Thea: Team Talarian

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

With Cooper dead, it now falls on Talarian - the most veteran of the Memorial Ground villagers to form a squad, and so Team Talarian is born: composed of Harika, Striga Syl, Korima, Moxie Pally and Tacktix TLC. On their first outing they find a magically shielded tree and attempt to dispel the shield. Striga Syl succeeds, teaching Talarian some magic in the process and finding that the shield was actually protecting Spiral Star and Pineconettes who happily rejoin!

They then find the new lair of Zmey, and this time, since I'm not using auto resolve - I see just how overpowered the great serpent is. Without a hope to defeat it just yet, Team Talarian backs off and instead focuses on neutralizing the numerous abomination army camps that are becoming prevalent in the region. During one such assault, Harika and Korima are slain.

It's not good news at Memorial Ground either where a drake has captured and consumed two of the children. Rhino spotted which direction it fled in though, so after Team Talarian switched out Moxie Pally and Spiral Star to village guard duty for Fanatic Sword and Izlain Backwood, they were hot on the trail of the winged beast.

It looks kind of cute!

Thea: The Leech Lord

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

To hunt the Leech Lord, Cooper Team first returns to the Memorial Ground to gear up and get reinforcements in the form of Korima, Moxie Pally, Tacktix TLC and recent newcomer Izlain Backwood. Learning from last time, the rest of the villagers stay put while the chase commences, and a short chase it is too. Now is a good time to mention that due to my absolute dislike of the "card challenge system" this game has which happens whenever you fight, explore, converse and the like I've been simply Auto-Resolving every encounter up until now.

Realizing that the game is probably weighted against the player, this turns out to be my first actively participated "card battle". For a first timer it goes rather well I think, and while Cooper Team all take injuries, they are ultimately victorious - restoring some power to the Night God Horos, who for some reason rewards people at the village (Curian, Rhino and Harika) with leech (life drain) abilities. Horos also commands a newly formed striga mistress to join Cooper Team: Striga Syl (who was actually the first casualty of this tale)!

It is not all good news however, as during the night Mama Cori, Vayshen Panda and Cooper Mantly succumb to their wounds and die.

Saving throw = failed.

Thea: Rookie Mistake

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The confrontation with the Leech Lord does not go well, for he doesn't travel alone. Indeed, he has a whole entourage of strigas with him - and just one of those gave Geralt of Rivia a lot of problems. While Cooper Team is defeated, they all manage to escape while the Leech Lord and his monsters feed on the random caravan folk they were attacking at the time. Thinking logically, Cooper decides to rally everyone from Hermit's Lake to face this foe, but this turns out to be a rookie mistake.

Having zero people in the village ends the game, a small fact the douche bag Theodore forgot to mention in his tutorial. To this end I can only assume the Leech Lord circled around and destroyed the settlement while everyone was out hunting him. Regardless, the survivors are forced to move on and begin a new settlement at a bone yard with rich soil which they name the Memorial Ground (yep, that's me restarting). The place is clearly haunted but fortunately there's a resident Lapiduch (spirit catcher frog demon) around.

Soul Eater!

The task of building this settlement falls to Thorgrim, Curian, Cateaclysmic and Korima while Cooper Mantly reforms his expedition crew of Harika, Vayshen Panda, Talarian Design, Missy Sparks, and Mama Cori. One of the children also grows up to be a warrioress - Moxie Pally. Alas, during the move it seems Pineconette and Spiral Star were separated from the rest of the villagers and are now listed as missing in action.

Thea: The Eclipse

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

After a long journey, Wolfy had led Darth, Cooper, Braxwolf, Talarian and Mama Cori to a place where she figured the soldiers of Riva would not find them: Hermit's lake, where the role of hermit had now passed on to Curian - who was still hoping to find his unicorn. He didn't live alone though. In the little hamlet he now housed child orphans from the various wars, a retired soldier named Heather Bee as well as two sisters Wolfy recognized: Korima the warrior and Harika the one eyed thief, who was also on the run after managing to lose her sizable amount of loot at gambling.

They had only been there a few days passed when suddenly the sun darkened through means of an unnatural eclipse, and during that time the world around them changed for the worse. Mama Cori was unsure for how long the sun remained dark, but when the first greyish rays of light began to filter through, it was decided an expedition be sent out to discover the mystery of the darkness.

Those houses are tiny compared to the people! :P

This party, composed of Braxwolf, Mama Cori, Curian, Heather Bee, Darth and led by Wolfy decided to first make their way to a nearby ruined tower where they encountered a bearded demon named Theodore. The little bastard tasks the team with menial duties such as boar hunting, vegetable growing, structure building, and retrieving gold from a demon buddy of his, who is of the cuter Hohlick variety.

Rat-poodle Fairy?

Star Trail: Arkandor

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

That's a lot of cultists!

With no way to go but forward, Allison acts as the fake wall detector for the team as they fight even more ghouls and skeletons. There is also a large cultist presence at the end of the second level that the team smashes through before heading down to the deepest floor, which is strangely better lit than the one they just came from. There is also a strangely high tech, four digit combination lock on one wall that takes a little time to crack. Most annoyingly though, a wizard pops out of nowhere and AGAIN steals the Salamander Stone!

Erm, we -did- bring the stone to Lowangen...

