Many exiles seem resigned to wait there until the imminent chaos
storm sweeps over the lands, which will leave them alive and well
and in the temple, Gaia willing. After the adventure a few days
ago in the abyss-like caves of Fire Island (detailed in my
previous journal entry), I've had
about enough fire for a while, I think. A few exiles who were
chained out of there were so fallen that it took an army of healers
in town to raise them. I wonder if the situation will be the same
over there after the chaos storm?
Anyway, with most of the fallens over there either passed out or
otherwise patiently awaiting the chaos storm, there wasn't much
to do around town. We didn't have the numbers to fight such a
monstrous force, so I went off to help Peet in Spirit Wood, where
he had fallen to a tree giant and some balance-sapping spriggins.
I'm not sure why, but this rescue seemed to spark a major outbreak
from there.
Not long after, Perkusi went east to begin her usual hunt through
the lands for bard parts. Over the sunstone from east field, she
cried out that she was surrounded by foxweirs. Well, I thought,
perhaps a spillover from Spirit Wood. I had gotten chased out of
there myself, so maybe she just accidentally swung out and was pinned
by a few...
As usual, I underestimated the size of the problem. Upon crossing
the bridge in southern east field, I was beset not only by foxweirs
but also dangerous Vixens (not to mention a few spriggins and tree
giants wandering around). Still, I managed to get close enough to
Perkusi that, after chaining her, I was able to pull her and get
myself out of a trap and to safety.
Acting on my advice, the fighters who arrived fell back to the
bridge to fight. Azriel, Peet, Cyberbeing and Kodo managed to
fend off the bulk of the invasion, and we also lured across and
dispatched at least a dozen tree giants in all.
Once we had it mostly clear, there was the matter of picking up
some of the fallen exiles. Tardalus was in the worst shape, having
been surrounded by horrifying vultures.
Tardalus wasn't too fallen for me, so we got him up shortly and
went north, closer to the source of the problem, Spirit Wood. We
killed what I think was the troublesome tree giant behind the whole
raid. He was carrying a 100 coin chest and was quite tough to kill,
but left behind were dozens and dozens of spriggins.
I went to the bank to store my coins and a good thing, too, because
my pocket was picked as soon as I entered this gauntlet of spriggins!
I was forced into so many awkward poses by their antics that I felt
like I was dancing. We had enough fighters to clear them out quickly,
though, and the total bounties added up to well over 300 coins, I think.
Here is a record of some of them that I got consecutively...
Finally, the invasion was over and, as more exiles came out of the library
before the chaos storm, our attention turned back to Tenebrion's Isle. It
would seem a rescue was in order. More about that next time. :)
Several new monsters were seen here that I had not seen before
(or at least, not here). Up on the upper left there, you can see
the shimmering outline of what appears to be a fiery beetle. Not
sure what its powers are. Also 3 fiery myrms (not nobles) and 2
larger queen-like fiery myrms. That, plus the vultures, lava
walkers and assorted guards (including the Captain, of course),
made this at least as perilous as the Dread Passage. I believe
the chaos storm transported many of these fallens to the temple, so
we were fortunate. I managed to chain Cronos out when this sketch
was made, but I had to leave shortly after.
In other news, I have altered and expanded my position slightly
about the whole Dread Passage situation after discussing things with
other exiles including some members of PMF. I already knew that
some exiles were giving Lorikeet grief for not helping out, and I
threatened to boycott DP raids over that matter. Whether my stance
meant anything or not, I don't think that's a problem any more.
But I know that there are members of PMF who would like to help out
on DP raids by the rest of the community. Not many, to be sure. I
know some who wouldn't dream of it for whatever reason. But there are
some, and we have no right to exclude them. To do otherwise would
make us hypocrites. And that includes not only DP raids but *any*
action related to such raids, such as OV rescues.
