menu page.
On Delphi and Cris, send a check for $15.95 to: Leah Parker, 4543 La
Crescenta Avenue, La Crescenta, CA 91214-2912.

 **>> BULLETIN ENDS