This floor is host to numerous undead and a strange pillar puzzle where Braxwolf discovers the name "Arkandor", who must be the big shot of this dungeon. The team also runs into a Heshthot demon (long time no see!) which Wolfy and Allison put down with some effort. The terrible sense of dread becomes too much for Wolfy Eyes though and she considers leaving the party just like Korima did.

Fortunately Shintar talks her out of it.

After destroying more undead and slaying even more cultists the party reaches the final chamber where they find a dwarf who had been turned into stone as well as Lord Arkandor himself... who just happens to be a dragon!

Star Trail: Home of Ingramosh

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The healer at Tjolmar cured Dalian's disease easily, and as per tradition, the team celebrated at a local tavern (with brothel services) and learned that Ingramosh, the dwarf they were supposed to deliver the Salamander Stone to was actually a resident of the town! It takes a bit of sleuthing to discover the correct house but upon finding it Korima is overcome by a sense of dread and leaves the team there and then.

That was sudden.

Behind the door they find the competing adventure party who had been pursuing them! It's a bloody combat in close quarters but since the party is properly armed this time they manage to slay all the opponents, avenging those who had fallen before them. This is also the only house with an interior map, and Allison soon finds out why: a secret door leads into vaults beneath the town!

Apart from poisonous plants, cave spiders and a cave troll that Dalian provokes just for fun there are also strange cultists living down here. It doesn't take long before the team's progress is blocked by solid doors that cannot be unlocked magically or busted down but more importantly it doesn't look like the team can rest in this vile place. They decide to head back topside to rethink their strategy.

Star Trail: Drug Addicts

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

"High" priests? Either we're getting somewhere or these guys are stoned.

After many annoying hours of exploration and slaughter the team finally reaches what seems to be the main chamber where they run into three stooges: Hensger (far right), the robber who told them about Star Trail in the first place, and some dude with a red beard.

Definitely stoned.

Turns out the whole "find Star Trail" quest was a trick - an initiation for the robber guy to raise his rank in the order of Phex. Since there's an option to just leave at this point amicably, Shintar decides to take it, resulting in a non-combat conclusion to the whole affair and emerging outside the Temple of Phex in Tiefhusen. Gotta say that's a pretty stupid initiation though: the team literally just finished killing EVERY OTHER PRIEST in that place, just so one guy can get promoted. Phex is turning out to be the moron god of this land, and his followers are definitely drug addicts.

Worth noting that the team also left with a good deal of loot from there, most of it magical and one piece that was just strange...

What do you expect from this place? :P

After buying new weapons and selling the extras the party returned to the Tiefhusen healer who again proved his uselessness by being unable to cure Dalian of his disease. This time though, Wolfy also had no luck no matter what she tried. Not willing to lose yet another team mate Shintar decided to lead the team North to the next closest town, catching the river ferry to speed up travel time. Within a day they had reached Tjolmar.

Star Trail: Phex Dungeon

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

After resting up at the inns at Tiefhusen, the full team finds Hensger again and after paying him 20 ducats the shady man leads them into a dungeon in town and locks the entrance behind them! What a douche! With forward being the only valid option the team begins exploring the winding maze littered with secret doors that is the "Phex Dungeon" (according to the automap).

It also has the cover art from the first game on the walls.

The place is also inhabited by mummies, skeletons, skeleton warriors (tougher version) and priests that enjoy using blinding magic. It doesn't matter though as with the overly armed team steamrolls through everything the place throws at them, making use of the spare weapons they brought in as their primaries begin breaking. During one combat, Dalian contracts Battlefield fever though (I assume it means he thinks he's Rambo) - which makes all the back and forth mapping and puzzle solving a little time sensitive.

Memory mini game! :)

Good time to note that the combats are set and fixed, meaning after awhile the place really is emptied out yet still manages to be a frustrating exercise of navigating empty halls. An overwhelming despair finally hits some of the party.

You'd think this would happen more often!

Star Trail: On the Star Trail

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Just noticed that all those times the orcs took the party's stuff, they never touched their gold/ducat pile which has been growing nicely. Of course that doesn't mean others are leaving it alone...

Wolfy, kicking butt again.

Since the healer at Tiefhusen is useless when it comes to curing Cooper's frostbite, the team buys herbs from the local store themselves and Wolfy manages to cure her companion after some trial and error. While celebrating his recovery at a local tavern they meet a man named Hensger who offers to lead the team to the dungeon where Star Trail is - for a price.

Not willing to go into a new dungeon with half a team they instead decide to once again return to Kvirasim for reinforcements. The journey is surprisingly smooth, with no sign of the pursuing adventuring party anywhere. Perhaps the orcs got them?

They do meet a warrioress with a two handed sword on the road who offers to join the team for one silver per day. Without hesitation the team agrees and Korima is added to the roster.

She's been around.

Back at Kvirasim they also gain the warriors Dalian Tanker and Braxwolf Storm, as well as the magic wielding elf, Allison Nexus. Instead of departing immediately they spend a number of days in town while waiting for the market to return (it's only there one day per week) and are rewarded for their patience because all the best gear is apparently ONLY available in this town. Once they are armed and armored to the teeth they make the trek back to Tiefhusen - just in time too because apparently Kvirasimians are also racist and dislike elves.

Or Allison likes messing with people's balls.