I say here and now that if any PMF member is excluded from such an
activity because of their membership in PMF, or if they are included
but abused and made to feel unwelcome, then I am out. I will not
sanction it by helping the group. I don't give a damn what has
happened in the past. I will not (by my participation) condone such
idiotic and divisive nonsense. If my past presence on raids has served
to even indirectly endorse such actions, then I am deeply sorry to
those affected.
I like to think that my actions serve
the best interests of the entire community, including PMF. And I
know that many in PMF don't give a crap or actually resent my
"help" as being arrogant or presumptuous or what have you. Whatever.
They behave to suit their goals and I to suit mine.
Anyway, if you want to question my actions or my motivations, then
talk to me. Many already have, and for that, I am grateful.
Some call it Umbrion's
Isle. Some call it Lyfelidae. But just about everyone fell and
had to depart. In fact, I'm not sure any exiles who went were
successful in finding an exit, though I've heard rumors of ways
out that are specific to races and professions. More on that as
I learn of it. In the meantime,
Jazz's Journal (032201 entry)
has the story of her first visit to the isle, which didn't end well,
unfortunately.
Today was full moon, and Yor had drummed up a lot of support for a Full
Moon Orga Camp Raid so that one of our mystics, Zorton, would have an
opportunity to attain a strange stone rumored to give groups the power
of teleportation (which might eventually be useful in all sorts of
areas). It took a while for everyone to trickle into the Orga Camp
to get started, but we passed through OC2 and OC3 without too much
trouble. OC4 took a few tries to get properly set up.
Jackie, a very talented combat healer, is happily back in the lands
with us, and she did a fine job helping lead the others. What's more,
she selflessly took the draw position on the least favorable rod so
that she couldn't see the main action live (but we all took visionstones
for her). Somebody had to do it, I guess.
According to the carefully mapped out strategy of Kojiro's, we advanced
to a point south of the altar and waited, taking warlock fire easily.
Note J'nder and Tara as one of the rods while I snuck up past them
momentarily to get a glimpse of the fearsome magician. Killing the
warlocks, according to Kojiro, induces a massive spawn of death vermine,
so we waited patiently.
Once we had given the magician some time to materialize fully so that he
was vulnerable to our weapons, our fighters charged, again careful not
to attack the warlocks. It turns out that killing the magician creates
a huge fiery effect whereby all other nearby orga are slain.
Most of us survived the aftermath of the magician's death, then
Soulmaster took charge of keeping all other exiles away from the magic
doorway to the stone room. If a non-mystic were to enter, the entire
trip would have been wasted. Zorton went in, and he got the stone
while we raised the last of the fallen (a very fallen Invid). Success!
The orga weren't finished with us. They laid a trap for the leaving
party in Orga Camp 2, and many of us walked right into the mess. Invid
led some of the survivors out along a pf path south of the OC3 -> 2 exit,
and once out, we were able to regroup in OC1 and slowly progress until
we captured Orga Camp 2. Though there were many deeply fallen exiles, none
were too fallen for us in spite of the rats and lightning.
Part of that is because I played it safe this time, avoiding situations
where I would put myself at risk from lightning attacks. By staying up
and out of harm's way, I was able to keep everyone else healthy. This
unfortunately meant that I didn't get to contribute much to all of the
chaining that had to be done. As usual, Cronos and Tarf did the lion's
share of the chain work. Though I'm sure there were reasonably compensated
by most chainees, they still lost some valuable chains in the process. I
give Cronos one of my chains as a gift since he sacrificed so much where
I was unable to.
The rescue wasn't officially over until we killed a Forest Drake that
had spawned at the OC2 exit. Fortunately, by that time, we were all
healthy and quite strong. Had it spawned a couple of puddlehours
earlier and been trapped in place by many fallen exiles, I'm not sure
what we would have done!
One other rather significant dilemma arose here, and this also arose during
the recent OV rescue. Snerts. Our group was unfortunately cursed with
the presence of some exiles who were not invited and did their best to
distract, impede, insult and otherwise create a nuisance of themselves to
the other exiles. Their antics (and the unfortunate in-kind responses by
some exiles) ended up driving away some fine exiles whose
help would have been welcome and appreciated.
