I have in the past few days made it known to my wonderful friends
in the Clan of the Rising Claw that I would like to be considered
for membership. I've felt close to Kodo, Perkusi and Lorikeet in
this clan for some time now, and I am fast friends with most of
the other members. The thought of being a part of
a large, active, fun and exciting
clan is almost as breathtaking as learning the art of healing from
Master Hekus. It is with great hope and anticipation that I await
word from the clan members themselves several days from now.
In an
attempt to make a break with the false journal issue that has
clouded my past year, I will release Siri from his vow of silence
after the lunar cycle is complete in a few days. Perhaps that and
my final words on the matter (referenced in my entry a few days ago) will
put that behind me once and for all.
Just yesterday, I took part in a couple of raids past Orga Camp.
First, we gathered together an impressive crew and navigated
the maze of snaggle wood to Wisher's Gate. You can see below
that we had a lot of punch in the group. Not only mighty fighters
such as Babajaga, Kaspar, Sa'Wrap, Stormraven, Norm, Yor, Kojiro,
Saturnus, Entil'Zha and Mork,
but also skilled healers such
as Thuja, Dandelion, Mordcrundel, Haenk and Tara. Even three full
mystics joined us (Valtrim, Diotima and Raldin)!
Unfortunately, so did the Orga. Our first tentative exploration
past the gate was halted abruptly by the presence of two hatreds,
a few frenzies, a couple of wraths and more lightning that our
rod could handle. The aftermath looked pretty grim...
Our only pathfinder capable of navigating the Gate, Entil'Zha, fell
inside the gate on our next entry, and those few of us who made
it out were at a loss for options. Eventually, Entil was forced
to depart and return to let us back in. By this time, we had enough
help to chain everyone out successfully who hadn't vanished or
departed, but we called it quits after that and headed to OC since
it was getting close to Full Moon.
The proximity of the full moon was probably what made Wisher's Gate
so difficult for us this time, and Orga Camp wasn't much easier.
A large army of exiles (myself not included, alas) made it to OC4
and was present for the reappearance of the Orga Magician, as has
been detailed in the past by
Norm (including a sketch of the magician).
Yor's Diary has more
on this most recent raid, with several images. As usual,
Babajaga's Diary
has her perspective on the event, too.
The magician remains
unbeaten, however, and the aftermath left us with a large number of very
fallen exiles, one of whom was rescued a day later after being booted
out to the main Orga Camp by a zealot. With the help of a couple
of stout fighters and J'nder, I managed to chain Cradlesong back
to town for our combined healing efforts. It took 18 healers and a
combined total of over 1500 horus ranks (675 of which were mine) to
raise Cradlesong, but we finally did it!
These days I alter my training, with half my time spent working
for Master Horus and the other half on assorted other skills. I
recently had to brush up on my pathfinding spells when I suddenly
forgot how to enter the Northwest Forest. That's a valuable path
to be able to take, considering the large number of exiles who
regularly hunt in that forest and the associated bear caves.
For me, pathfinding is not so much a skill as a spell. I find
that my ability to see these odd shortcuts and openings is greatly
enhanced by a few simple gestures or whispered words. I once
read about such minor magics, and the techniques seem to come
naturally to me. Or perhaps I am being helped by a higher power.
It is odd the way I often stumble across knowledge, and I wonder
how much I am being helped by the spirits of those who seem to
watch over me.
Either way, I have no wish to become a true master in this skill.
There are too many other demands on my time. At this rate, it
will be the start of next year before I reach 700 Horus trainings
at the earliest, and the rest of my time is going into developing
my skills with the caduceus. My proximus training is getting to
the point where I keep the master on his toes, and the use of this
new skill in hunting and rescuing is amazingly effective, particularly
thanks to my relatively low skill in faustus.
Today, I had the pleasure of hunting with the legendary rescue healer and
one of my role models in the lands, Axell. She is so modest and so skilled
that it is hard to appreciate just how much more powerful she makes a
party when she hunts with them. With her exceptional pathfinding skills
and fast feet, she sets a high standard for rescue speed. I had trouble
keeping up with her, not that I needed to bother. When Axell is up
and about the island, it is rare that other rescue healers are even
needed.
The same can be said for a few other rescue healers, Thuja chief
among them. I often worry about us stepping on each others' toes
when we are all in rescue mode (Axell, Thuja, myself, and the dozen
or so other healers for whom rescue is the primary occupation). We
all try to cooperate over the sunstone, but we still often all end
up arriving at a fallen within seconds of one another. And we generate
so much public sunstone traffic that I worry a lot about bothering
other exiles. Of course, this concern is small next to the poor
exile fallen in a forgotten place and being chewed up by rats.
Still, it is always a very friendly rivalry (from my perspective anyway).
I never feel put out at
all when I arrive at a rescue site and find everything already fixed up.
And I know most others feel the same way. Of course, what is the fallen
supposed to do, share with every rescue healer who shows up? Hardly.
