Archive for June, 2000



Day 44, Year 538 of the Ascandancy

Today I found myself in yet another Dal’Noth hunt,
with a good sized group of exiles. However, the hunt seemed to me to
end as soon as it was begun, and I was dissatisfied with the brevity of
the hunt(though I did make some 60+ coins from bounties). I quickly
invited more exiles to join the hunt, via the sunstone, thinking to
form a Dal’Noth party by combining the remnants of the first hunters,
and the new arrivals. However, as soon as the new exiles arrived on
Dal’Noth, the old party left. I was now stuck on Dal’Noth Island with a
bunch of exiles hungry for excitement. Luckily, it was just then that
Tarf decided to walk into the Darshak Horde out of pure boredom, and my
party and I quickly rushed to Ash Island to rescue the mangled dwarf.
However, the Darshak Horde has this strange habit of making people
dead. That was exactly what happened to us.

Hmmm, that didn't go as planned...

We quickly fell to the the marauding Darshak
pirates, and the few rescuers that came to save us only ended adding to
the body count. We were blessed only in the fact that there were no
“elite” Darshak present. After lying around the horde with the group of
obscene and slightly insane men(and I don’t mean the Darshak), a good
sized group of exiles actually managed to rescue us. We prodded the
poor Avaric for a while, then left the ashen isle for Puddleby. I even
got to take a cigar home as a souvenir. Of course, the Darshak pirates
were not about to let a bunch of exiles traipse around their Horde with
impunity, then return to their homes unscathed. After the Darshak
high-ups had sorted out what had happened in the Horde, they decided to
send a Darshak Warship to Puddleby, containing the dread “elite”
Darshak.

Ghoti's Warning

What followed was chaos and mayhem, as the pirates
poured forth from their Warship, and with the aid of their “elite” were
able to invaded into the very heart of Puddleby itself. Luckily for us,
there were nearly a hundred and fifty exiles present in the lands that
day, and the Darshak were no match for the exiles, who swarmed upon the
pirates as ants swarm an elephant. An interesting thing to note, is the
strange flowers that happened to pop up near the western gates during
the invasion. They were a sickly black in color, and were probably
planted there by some Darshak pirate with a sense of humor. Any exile
who happened to come too close to the flowers fell asleep, grew
sluggish, or just plain died of the poisonous blossoms. The only way to
be safe of these “Deadly Poppies” is to have some training of the mind,
so of course, I was unaffected.(Check out a Vision Stone of the Deadly Poppies)

Deadly Poppies

After the Darshak were repulsed from the isle, a
few valiant exiles pursued the Darshak to Ash Island. There were elite
Darshak abound everywhere, but somehow we managed to erradicate the
Darshak menace. Next time maybe Tarf will think twice before stepping
into the Darshak Horde. On the other hand, this may just encourage him.
*Shrug*

Day 40, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

For a long time now, I have been looking for a
good party to go to the Dal’Noth Isle with. I had heard that much had
changed there since I last visited the cursed isle, and today I got my
chance. When I got out of the library today, I heard that there was a
party forming on Da’Noth Isle. I quickly rushed to the docks, and in no
time I had paddled my way to the cursed island. There, I joined a small
party of exiles, and we proceeded to hunt on Dal’Noth Island.
Unfortunately, the ‘Noth had other plans for us. As we traversed the
passes of Dal’Noth, several Zol’Noths and Sar’Noths appeared, and began
to attack our party. In no time at all, bodies were strewn out
everywhere. Luckily for us, a large band of rescuers was assembled in
town, and we were back on our feet in no time.

However, the ‘Noths were not about to give up yet.
Several Sar’Noths and Palidews materialized out of nowhere, and we were
again in a desperate battle for our lives. At the same time, a Darshak
Warship containing “elite” Darshak forces landed on Puddleby, and the
townsfolk were hard pressed to keep the pirates at bay. One by one, the
exiles on Dal’Noth began to fall, and things looked bleak, for no
rescue could come from town.

Rescue us, please?

Luckily, some of the survivors were able to lead
the Sar’Noths away, while the healers came to raise the fallen. With
our strength returned to us once more, we defeated the last of the
‘Noths, and made our way to Puddleby. We had heard that the town was
practically overrun by Darshak pirates, but by the time we arrived
there, only a few of the Darshak remained. We lent our sword arms to
whomever needed them, and gradually the Darshak were forced to retreat.
I was a bit disapointed that our hunt on the Dal’Noth Isle was
cancelled, but I soon heard of another party forming on the cursed
island. I rushed once more to Dal’Noth, and the hunt was begun.