Even blocking them out didn't help, because they were still able to impede
our progress physically by blocking pathways. I do not pretend to understand
the motivations of such exiles, but I have no patience for it. For one of
the very few times in memory, I purposely did not heal someone. I did this
not because I disliked them or took anything they did personally. I did so
simply because I felt the survival of the group was at stake. Their active
sabotage was a dangerous distraction to many, and it had to end.
So when they fell hard to lightning (inevitably), I was really the only
healer around who could raise them, and I did not do so. I don't believe
this is a violation of my covenant with Master Hekus. After all, I *did*
raise both of them once the danger was past, despite the constant stream
of abuse they hurled in my direction (some things get through even if they
are blocked, after all), so I believe I satisfied my responsibility to them
and (much more importantly) to the group as a whole by facilitating the
process of keeping them out of the way.
Some in the group didn't agree with this, and I felt bad. I don't like
to say no to someone I dearly love and respect like Tara, but when she
asked me to heal them, I had no choice but to refuse.
What if one of them had decided
to ruin our careful plan in OC4 and run into the stone room instead of
Zorton the mystic? Or what if they had killed a warlock and started a
massive spawn to kill us all?
No, I have no regrets, but I do have a future dilemma. Would I be willing
to go on a hunt or rescue mission if snerts like these exiles are present?
A tough call, but I would have to say "yes". I can handle the abuse, and I
trust the judgement and actions of my friends to help me keep these snerts
out of the way when it becomes necessary. Plus, I want to avoid letting
someone I don't respect dictate my actions, whenever I can (the obvious
exception being my stand opposing discrimination against PMF members,
a stand which on balance I think is better for the community than my silence).
However, there is no need for these exiles to freely act this way. Hand in
hand with freedom comes the idea of responsibility, and snerts like these we
dealt with today have no appreciation for that. I wonder if a discussion
with Compla in town hall is warranted? That feels like a coward's way out,
but then, if this situation doesn't merit a formal complaint to the powers
that be in the lands, what does? I mean, I can imagine far more serious
offenses to be sure, but acting like a snert with no shame or remorse is
what it is. Wrong.
Today, I walked out of the library and performed a few rescues in
the Northwest Forest, North Forest and both bear caves, then I learned
that Babajaga was fallen on Tenebrion's Isle. I saw Urgelt heading
that way and others asking, so I went to see if I could help. Turns
out she was fallen outside the castle to a few potent guards. She
had been working on killing the Captain so as to gain possession of
his crystal shard. She already had the one from the poppy field.
With this much momentum, it wasn't hard to attract other exiles to the
adventure, and she with the group you see here, we began the difficult
task of fighting our way up through the tower to Tenebrion's private
chamber.
We were immediately set upon by deadly Banshees and Death Furies. I
remember a long time ago during Dark Chamber battles when just the
presence of a single Death Furie would send us scrambling, but now
Yor and Babajaga brick three of them with perhaps a backpack or two.
It is amazing how far we have come.
I had never been this far into the tower before, so I was often a little
clumsy about hitting room exits (which are hidden in the strangest places)
at the proper angle and position. Everyone else was very kind and patient
with me, though. We were well-organized, too, hitting each room with
fighters establishing a "fort" perimeter and healers coming in from behind
to support, then we rest, heal up and on up to the next room.
A huge swarm of powerful undead attacked us in the penultimate chamber
as the lightning ball added its fury. I accidentally bumped the little
eyeball object you see here, which has the result of turning up the
intensity of the lightning a notch each time! Yor got sucked into the
red glowing cloud that you can barely see to his southwest once he fell,
which took him up to Tenebrion's chamber itself.
It took a while for the rest of us to dispatch all of these undead
creatures, and all the while, Yor was being abused by Tenebrion. Once
clear, we rushed upstairs to his aid.