So those shares that exiles are willing to spend on rescue healers get
spread out pretty thinly sometimes.
Speaking for myself, I know
that the share situation can be a little weird. In fact, I read a
great essay on the topic of shares in the journal of an anonymous exile
here (read the Thursday,
February 01, 2001 entry) that I find speaks to my own thoughts. I like
to think that I am long past worrying about how many shares I am receiving
from others.
Even when I'm
active, spending many hours out of the library for days on end, more
than 80% of my earned experience comes from the library, so why should
I worry whether I have 3, 6, or 25 shares? Usually, my shares go to
rescue healers and locating mystics, with the occasional return share
going to a friendly fighter. I'll admit, it is a nice feeling to
have more than 10 shares for a length of time, but I enjoy this more
for the fact that it makes me feel valued and appreciated rather than
for the experience I may be garnering from the shares.
We killed well over a dozen Greymyrs. It was easy with the
finely honed techniques of Cutlas and Babajaga. I even got
a chance to run a couple and tag some greys myself. After all
this time of being almost exclusively a rescue healer, I am
starting to appreciate the joys of a good hunt, especially now
that I have enough proximus ranks to be an asset rather than
a backpacking liability during combat. I can't exactly keep up
with the kind of damage most beasts dish out, but that's never
been my thing anyway.
We spoke with the Greymyr Chief for a bit about the paths that
we hope to find someday leading to the east side of the island,
but he wasn't feeling chatty. Cutlas mentioned that Pogue Mahone
had done some exploration of some of the dark caves and paths
near south pass, alluding to a "foothills" region that I hadn't
seen on any maps. I'm glad to hear progress is being made in
exploring those foul areas. I have no plans to go myself, not
being a big fan of absolute darkness, but I suppose that is
a topic for another day.
Anyway, we were soon joined by Yor and Eyeball. There were some
tough times for me, though, and I still have some issues to work
out about hunting. I heard many calls for help over the sunstone
network regarding fallens, and I had to suppress my rescue impulses
so as not to abandon the hunting party. Life was made much easier
for me by Lorikeet's presence in the land, as she undertook some
very difficult rescues, like pulling Eyeball from the maha den.
Her skill puts so many of us to shame at times! It is fun to watch.
I would have been wailing for help, seeing so many maha in there.
As usual, the bears taught me not to assume such luxuries are
possible when chaining on yellow. I was quickly overwhelmed
by numerous snake bites, with a nasty Cinder bear striking the
biggest blow, knocking me down so badly, it took both Kisa and
Tater combined to raise me. Fortunately, we were all soon saved
by a stout party of fighters. With only 30 exiles in the lands,
I was amazed that so many exiles were close and willing to help
us out, but then, these bear caves are a real magnet for exiles
as one of the few places mid-level exiles can get both good
experience and nice skins.
Bears tend to run away from most exiles who pass through the caves.
This behavior means that they can usually be found hugging the walls
and exits of each sn'ell. Pretty handy when you are hunting to keep
you from being overwhelmed, but look out when you need to make a
fast exit. More often than not, one of the herded bears will be
cowering by one of the narrow sn'ell exits. So you have to pass
close enough for it to take a swipe at you before you can get out.
A lot of exiles fail to take this last swipe into account and end
up fallen trying to escape with low health. This is particularly
bad for healers, who don't have the defense to dodge such a blow.
Aside from exit swipes, the most common danger in the caves are
these awful snakes. Too fast to outrun, too much atkus to dodge,
and too much health (usually) to kill with two axe swings, these
snakes are the bane of my existence on bear cave rescues. And
they come in packs, so without fighter support, the only reasonable
way to rescue a fallen exile when snakes are around is to chain.
Less frequent are the deadly Cinder and Chocolate Bears, the only bears
aggressive enough to actively chase exiles.
Probably the worst thing about Chocolate Bears from a fighter's
standpoint is that they always come in pairs. So just when you
think you're about to win a tough battle with one of the bears,
here comes another bearing down on you. So as a healer, if you
are entering the bear caves on a rescue mission, you had better
have fast feet and a chain or, even better...
Bring along some tough fighters for support! These fine
exiles are part of the group that saved Tippy, Biff and me
earlier, and they made short work of the Adder and the
Chocolate Bear. These bear caves are fantastic places to
hunt, partly because they encourage cooperation.
Maybe not such a great thing for the lone wolf rescue healer,
unless you are pretty powerful like Thuja, who is often seen
roaming the caves. I have a feeling I have many painful
experiences in the north bear cave in my future.
And getting there is no picnic without sufficient pathfinding to
navigate the south marsh. Oh, getting home is easy. I've got
that down to a science, but getting there remains a crapshoot.
