Training to face Oblivion

Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!

With Dwark looking into further leads to chase down the "mysterious four", we received a quest from the elf priestess Caladre to recover a soul gem from a nearby underground shrine called "the Temple of Oblivion". The crumbling, claustrophobic tunnels are littered with traps and are home to powerful spirits, zombies, demonic imps and conjurers who are (despite our newly upgraded gear) too dangerous to deal with. Even more annoying is that like the Golden Dragon Ruins, this place has barriers blocked by riddles that can only be solved by exploring each passage for historic slates.

Despite that I managed to get Caanon and Quark past the first barrier and they made it all the way to the second floor by luring each guardian spirit (in each barrier) one by one. The zombies are comparatively the safest to deal with as thier slow gait still makes them easy spear fodder and the majority of the paths are linear.

Still, they've come across a chamber with "light spirits" which are too strong to push past so they returned to town to train up a bit first. Fortunately Caladre isn't in a hurry for that gem, so Quark and Caanon have been hunting the cursed coins back at Aria, as well as more Bullspawn (with the porkul thief Arsenic and elf mage Helga) to gain the strength needed to face the horrors still awaiting them in the temple. Selenka has also finished helping Mighty Dog at Deltis Keep and is now assisting the remainder of the cavalry unit at the Aria entryway, while I've continued culling the numbers of Zule back at the Golden Dragon Ruins. It is worth noting that our masked "friend" Arahawi was also in the Temple sometime before us as he took the soul lantern of a spirit there. Tried questioning him on the matter but he seems content on just giving out free tarot card readings in town while avoiding questions.

If only we could train like Stephen Amell!

-Thanam

As an OOC note: The multiclassing system sounds really interesting here. Quark switched from priest to mage and back (having gained skills/levels between each switch) and it looks like you can bring a number of skills from your previous profession over to your new one. Even better you can "grandfather" skills by bringing skills further down the skill tree back to the original class saving you points from any skills you didn't use higher up but previously needed to unlock. Powerplaying sounds like a key mechanic here, the only draw back is each time you change you require 7 class stones of the relevant class which only drop from monsters in... the Temple of Oblivion. :P

Entrance to the Aria Reservoir

Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!

Prime Minister Zermu Terlu gave us another task this week, to eliminate the bullspawn demons that dwell in the deeper parts of the Aria Reservoir. Apparently the place had long ago been sealed up, and only recently been reopened by an entire cavalry unit to help the ministry's survey team do their job. I am upset to report that Mr. Caanon and Thanam both said it was too dangerous for me to go so I remained in Illfalo Port while they went ahead. I wonder if it's because the souls lost sign board now says 75 for last month, whereas the month before it was zero?

Anyway, I decided to help out Mighty Dog back at Dimento Keep - fighting off rival gangs and the wizards that reside in the deeper parts.I was somewhat surprised when Thanam snuck up on me there later (I almost shot him with magic, thinking he was a rogue! Technically I was right). Apparently Mr. Caanon had made it through the first floor of the reservoir with his friend Quark and two other fighters. According to his description it was broken up into three major areas.

Market Entrance
Plagued by giant flies that the remaining cavalry forces keep at bay, the first barrier required a simple ticket bought from a machine at the end of the right hand hall, something Thanam said was easy for him to get. Past the barrier guarded only by a rotting nobleman and some flies, was the empty market which is guarded by cursed coins and by clouds of deadly poison elementals, and is where Quark and his team of fighters: Nyenya (human) and Porkul "Porky" were met.

Dark Horse Circuit
The next barrier was right beside a broken horse statue which the team had to first repair, requiring only a horn (it was a unicorn statue apparently) but also lot of running through dark places and from many creatures. The barrier itself was defended by a large group of knights, probably soldiers from the cavalry unit that had been corrupted be the cursed coins. Fortunately their team was strong enough to defeat them all.

Drain Section
According to Thanam the final part was another long sewer filled mainly with slimes with a final barrier that needed another ticket from a nearby machine. Only this time it cost Kraken Coins (1 for porkuls, 2 for everyone else)! Good thing Mr. Caanon brought spares as some of his allies were short. The guardian itself was a giant slime, nearly as big as the chamber it was in. Mr. Caanon nearly died fighting it, but the team managed to push past it to the second floor.

As dangerous as it is hideous.

Apparently Mr. Caanon then sent Thanam back to check on me! Seriously, I have half a mind to go in there and bop him on the head myself!!! >.<

-Selenka

Wizards of Deltis Keep

Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!

We were summoned to the Ministry of Arcanum today by Prime Minister Zermu Terlu, a large dwarf with an equally large beard. Apparently they had been sending survey teams out, finding that some of the waterways in the nearby ruins are connected to "Dragoon Ruins", which may have a link to the mana drain being experienced in this land. To this end he has sent us to Deltis Keep to locate and assist the survey team trapped within. The keep itself is best described in three wings.

West Wing: Firecracker's Entrance
Home to more beetles and firecracker bandits and fighters, these people are rarely found alone making them challenging to deal with. "Mighty Dog", a porkul thief that Thanam befriended near the entrance actually tasked us to find their stash of salt for him. Eventually we did, using a key from one of their warriors to unlock the store room. Inside were horribly strong zombies but Mr. Caanon's long spear kept them at bay. Also in this area is a large executioner called Death Carrier who is a very tough fight if you are not fast with your evades. Last but not least, nearby is a "walker" (reaper) who I could detect with my magic. It's definitely a scary place!

SouthEast Wing: King Plumper's Territory
Protected by a barrier from two blue feather wizards (and their body guards), the area beyond isn't so bad. Mostly beetles and possibly a wallet frog, unless you go looking for trouble (which we did) and located another wizard and a purple air elemental who we just left alone. The main inhabitants here are the Junk Metals Highwaymen and their leader King Plumper, with whom Mighty Dog wants to initiate trade with. While Mr. Plumper is quite personable his men are not and will still attack on sight!

North Wing: Execution Chamber
The most dangerous place in the keep is right after a passage with many beetles. It is a large hall with roaming wizards, guards and another Death Carrier. Worse still is that there are at least two reapers present here. Thanam managed to find a route past and located the survey team in the following room and they needed someone to defeat "Scapegoat" who was blocking their research. Caanon dealt with him and his zombies but reported seeing a strange sorceress appear right after. He claims she took the soul of his fallen enemy before vanishing again.

Something like this!

Once the path was cleared the survey team activated a nearby beacon so that we could escape back to town, which we did in a hurry. We weren't yet out of danger though because once we returned there was a mad elven wizard named Solfus (pk) waiting at the gates attacking everyone. I and a few locals helped the guards fight him off before he vanished into the back streets. With the evil spreading even to here I can only hope Mighty Dog is ok back in that keep.

-Selenka