The new party of exiles I traveled with were quite
powerful indeed. There number included several prominent fighters and
healers, including Althea, Gurgi, J’jh, Tarf, and Thuja. With such
invincible companions, I travelled through the isle with ease. I got to
see once more the Dal’Noth Town, and the forbidding Dal’Noth Castle. I
also got to explore several of the hidden caverns beneath Dal’Noth
Isle, and caught glimpse of the Dal’Noth Outpost. There was much to be
discovered, and everything was new to me. It was a great hunt, and what
with the high bountys placed upon the ‘Noths heads, I made over a
hundred coins during the hunt. I also found that there were many hidden
paths on Dal’Noth, that lead to many interesting places, and though I
recently made “2nd Sparkle” pathfinder, I was not able to enter a great
many of them. This adventure has spurred me to work even harder in my
studies with the Marsh Hermit. Next time I have chance to visit the
Dal’Noth Isle, it will lay bare before me all of it’s most intimate
secrets…

Hidden Path

Day 36, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

The 132nd Chaos Storm has swept by the lands, and
I am happy to report that many new things have come of it. There is now
a shop that sells skin dyes in town, and the museum now features the
top three prize winning pieces of the Puddleby Clan Council sponsered
art contest. Most importantly, however, the T’rool mines have been
expanded. I had already predicted that something like this would
happen, based on the turn of recent events, so as soon as the Chaos
Storm had passed, I found myself dashing to the T’rool mines.

Upon reaching the eastern mines, I was pleasantly
surprised that my predictions had come true; the mines had been
expanded upon greatly. Of course, I soon found myself hopelessly lost
within the mines, and then felled by marauding bats and T’rool Kin.
Luckily for me, the lovely healer Thuja was nearby, and she swiftly and
skillfully put me back on my feet. Afterwards, I took to exploring the
vast mines with a small group of exiles. I cannot put down in words all
that we found within the mines today, for the mines are quite large,
and extensive. They remind me somewhat of the new Hive in the Myrm
Higlands. Let us just say that these new mines are quite massive.

The T'rool Mines

After the exploration of the T’rool mines I was
quite tired, and retired to town. After several uneventful hours, I
heard a sudden cry for help over the sunstone. It seemed that exiles
were falling left and right in Alchemist’s Folly, the strange tunnel
within the Dark Cavern. I heard of a rescue party being assembled
before the Dark Cavern, and I rushed there to check out this place
which I had heard of before, but had not yet been to. The party was
quickly assembled, and led by the pathfinder Korinthia, we plunged into
the Dark Cavern. I was quickly disarmed by the overwhelming darkness of
the Cavern, but I managed to navigate the burrow by following the
voices of my companions. This went on for quite a time, and for several
tense minutes, I thought that our party was lost. Then, suddenly, with
a burst of light, I found myself within a narrow tunnel.

Alchemist's Folly

This sketch does not begin to tell how dangerous
Alchemist’s Folly is. Sure, there are only a few corpse warriors and
detatched spirits present, but the narrow passage way allows for little
movement. And then there’s the boulders. Small boulders continuously
fly at exiles, from the north, and dodging the boulders within the
tight space of the tunnel becomes near impossible. The party that I was
with was struck down one by one, and soon the entire rescue party lay
strewn about the floor. Only Su’ub III, who escaped using his Purgatory
Pendant, made it out alive. The rest of us were forced to depart.(Check
out this Vision Stone of our futile efforts)

Depart

Now, one might think one such experience a day
would enough for any exile, but not for us. As soon as we returned to
town, we were reforming again, and another party was sent to
Alchemist’s Folly. This time, we sent in only a few of the most
powerful exiles, therby giving them room to maneuver. Soon, the
passageway had been mostly cleared of undine, and the rest of us
entered the tunnel. Dodging rocks became quite easy without the undine
to bar our way. The party made it’s way slowly westward, and soon
exiles were slipping onto the caverns beyond the tunnel. However,
several exiles at the tail end of the procession (including myself),
reached the westend to find ourselves trapped. The path that the
pathfinder had showed the rest of the group, was to us, invisible. A
back spawn of undine, and the continuously flying boulders sealed our
fate.

