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As someone who has had many characters fall short of what they wished, my advice is find a faction that is enjoyable and attempt to join it. Factions do several things, first they give you people to play with and to aid you in your plots. Second, they give you goals and usually some types of enemies. This is good stuff. The most fun I ever had was as a member of a drow faction on EfU.
- A.New.Beining

Perhaps it could just be an issue of timing. EfU was announced before hand with a list of factions that people had experience with from other servers. The Watch had mysteries but its basic function was fairly clear. The Spellguard was more mysteries and did have low points as people did not decide to play them. The same with the Seekers and the like. However, as the server developed and people saw the awsome of these factions they wanted to join, or so it seemed to me. The awsome part about EfU:A is the openeness of it, this is also a bit of a stumbling block righ here at first. It may take a bit of time for people to get settled in and realize, holy shit these factions are awsome and this what they are about (publically at least). I got really lucky in that I was playing a scholarly type who just happened to fit in with the Society. Just my two cents.
- A.New.Begining

This text is intended to review mystery of the mortal community using the the current political situation of the individuals living in and around the Ziggurat on the island of Ymph. These individuals will now be referred to as the Ziggurat community. To begin several facts must first be established and agreed upon, these facts will provide the basis for the rest of the text.

To one who arrives in Ymph by way of the Ziggarut several facts are soon clear. First, there is a growing community of individuals drawn from all corners of the world living in and around the Ziggarut. These individuals bring with them many different customs and beliefs. Second, this community is reaching a size where some sort of self government will be required. Ignoring any external threat for the moment, the community already has reported several murders or attempted murders. These murders are but one example of the issues that are arising within the community that require some form of regulation or prevention. Third and finally, the external threats facing the community are quite real and serious. The Ziggurat is plagued by the issue of the Nightrisers, a goblin community on the Ziggurat's immediate border, and savage creatures in the surrounding area.

These facts are self evident and supported by the most casual review of the Ziggurat community. Having accepted these facts, the question remains what actions should be taken to resolve the issues facing the Ziggurat. Three basic possibilities present themselves. The first is to leave the area, however this possibility is not practical for many of the individuals as they arrived at the Ziggurat with nothing and have not the resources to leave the area. The second possibility is to ignore the issues around the community and continue to live with the status quo.  This possibility also fails the test of reason because the population is increasing from the Ziggurat's teleportation. As such the internal pressures of the Ziggurat community will only increase, not decrease. The third possibility is to attempt to resolve the issues facing the community.

This third possibility, resolving the communities issues, is the only viable solution for a large majority of the community. The question remains how to accomplish this. The most common method of community problem solving is the formation of a command structure or government for that community. This structure is then tasked with leveraging the communities resources towards a specific problem. This was the path chosen by the members of the Ziggurat community. Several early attempts at government failed quickly due to murders and an inability to gain credibility amoung the Ziggurat community. Currently, an attempt at the formation of a stable government is proceeding under the guidance of individuals such as the Lady Malatesta and the Scholar Albedos.  The Lady Malatesta and the Scholar Albedos have crafted a government structure based upon reason and the division of power between multiple individuals. The intent of this approach is to insure multiple individuals achieve a portion of governmental responsibility and prevent any one individual from becoming a tyrant.  It is interesting that as this government structure was being implemented a group of individuals, named the new arrivals for the rest of this text, demanded a chance to present alternative forms of government.

Observation indicates that the new arrivals were given a chance to partake in the government structure fashioned by Lady Malatesta and Scholar Albedos when the Lady Malatesta and the Scholar Albedos were forming their government. However, the new arrivals showed no interest in aiding in the formation of the Malatesta, Albedos government when asked by Lady Malatesta and Scholar Albedos. The alternative governments presented by the new arrivals where a mix of various religious doctrines and tribalism approaches. While each of the new arrival's government approaches might be appropriate for a small number of the Ziggurat community, none of the new arrivals alternative government approaches were appropriate for all of the Ziggurat community.

As a scholar, this recent history reveals an interesting mystery about the community itself. To make matters simple let us assign labels to the various factions. We will call the individuals lead by Scholar Albedos and Lady Malatesta group one. The various individuals of the new arrivals we will call group two. The Ziggurat community needs a task critical to the Ziggurat communities survival accomplished, the formation of the government. Group one begins the process of accomplishing this task, at this time group one asks various members of group two for help in accomplishing group one's task. The members of group two do not feel it is appropriate to help group one. As individuals in group one begin to implement the solution to the task, group two propose several different methods for accomplishing the task. When broken down to this level, it seems illogical and almost insane for group two to act as group two did. However, there is no indication of insanity among the various skilled and powerful individuals that form group two. The only conclusion to draw is an unknown mystery of the Ziggurat community itself caused group two to act as group two did. Several options for this irrational behavior by group two are immediately clear. First, it is possible that the source of the irrational behavior seen in group two is the location of group two. Perhaps there is some magical field surrounding the Ziggurat that causes such behavior as seen in group two. Second, it is possible that within each mortal is the chance of irrational and almost self destructive behavior that may be brought to the forefront by some combination of events or stresses. The third option is the author is completely wrong concerning his theories and should return to his review of other author's books and leave the creation of theories to others. Still, the study of the further actions of the individuals in group two and the manner in which the individuals of group one attempt to accommodate the individuals in group two will prove fascinating. However, the facts of paragraph two and three remain so it is clear that some accommodation or resolution must occur if the Ziggurat community wishes to continue as a community.

I would like to take this moment to thank the DMs who put in the thought/time that is evident in EfU:A. As someone who has played on CoA / EfU and a few other servers over the years, I really appreciate the work of art I was just exposed to. My first character here is allready involved in a faction and has a few plot threads firmly in hands. The concept of building a city from the ground up is in a word Awsome.
Thanks,
- A.New.Begining