- 22 Autumn 543 (23 Oct '01)
- Recently, I went on another extended expedition to Umbrion's
Island, this one led by Gurgi and Yor. These two brave fighters
had already successfully completed an expedition to Tenebrion's
Island in which they obtained the various parts of the crystal
that points the correct way through Tenebrion's zodiac maze. Now,
their intention was to bring it to Umbrion's castle to try to
navigate Umbrion's zodiac maze.
Umbrion's maze of fire.To reach Umbrion's zodiac maze, we had to descend into the basement to find the Ash Key, located at the end of a long and difficult maze of fire. I now understand why I have been called on so many times in the past to help heal people just outside Umbrion's castle. This has provided support for the expeditions necessary to map out the fire maze so that we could find our way through. I'm amazed at the time and effort it must have taken for the initial group of explorers to learn their way around.
A lava bridge leads to the Ash Key room.At the end of the maze, we fought our way through lava beetles, fire walkers and other deadly creatures, crossed a dangerous bridge, and successfully obtained the key leading to Umbrion's zodiac maze. We returned to Umbrion's castle, unlocked the door and prepared to go down the dark stairway, fearing the worst.
An expedition prepares to enter Umbrion's zodiac maze.Down the stairs and into a very strange place. Tenebrion's zodiac consists of a series of rather small hazy rooms surrounded at the perimeter by zodiac symbols. Umbrion's zodiac rooms are much, much larger and filled with deadly creatures of fire rather than various sorts of greater undine.
Inside Umbrion's zodiac maze.You can see from my sketch how far apart the various zodiac statues can be found in this abyss-like place. I should also point out poor Sten here, looking just fine in her fancy clothes, walking around completely unaware of her coming transformation in the isle's interior. Well, to our disappointment, when we tried to use the crystal to navigate, it remained dark, providing us no guidance. With that task completed and with heavy hearts, we returned to the surface and began to make our way off the island.
Battling a dangerous Cold Lyfelidae in the interior.Of course, the journey to drop various exiles off at their respective trees is always deadly, especially when the sun sets about halfway through the trip. That happened on our expedition to rescue Aldernon, and only about 1/4 of our party made it out successfully. This time, under Gurgi's skilled leadership (and with the able assistance of Yoshida-X, Thuja, J'team and others), we managed to get almost everyone to their trees (except poor Zorton, whose dwarven mystic tree we couldn't find ... the poor dwarf fainted from exhaustion and had to depart eventually).
Along the way, we fought dozens of fearsome Lyfelidae creatures, including a Cold Lyfelidae, which was very tough and resembles a transformed exile. Among others, poor Sten was bitten and transformed during our journey. A few times, we had to build forts from fallens until our fighters could clear off monsters, and the experience of Gurgi and Thuja was absolutely indispensible here. In the end, we found ourselves safely through and north to the glacier.
Battling a frost giant at the glacier on Umbrion's Island.While there, we battled polar bears, frost giants, Tae Su Lyfelidae (perhaps the most fearsome of all that I have seen so far), and we kept ourselves alive pretty well, letting many of us in the party do some exploration for the first time. We went into a small pathfinding cave that supposedly leads to Fat Alice, but our path was blocked by an enormous lava flow that stretched out north of us as far as I could see.
Our way is blocked north by lava.I wonder what is on the other side? Is it possible perhaps to run across the lava, with enough energy and healing potions? I don't even know how far the lava extends. Another puzzle. Well, stuck at this point, we started making our way toward the boat builder on the north shore of the island. Along the way, we stopped at a secret glade that apparently holds Kizmia's hut.
A locked hut perhaps holds the strange Kizmia.Unable to enter, we made our way off the island, but I was left to wonder about Kizmia. Why do so many people now call this place Kizmia's Island? We call the island of Tenbrion's Castle by its owner's name, Tenebrion's Island. I know we once called this place Umbrion's Island (though I like the name Lyfelidae myself) by the same token.
Who is Kizmia? What role does she play on this island that is so important that the island should be named after her? To me, it's all a little suspicious and doesn't make sense, so I continue to use the original name for the island in my journal while I ponder these strange happenings. And I continue to wonder what other secret places this enormous and dangerous island holds.
- 28 Autumn 543 (24 Oct '01)
- I finally managed to get out lately for something other than
a trip to Umbrion's Island. I've had a few hunting adventures
around the lands, especially on Dal'Noth Isle, with the Hunter clan.
Qual continues to gloat over the sunstone that he is working on
something to wipe out most of us exiles and some surprise that he
has in town for us, but all we ever see when we visit his island
are Hel'Noths roaming around like vermine.