That was the end of our adventures, but for
those who made it past, it was another story. They later told me of a
strange cavern they had found themselves in, almost over-flowing with
undine. Within this great cave, they also claim to have spotted a
strange woman, dressed completely in red. This so called “Woman in Red”
seemed to remind them of the witch-priestess Lilit, for the undine she
summoned did not even dare to attack her. Was she some kind of Darshak
Priestess, or was she something else entirely? Only time will tell…

Day 32, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

The isles of the Lok’groton Islan Chain are filled
with many mysterious and secret areas. As of late, it has become almost
a necessity to have at least some training in the field of pathfinding
to reach these hidden locales. I have recently begun training with the
Marsh Hermit myself, and I must say that progress is quite swift. Five
sessions will have you jumping over fences, and with ten you will start
crawling under trees and boulders. Traveling these paths can be a nice
shortcut, and it really is much fun; I hop around these paths many a
time soley for the sensation of travelling great distances in a short
time. Today I was doing just that, when I ran into some trouble.

When my head poked out of a tunnel I had found
between a pair of trees, I was astonished to see before me the colossal
feet of a greymyr. I quickly popped my head back in the tunnel, and
heaved a sigh of dismay. In my brief glance above, I had caught sight
of no less than five greymyr! What were the greymyr doing outside of
the mountains, yet again? Luckily, there was a party of bold
adventurers nearby, and together we began to hack away at the stone
titans. But these were no ordinary greymyr. Ordinry greymyr are bad
enough; they’re tough, they’re hard to hit, and they throw large
boulders at you. But these… these made ordinary greymyr seem like
children.

Super Greymyr

It took almost an hour just to slay two of the
five greymyr that were present. That was when the greymyr arrived in
town. I have no idea how any greymyr could have gotten past us, but
five greymyr just waltzed into town, and started dropping exiles like
flies. We still had three greymyr on our hands, but I rushed back to
town to aid those in desparate need of help. I was appalled by the
sight before me.

Bodies lay everywhere, screams and shouts came
from all directions, and in the midst of it all were five greymyr,
casually throwing in a boulder or two for effect. Things looked pretty
bleak for a while, as the corpses piled up, and the healers were too
harried by the flying rocks to heal the fallen. Finally, the East
Forest party dispatched the last of their greymyr, and together with
the survivors in town, the greymyr were cleared out. We had defeated
the greymyr yet again, but a question yet remained in our heads: “Why
did the Greymyr attack us?” The greymyr are for the most part a simple
and peaceful people, so something must have provoked them to attack us
on more than three separate occaisions in a single month. We must rush
to find the source of their irritation, before we are crushed beneath
the wrath of the greymyr.

Grey Casualties


Day 28, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

T’rool invasions seem to grow more and more common
with each passing day. Though Usnar usrges exiles to help him in his
effort to build an outpost for T’rools, his pleas seemingly fall on
deaf ears, for the outpost is nowhere near completion(though what an
outpost could do to stop an invading force of T’rools is yet to be
seen). In the meanwhile, exiles get to enjoy the excitement of constant
T’rool invasions. It is still unclear what the Vol’Kin and the Sar’Noth
discussed on that fateful day(see Day 19), but more and more T’rools
seem to pour forth from the deep mines of the T’rool Town.

Today, another army of T’rools crept through the
South Forest, and were first spotted around the southern reaches of
Puddleby. Soon, an army of our own was assembled, and the exiles
marched through the south forest in the daily ritual of clearing the
woods of T’rool Kin. The army marched all the way down to the T’rool
Town, and the hunt finally ended in the mines, which were impassable as
usual(at least for now). The exiles then split up, and doubled back on
their tracks, erradicating the last remnants of T’rools.

Another T'rool Invasion

After the exiles returned to Puddleby, things
began to quiet down a bit. Exiles were lulled into a false sense of
security, but this was only the calm before the storm. I was exploring
the South Forest with a band of adventures, when the plea for help rang
through our heads. We quickly ran towards Puddleby, wondering what new
terror was striking now. The sunstone messages were broken, and
unclear, and the exact nature of the threat was unclear. We rushed past
the southern gates of Puddleby, and nothing could prepare us for the
sight that we beheld.

