Known as Troy Anfield to the rest of the waking world, he takes great pride in Chalacyn's game engine. His job at a software testing firm and his necessary tolerance of UCLA pedagogs provided him with the patience and discipline to put Chalacyn through endless test-cases. He considers game crashes as unacceptable. As long as the game continues to be an outlet of daily pressure (not a source of it), he enjoys brainstorming new features and making them a reality.

Talyce is the alternate persona of Kaye Anfield, and has been for six years of role-playing. Kaye finds her best self-expression through writing, and her interest with worlds of the fantastic is as old as her love for Troy. The scenario of the Triworld reflects much of her studies in obscure literature at UCLA and her impressions of culture and landmarks of Germany, where she grew up. She does not write code, but she has a fair understanding of how Chalacyn works, and nearly all of the Triworld-specific features are results of her requests. She considers Chalacyn Nights to be a proving ground for her skills as a writer, and takes its success seriously.

The Saga of Chalacyn Nights

The tale begins with Halaster. He first shook hands with MUD code in 1992, as an implementor of new code and enforcer of game policies in Quest for Mordor 2.0 beta. After many directional changes in Mordor, he decided to try his hand at what would become Chalacyn Nights. His original intention was to modify Mordor's code, simply adding features to its engine, but leaving it open-ended for any theme.

In 1993 came greatest influence on the development of Chalacyn: a role-playing derivative of AD&D and Dark Sun, which he directed every Friday night as dungeon master. The Triworld was a basic concept within the game, and its political and social richness developed throughout the gaming sessions into a convincingly real environment. Ideas for the role-playing system became considerations for a MUD scenario, and the environment took shape in idle musings during UCLA lectures.

1994 was the death of the Mordor structure. Its rigidity became too constrictive in the face of creativity, which demands flexibility at all costs. So, the once favored engine was put aside, but always held as a model. The streets grew longer and Jenn's Restaurant was penned as a testing ground. Often, the game would not run for weeks on end, and the spirit of challenge faltered in frustration.

1995 was the year of immense building. Professional test-run methods were applied to every bit of new code, and nothing was implemented until it was rock solid. The Triworld took shape through the eyes of neutral Chalacyn, and the streets grew faster and further. Test characters killed and were killed, over and over. Offensive Empyrean and Belantian spells were completed with the turn of the year.

The city found its borders in 1996, and here the map was drawn. The flow of the Verra River turned north. In a three week span, every remaining spell and power was written in Germany in a dos editor. The code would have to wait for compilation and testing, which took another five weeks. A short discussion precipitated the reasonable availability of a T1 line, and pockets drained for the hardware that married FreeBSD. The day chalacyn.com came alive was one of inexplicable pride. The code remained in alpha, the scenario rolled along tiredly - motivation low, for all its work, it had never been seen. Chalacyn Nights opened in October, accepting limited players initially to stress test it. By November, the game was open to anyone with the wish to play, and the masters were on the rise.

1997 has shown much advancement in scenario, thanks to eager players and the exceptional though lordship of Calimarr and Alecto, both former players. The player base remains small by most standards, but loyal and very skilled at combat, role playing and problem solving. Quests and riddles are proposed on random days to stir things up. Halaster accepted an apprentice to his code, Alecto, who has made substantial improvements and strives to maintain the game's advancement structurally. The rest of the story is yet to come...