I am at the mercy of the south marsh. This time, though, the
master pathfinder (and, I am honored to say, my student, until she
surpasses me in Horus skills yet again)
Lorikeet offered to help out. After five aimless
minutes of wandering on my own, Lorikeet led me out in seconds, and we braved
the maha den together. While I ran around in circles panicking over
snakes, spiders and skeletons, Lorikeet got the poor exile on a chain
and was off. We finally got a chance to heal Ma'Harba in the gem
mine tent and sped off our separate ways for more rescues.
Pretty soon, all the rescues out there to be had were accomplished, and
it slowed down a little. I took a moment to visit the old man Mudgeon
in the healer pub. If you don't know about him, he is very helpful to me.
If an exile is fallen in the lands and Mudgeon is awake to talk to you,
he will speak the name of the exile who has been fallen for the longest
time, giving you a lead on a potential rescue even if you aren't shared
with the fallen exile. If no exiles are fallen, he'll just complain
about life like he did today. Then I know I can relax and be a town
healer for a while.
K'tt'n'ia announced Ma Tota's presence in the south forest while
I was looking around for something to do, so I raced down to meet
with her. Perhaps today she would tell me where I could find an
animal to be my spirit teacher. Sadly, it was not to be. I've
visited with Ma Tota three times now, and each time she has put me
off. Ah well, the life of a Horus healer is built on a mountain of
patience, so I will keep at it.
A chaos storm passed over the islands today, and when the dust
cleared, there were several useful new people in town, all grouped
in the back room of the dye shop. Amgine brought some knowledge
of how to convert a shirt into a cloak, so I quickly converted my
old red shirt to replace the beautiful red cloak that fell into
tatters over a month ago. What a relief and a joy to be back in
my old colors!
Striss brings with him some ability as a tailor, and he can repair
clothes that wear out. Sartorio is a tailor trainer (Siri tells
me he has already signed up for lessons, planning to resume the
mantle of his old profession on the mainland), and it looks like it
will take a few dozen ranks to attain an equal skill to Striss. The
more lessons from Sartorio, the more efficiently (cheaply) you can
repair clothes, and the more elaborate colors you are able to repair.
Tikk Winse provides clothing repair supplies and sewing kits for
those interested in taking up this profession.
I made my diary public knowledge today at last. I hope those of you
who dropped by to read it find it useful and interesting.
After Biff and I managed to rescue Station and Chnuschti by fighting
through what seemed like 100 snakes, we were called back to the east
cave to help Hauu. No sooner did I start healing the fallens than a
nasty Cinder whacked me almost to the point of being fallen. Fortunately,
these three valiant fighters were barely able to manage the bear.
Station fell first, then Biff led it away to protect us before he
got chomped as well. Finally, Chnuschti bravely faced the bear down
on low yellow (my poor healing speed didn't help much) and finished it.
There's rarely a dull moment in these caves.
Later, I had the pleasure of visiting with Aly, who has attained
tremendous skill in the art of healing those closer to death. Soon,
she'll have 400 trainings. That is some real dedication for you, but
the real test of patience lies ahead for Aly. I think she's up to it.
I hope she gets plenty of shares to encourage her training. You can
never have too much skill in the arts of Master Horus.
I'd never seen these Lesser Spectres before.
These ghostly monsters deal out pretty good damage but cannot be
touched by an exile that I saw. Unfortunately, where there is a
"Lesser", there is usually a "Greater". I don't look forward to
the day I meet one of those.
I also had the opportunity this evening to talk with Trystran d'Ark,
a former member of the Clan of the Rising Claw. I told her that
her presence in that fine clan was one of the more compelling reasons
that I had considered joining RC in the first place and that I was
sorry to see her go. I understand her reasons for leaving, but I
hope I planted a little "change your mind" kudzu in her mind that
will soon grow over those differences she has with so many of her
good friends. It would be an honor to be in a clan with such a
fine rescue healer as Trystran.
Back to Koric's Journal Archives
Click here to go forward in the archive
to Autumn 540, Part 2.
A bittersweet scene as Perkusi plays "Meadow Sunrise"
A strong group perpares to risk Wisher's Gate!
A humbled group assesses its losses
Cradlesong is healed by the community
Horus evaluates my skills.
A rare chance to hunt with a legend.
Hunting Greymyrs with 2 stout fighters
Visiting the reclusive Greymyr Chief
One of the many dangers, a Grizzly Bear prepares an "exit smack" for me.
Two of the biggest dangers, an aggressive Chocolate Bear and
a lightning-fast deadly adder.
The preferred way to deal with bears and snakes.
1300 combined Horus ranks on the prowl in the savannah
A valuable asset to any rescue healer can be found in the healer pub!
The mysterious and hard-to-find Ma Tota in south forest.
Back in my familiar colors in the new clothing workshop.
A Cinder Bear poses a tough obstacle to this rescue healer and friends.
My second best student!
Lesser Spectres add new danger to a difficult rescue.
Rescuing Biff in the treacherous Tree Giant Breeding Ground tunnel
with the help of Trystran D'Ark