Gigantic Slugs

Those purple globs yi see on the sketch aren’t Giant Slugs, they’re Gigantic
Slugs. They are closer kin to the Tahxis Wurm than the Giant Slug, if
yi ask me, and they are very powerful foes. As I helped to vanquish
these vermin from Puddleby, I was set upon by a Cave Cobra, and several
Palidews. It seemed that all manner of pests and vermin had decided to
set upon Puddleby this day, and some of the creatures included Myrm,
and strange beetle like creatures, along with wurms and island locusts.
Continuing with the recent trend, the creatures combined their might in
an effort to crush Puddleby; but of course, we prevailed. Something
really big is going down if yi ask me. That, or some ancient is playing
a mighty fine trick on us all…(Check out a Vision Stone of the Cave Cobra and the Gigantic Slugs).

Day 19, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

Look around you. All is not right. There are dark
powers at work all about the isle, if you are observant enough to
notice them. T’rool and Darshak invasions that occur in succession, as
if coordinated, greymyr marching into town for no apparent reason,
detached spirits appearing regularly, in the very town center itself,
and finally the dreaded fungus of Dal’Noth Isle, suddenly growing quite
common in Puddleby… all these are pieces to a sinister puzzle. Add to
this today, another piece…

Puzzle!

I was not present to witness many of the events
that transpired today, but I must record them down here, for all to
see, for the implications of these events could well be
world-shattering. It all started when the army of several Sar’noths and
quasi-intelligent Palidews trapped a poweful group of exiles on
Dal’Noth Isle. Almost as if on cue, a band of T’rool and T’rool Kin
invaded Puddleby. Thus the battle was begun. The exiles caught on
Dal’Noth fought desparately for their lives, while those on Puddleby
struggled to keep the T’rools at bay.

After long fighting, the exiles on Puddleby pushed
the T’rools back, and began to erradicate the T’rool forces scattered
throughout the South Forest, while the Dal’Noth party managed to
maneuver themselves off of Dal’Noth Isle, and rushed to the aid of the
exiles in South Forest. The exiles slowly but surely pushed the T’rool
forces back, until they had reached the very T’rool Town itself. This
is where the apprentice mystic Phiros stumbled onto an important
discovery.

Dark Conference

Phiros had slipped into one of the T’rool huts
seeking solace, but had instead found a secret conference between a
Sar’Noth and a Vol’Kin. With the untimely intruder, the conference
quickly come to a close, but Phiros managed to hear the Sar’noth say:
“Deal! We will open the caves for you… we warned though you’d better
not cross Qual!” The nature of the caves that the Sar’Noth spoke of are
unknown, but perhaps they a system of caverns hidden on Dal’Noth Isle,
or maybe even in the deep mines of the T’rools…

Another interesting thing about this invasion, was
that a Darshak invasion force quickly followed the T’rools, as if the
Darshak knew that the town would be vaccant. A similar invasion occured
on Day 274, of year 537
somehow this seems not to be a coincidence. Even the greymyr decided to
pay us a visit, and ten or so greymyr made a pilgrimage from the
Northern Passes to Puddleby. There is definately something brewing in
the lands. Are the foes of Puddleby suddenly uniting to fight against
us? Somehow, I have a strange feeling that we shall all find out in the
132nd Chaos Storm…(see Yor’s Scrolls and Norm’s Diary for more information on the invasions).

Day 17, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

Today, as I stepped out of the library, I was
surprised to see a small boulder go flying over my head, and knocking
off a good chunk of plaster off Edrik’s Library. There was a greymyr in
town; three in fact. Later, when I heard the tale from a clan mate, I
would learn that these three greymyr had walked to town all the way
from the Greymyr Village to Puddleby, and not a single sole had tried
to stop the trio. Not that I blame anyone not for trying. I wouldn’t
dare go against one of these stone giants without a small army at my
side. Anyway, the greymyr had come into Puddleby, and the casualties
were stacking up. Fortunately for us, we did have a small army on our side, in the form of the halfling Gurgi.

Greymyr in Town!

