The Great Hunt has begun. Some of you may have noticed the stirrings of the Horde recently, with minor incursions into some of the cities and councils.

That was but the preface to a major Horde invasion, with hundreds and hundreds of orcs, ogres, goblins, and giants pouring from the passes. They've constructed forts in some of the Horde-populated areas in Aetherius, and you must enter those forts and destroy the Horde contained within before they are able to launch a full assault.

To enter a fort, find one of the rooms (you'll see the fort in the room description) and then ENTER FORT to begin the fight. This will bring you to an area of mobs made just for you!

Clear out all of the mobs, find the exit, and leave. When you enter the fort again, a new one will be created for you with all new mobs for you to kill.

You will gain points towards the Great Hunt for every mob that you kill in your fort (and only in your fort). The top 10 horde killers will win credit prizes, from 500 credits to 50 credits. You can check the rankings by typing HR (short for HUNTRANKINGS).

A few points and facts:

- Double experience is on for the duration of the event.
- XP loss has been turned off for the duration of the event.
- Critical hits are -enabled-.
- The mobs in the fort will only count in hunt rankings for the person who enters the fort.
- The strength and health of the mobs scales dependent on your level.
- Your fort will only reset once all of the mobs in it have been killed.
- Every person who kills at least 100 mobs will get 10 free bound credits.
- The Great Hunt lasts for 48 hours, until 23:59 on Sunday, June 25th.

Horde forts have been created in the following areas:

the Orc village of Schrov'ik
the Scourge Outpost
the Gongen Stronghold
the Riksha Hills
the Kenuba Wastes Outpost
the Nagmara Slave Camp
the Ogre Fort, Erorag
Skegdald
the Gyanis snowfield (near Ghaberiak)
a filthy goblin village
the Dregs

Penned by my hand on the 10th of Letum, in the year 612 AD.