BDO: Named Delegate

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

The elven Queen Brolina has requested military aid from Calpheon to help in their civil war against her sister Viorencia's "Ahibs" and my job is to assess the situation so the council can better make a decision to accept or not. In addition to the civil war, the black spirit seems to be riling up other fauna and flora to be more hostile - the most immediate threat being one of the elves primary food sources.

Now, if you had a city full of sheerly dressed supermodel type women and required an appropriate threat for them what would you design? If your answer was gigantic mobile mushrooms brimming with long tentacles then maybe you should work for Pearl Abyss, because that's exactly what is in the neighboring forests and I end up helping slay hundreds of these, mainly because the elves love getting tentacle shrooms inside them. As food. I think.

Obviously they aren't the only threat as more scary centaurs and blue cat people lurk in the woods. I slaughter a lot of those blue cats as they manage to destroy my awesome fish suit.  Also, while solving riddles from a centaur shaman requires I actually say the answer in the chat box which finally means I need a family name! Being super creative, I use the exact name I gave my character. :P

Damn selfish blue cat people that don't want to share their unobtanium!

The elves clearly find that stupid, and promptly show me the pass over the mountains back to the lumber village of Trent. My delegate touring days are over.

Insight: As stupid as it looked, I really like the fish suit as the swim bonus it gives is incredible. Apparently it also helps fishing!

BDO: Desert Tourist

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

For a big "empty" desert, the Black Desert actually has a lot of stuff in it. Tiny ruins with pilgrims (NPCs playing ATITD no doubt!), little oasis camps and of course the massive city of Valencia which is easily spotted from very far away.

In the tale of "Curiosity killed the Cat", don't be the cat.

I spend a few days there, lending a low-key helping hand for their eternal balloon festivals and carting various things around (like poop. I literally carted camel poop to the herbalist), but find no trace of Illezra so I continue East to the opposite end of the desert and find the small tropical beach town of Arehaza which is another cute retirement spot.

Clearly having hit a dead end in my search, I opt to retrace my steps and while doing so, rescue a merchant whose caravan was raided by basilisk men. Since the goods were meant for the Valencian Royal family I get to meet Prince Barhan Nesser, who is stationed at the Sand Grain Bazaar to report the theft. The Prince is thankful and subsequently requests my aid in getting his Katar soldiers to withdraw from the centauran conflict.

To do this I am sent as an envoy to the Bashim clan to get them to attack the centaurans instead. These satyrs are very violent, and after killing a small army of them just to talk to their chief, I am tasked with killing that number again to prove my strength before they finally agree to commit troops to the centauran war front... because killing people is the best way to make friends.
 
Insight: Each of your mounts can carry stuff too! Might be an idea to store carrots on horses and acacia leaves on camels as those are the "stam refill" items for those mounts.

BDO: Across the Sands

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Following my only lead I continue East and find Prince Bareeds III and his retinue, who were also headed to Valencia, holed up at the way station of Rock Fort. Apparently the road ahead is blocked by scary centaurans (yep, centaurs) so I do some scouting and confirm the centaurs are indeed scary (since I'm undergeared for this zone)!  There aren't too many of them on the road though, so I manage to rush past into a canyon mouth which the Katar soldiers of Valencia keep secure.

A little bit beyond them is the Sand Grain Bazaar - a large trading post and settlement which sits right on the border of the great desert. It is here that I learn how to dig up muddy water, filter it, and turn it into tea - essential skills since in the desert you can get heat stroke during the day (need filtered water to cool down) and hypothermia during the night (need star anise tea to warm up). Fortunately, these two effects seem to be turned off for the time being due to the Oasis event.

The desert isn't as black as I thought it would be.

I also earn a camel (slower but more suited to desert travel) by assisting the outpost against desert nagas who are spilling out of their temple. Some of them hit hard but they don't have a great deal of HP so they are quite manageable. At last I'm ready to venture out into the sands and immediately find that the desert turns off the mini map and any quest pathing. Any navigation will have to be done the old fashioned way!

Insight: Having no mini map might be scary but only because players would be used to it by now. While the desert is kinda big, it is not overly huge. Also, you can always tell what direction you are headed in so just use real life skills to keep track of land marks (which don't move) and get a general idea of where to go. High dunes also are good to climb to spot which way to go next.

Eador: Overlord of Worlds

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

The wizard Arzang is hired to attack Erdu's magical shard (which is great for wizards) and does well with the initial sword rush strategy. Progress slows a little when he finds Erdu guarded by many centaur tribes and loses many adventurers fighting through the herd of horsemen.

Finally reached nuke level warfare.

Once he does reach Erdu's castle he unleashes a rain of brimstone (ritual) to soften up the defenses before attacking, and easily captures the enemy fortress. Erdu is captured and sent to magical facilities for study and experimentation. Who knows what one may learn from ancient physiology? Do they regenerate finger nails and sexual organs for example? These are important questions that Nesturs wants answers to.

With no other masters left, Nesturs easily rebuilds the planet Eador and becomes known to the general populace as the Creator and Protector God. For others, the Conqueror and the Overlord of Worlds.

Eador: Out with the Old

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

With Lan'sharr gone, the wizard Niredor and his commander brother Mencor are hired on a small unclaimed but "developed" shard, almost fully explored with large cities and easily take out the citadels of Oinor and Stenriya simultaneously. The two masters now openly despise Nesturs so Mencor is sent to her world of rust to eliminate Stenriya first.

While Mencor's gear deteriorates quickly here, his troops do not suffer the same penalties which lead him to victories against pegasi, centaurs and the undead defending the castle. Mencor is victorious, but Stenriya, having forseen the outcome, flees into space - vowing revenge.

Out numbered and out leveled, doesn't make a difference.

Meanwhile wizard Assagh is deployed to to handle Oinor, and finds himself in lousy lands with little to no resources (no wonder Oinor always loses). Scout Olchyr is recruited to assist and forms an alliance with the local lizardmen. After defeating a centaur tribe guarding Oinor's castle, the old mage is thrown out on the street and publicly executed.

Nesturs had thought about sparing the Oinor, but then realized only a fool would let his foes live.

Eador: Exploding Units are the Worst

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

The scout, Dynrigg is sent to the next shard against Beleth's forces where he enlists the aid of dryads, fairies and finding that most of this land is faithful almost to the point of zealotry to "the Lord of Light". Since they still view Nesturs as "good" they do let Dynrigg pass through, but aren't as friendly to Beleth's evil champion.

Poison damages all opponents!

Dynrigg eventually lays siege to Beleth's stronghold there, and despite catastrophic losses to centaurs allied to the necromancer, the scout is successful, partially thanks to his success in poisoning their water supply before the battle but mostly thanks to the exploding gargoyles he learned to summon during his time with Archmage Kelaide.

Meanwhile in the void, another master appears - the barbarian Doh-Gor who wields a powerful magic amulet. He openly states his intent on destroying Nesturs. Soon.