With Gurgi on our side, the stone titans seemed as
easily handled as babes, and soon the trio of greymyr were ground into
dust from which they came. It seems very odd, though, that the greymyr
came all the way to Puddleby from the eastern mountains, just to
harrass exiles. Though the greymyr are often times violent, and highly
protective of their territory, they rarely venture forth from the
mountains that gave birth to them. What then could have caused these
stone juggernauts to come forth from their sanctuaries? Hopefully it
was mere coincidence, but I have a feeling that this could be a part of
something much greater…

Greymyr in Town!

Day 13, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

The witch priestess of the Nox Sorora, Lilit, has
recently been indicted many times of summoning forth undine, but has
always come forth unscathed, through lack of evidence. After today’s
events, however, Lilit may not get off so easily. Lilit has many times
summoned undine from the Abyss with her dark rites, but never before on
the scale as was witnessed today.

On the morn of the 13th day of Winter, after
partaking in a brief rescue in the Trool Town(in which I ended up on my
back, as usual), I headed to the undine hut in the northern fields of
Puddleby, which from broken sunstone messages I had desiphered that
much was amiss. And indeed, much was wrong there. Lilit and Aromae, a
new accomplice of hers, were bent upon much destruction, and with their
rites they summoned forth many powerful undine from the nether. Greater
Wraiths, Death Furies, Faithless, Ghastly Presences, and Corpse
Warriors were much too common within the dark cavern that day. Many
exiles rushed forth to the cavern, and many were wounded and felled,
but eventually Lilit’s forces were pushed back.

The Ghastly Presence

Still, it is alarming to see how Lilit’s power
grows daily; she now even gathers support from other exiles, including
such as Aromae, Sau’lo Dra’kh, and Fuzz. And the Ghastly Presence, the
invisible foe with much might… I have not seen such vile undine since
the Great Forgetting. Hopefully, today’s showing will have taught Lilit
a lesson, but somehow that seems doubtful. For now, at least, we can
keep her dark forces at bay.(See a Vision Stone of the Ghastly Presence)

On a lighter note, the Puddeby Clan Council
sponsored art contest has come to a close, and the many pieces of art
submitted for the contest are now on public display, and await judging.
The pieces are mainly of great events that have touched Puddlby, or
portraits of prominent exiles. The judges will surely have a hard time
judging the entries, for the pieces are simply superb! But don’t take
my word for it! Go to the Art Contest Scrolls, and see for yourself!

Ripture Picture

Day 10, Year 538 of the Ascendancy

Well folks, the New Year has come and gone, and
Puddleby is still going strong. The balance tax that has plagued many
exiles has been abolished(for now), and a new, faster library has been
built in Puddleby. For my New Year’s resolution, I’ve decided to try to
update my scrolls more often, and keep the durn thing up to date, but
already it is the 10th day of Winter, so I’m obviously not doing a very
good job! ;p

Well, anyhow, I spent the few days preceding the
New Year hunting greymere in the Greymere Village with Gurgi and some
of his companions. It was good hunting, and I managed to hit all of
they greymere that we hunted. The greymere are pretty easy to hit once
they lose their balance(they’re so big!), but still yet, they are
dangerous to hunt because the small rocks(err, large boulders) that
they throw can kill an exile beyond remedy. It was still very good
hunting, and a good way to pass the time before the new year.

Greymere Hunting

Several days later, the New Year had arrived. I’ve
heard about some big parties that were held in the days preceding the
New Year, but the actual New Year came to pass with little fanfare and
celebration. Many exiles were asleep, or engrossed in their studies. No
matter though, the New Year came, and those present to witness it
kissed and hugged each other, and wished each other well in the coming
year. The beer kegs were aplenty, and candy popped up in town square at
random intervals, for no apparent reason. All in all, it was a mellow,
but quaint New Year’s celebration.

Happy New Year!

Obviously this New Year’s Spirit has caught on to
some of our exiles, for just two days later, the infamous Malkor(AKA
Spriggin Boy) returned the last of the valuable tomes to Libros. The
librarian Lirric was quick to add an extention to Edric’s already
comprehensive collection of tomes, and now we have a new library in
which to study! The only problem is, this new library is rather
expensive. Lirric charges 175 coins a Zodiac(that’s 25 coins an OOC
day, folks!) and the education received is not much greater than what
can be gained for a seventh of the cost at Edric’s old library. Still,
it makes a noticable difference, so those with the coins may want to
try it out. Happy New Year all!

The New Library