Running from Tree and Willow Giants in the Tree Giant Breeding Grounds.I even visited the Tree Giant Breeding Grounds, where I haven't been in quite some time. It's fun to whack at all the trees. I wonder if whatever is responsible for breeding the giants there will ever come up with a way to breed more Oak Giants, Ash Giants or Frost Giants. It would be an interesting diversion to see more of the rarer breeds close to home.
The annual Bard Quester auditions.I also managed to be out of the library at a time when Bard Quester auditions were being hosted by Perkusi, Phineas and the rest of the Bard Guild. The entries were all quite promising, but for me, the one quester who stood out above the rest was Ayella, whose talent shows great promise. I wish her luck finding more bard parts to expand on her collection of instruments.
Elite Darshak find themselves surrounded near the docks.After a long period of quiet, the town suffered from a major Darshak invasion about a puddleweek ago. Once again, our temple was turned into a temporary hospital as exiles tried their best to fend off the invaders. Fortunately, we had many powerful fighters nearby to help, and Darshak were quickly turned back.
Elite Darshak on Ash Island.Many of them appeared to be gloating over the recent destruction of the Nox Sorora Chapterhouse, which perhaps has given them newfound strength and resolve. Though I've had mixed feelings about the Nox, I am starting to wonder if we should consider them more kindly, given that the Darshak hate them so. Speaking of the Darshak, the Feast of T'ssrin is coming up soon. A wandering storyteller named Keemhan visited town today to pass along his wisdom (and mooch some free beer).
Keemhan the storyteller relates the tale of T'ssrin in town.Thanks to Liolel, I got a visionstone of Keemhan's tale, which I had never heard before. I will not spoil those who haven't heard the entire tale. It is better to hear it from Keemhan himself, but the gist is that a clever fen by the name of T'ssrin managed to rescue her village once held captive by undine and Darshak. To save them, T'ssrin disguised herself as an undine to sneak amongst the guards and free her people. This was around the same time of year as a strange alignment of three planets (which is about to occur again in a few more puddledays).
To celebrate, the enemies of the Darshak wear costumes and celebrate T'ssrin and her great victory. At the same time, there are usually very strange happenings in the lands. So this time of year is always very interesting and good for lots of new stories. Four years ago, fallen exiles were temporarily turned into undine if they weren't healed quickly, and town was an absolute mess. This time around... who knows?
- 36 Autumn 543 (26 Oct '01)
- Over the sunstone yesterday, I heard news that same dangerous
red Vol'kins had been spotted in the south forest. Fearing an
invasion, exiles poured southward to fight them off. It was looking
like a rout in south forest in our favor when Qual shifted the
balance dramatically, pumping hundreds of new Vol'kin and Pallidews
into the fray and trapping dozens of unlucky exiles behind enemy
lines.
A huge backspawn spells trouble for exiles.I barely escaped in time to the safe tree just SSE from the Sylvan Scout, but most other exiles in the area fell. There were fallens spread out over south forest from the mirror sn'ell all the way back to town. During times like this, I'm not a very fast backpack or much help in an intense battle, so I like to wander among the enemy and look for fallens I can chain back to safety, letting them join the battle instead of rotting until the front lines sweep back over them so they can be healed.
A narrow escape with several on a chain in South Forest.I managed to save my clawmate Sareth and six other exiles, barely managing to make it to the safe tree. Many of them then joined the battle, which by that time was taking place largely inside the town walls. It seems the numbers of T'roolkin were massive enough, combined with Pallidews and even (for the first time in my faulty memory) lightning-throwing Vel'Noths, Hel'Noths and a Tuz'Noth that the south gate was overwhelmed.
Exiles battle a deadly Pallidew in town.I suppose now we know why Qual has been gloating so much over the sunstone now lately; he's been planning more serious invasions of our town from the seclusion of his hideaway on Dal'Noth Isle. We were lucky that exiles were able to find a few safe buildings in town such as the library and healer temple from which to regroup (the temple certainly wasn't safe).
The invasion force is pushed back to T'rool Town.With time, the exiles regrouped, recaptured town and advanced very quickly through the south forest. In T'rool Town, the strength of the T'roolkin forces was augmented by a nasty Hel'Noth, whose lightning knocked several fighters down to the point where my Horus skills were fairly useful.
A Hel'Noth faces its doom in T'rool Town.Qual seemed pretty pleased with the invasion, which was surely just an initial test of his ability to transport the dangerous magical Noth creatures to our own island. These next several days will surely leave us vulnerable if the typical pattern of Feast of T'ssrin events (in which we end up fighting each other and becoming undine) cripples our forces in town. We'll need to be very careful, I am sure, now that Qual has more powerful weapons in his arsenal to join forces with the T'roolkin. I sure hope the South Forest Outpost gets done soon so that we can have more of a defensive presence down there.
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