Unfortunately, we didn't have an opportunity to establish a defensive
perimeter upstairs, so most of us fell upon entering. Luckily, Urgelt
was in a position to establish a small defensible perimeter in the
Southwest corner of the room, so he began hacking away at the wraiths.
Meanwhile, poor Kira was fallen on the north end of the room taking
hits from Tenebrion.
Yes, that is correct. Tenebrion has a very good understanding of our
ability to heal ourselves when fallen. He knows that the only sure
way to get rid of us is to force us to depart. So he will continue
to magically harm fallen exiles! It is quite horrifying to see him
methodically pound away at the health of a defenseless exile. We were
all lucky that I wasn't closest to his wrath.
Yor fooled Tenebrion by falling asleep and escaping his notice until
such time as we had control of the situation. Then Kira had to depart
and so Haenk was the new target. He took very many fireballs and
lightning strikes, but once Urgelt had cleared enough of the room,
Iho was free to stand in the line of fire and accept damage instead
of Haenk.
Haenk's injuries were significantly more serious for myself alone
to heal (which is saying something, considering my training), but
Dandelion (who I am proud to say is my student) also has considerable
skill. With her, Kendra and Iho, we were *barely* enough to raise
Haenk. Yor then woke up but was far too fallen for us. We made
our way out of the tower (with lots of difficulty, a lot of it
due to my clumsiness) and dragged him to town where his clanmate
Algernoon helped to heal him.
Once Yor was up again, he and Babajaga and several others went
downstairs to get the final crystal fragment and begin the
journey to the Ethereal Plane. Unfortunately, I couldn't go along
on this adventure, but I am sure Babajaga will describe the highlights
in her journal when she has the time. All I know is that they were
successful, and Babajaga came away with an Ethereal Sword.
I was honored that Babajaga trusted me enough to allow me to hold
the fearsome weapon briefly (when all of us were back in town later),
but I was not at all comfortable with the thing. She also let
Kira wield it. Any user gets a very interesting glowing cross
aura around them, as you can see. The sword still had not
vanished when I was holding it (which was the day after the EP
raid), but Babajaga and the others were not successful at finding
an interesting use for it on the isles. So it remains something
of a mystery for us to figure out.
Perhaps it must be used to kill something we can find by journeying
further through another doorway in the Ethereal Plane or in
Tenebrion's Keep? Perhaps it will be a useful weapon against the
Orga? Or on Dal'Noth Isle? Or Lyfelidae against Umbrion?
Click here to go forward in the archive
to Spring 541, Part 4.
Back to Koric's Journal Archives
Click here to go backward in the archive
to Spring 541, Part 2.
The denizens of Spirit Wood and TGBG invade East Field.
A narrow escape!
Fending off an invasion at the southern east field bridge.
Vultures seem to be a sign of an unusual invasion or event.
A spriggin invasion in southern east field.
An impressively long uninterrupted list of bounties.
The aftermath of a failed rescue in Tenebrion's Demesne.
Jackie is the draw for warlock lightning from the altar area.
Fiery explosions mark the noon arrival of the Orga Magician.
At noon on the day of the full moon, the Orga Magician appears.
Invid and others fearlessly dispatch the evil magician!
The death of the magician creates fireworks (and also a door ... note
the shimmer on the middle of the right hand side of the sketch).
Zorton emerges with the magic stone!
A rescue of the escaping party in Orga Camp 2.
A Forest Drake represents the final obstacle.
We prepare to enter Tenebrion's Tower in search of the third shard and key.
Banshees attack our party on the first level.
Skeletal Rages attack us as we work our way up through the tower.
Near the top, a red, glowing cloud traps Yor while lightning assaults us.
Urgelt is our only hope, but with healer help, he valiantly cleared the chamber.
Iho distracts Tenebrion as we miraculously gain control of the situation.
Kira wields the Ethereal Sword.