The Cursed: Luremoron

[Part of the Cursed story line]

A secret passage leads from the jelly well down into a massive cave system inhabited by demon summoning wolfweres. Stealthing doesn't work too well on the main floor so Cristiana and Reise summon up a small army of invisible stalkers and aerial servants to help them cleanse the place fully.

Luckily the lycanthropes had been working on a portal to escape the caves, so the team finishes it by collecting the required gems scattered around the lower caves of the area though Marchon almost dies to a dire bear of all things.

To be fair, the thing is massive.

Once the portal is repaired the team step through buffed and invisible - finding themselves right in the Luremaster's throne room. Ironically, the idiot also can't see invisible so with haste and first strike he is destroyed before he can summon any help. He leaves behind a magic ring that transports the party back to Lonelywood.

Insight: Invisibility is still handy when entering the sub-caves as all but one of them opens with an ambush. This way you get to position and strike first, preferably at the enemy casters.

The Cursed: Chaos Court

[Part of the Cursed story line]

With Wyldfene's lies exposed, the barbarians begin fighting each other - basically the loyalist Wyrm tribe against all the others, including the six outsiders. Reise almost dies but once the Wyrmers are down the remaining barbarians call off the invasion and treat the adventurers as heroes - asking them to pursue the dragon spirit to the sea of moving ice and slay it there once and for all.

The team decide to think about it first and return to Lonelywood to sell loot - only to deal with an assassin (and a bunch of mercs taken out by the wizard innkeep). Unfortunately a halfling agent manages to kidnap them using his magic ring, taking them far away to a castle courtyard in the Aranaoch desert!

Invisibility is handy!

After an initial ambush from harpies and wyverns, Reise decides she's had enough of getting blindsided and so makes use of her new mass invisibility spell to quickly hide the party and scout the entire courtyard area avoiding more conflict.

Insight: Mass invisibility is not as good a singular invisibility. The duration is shorter and monsters can sometimes still "sense" you and follow you around. The only upside is that it's more convenient to cast.

The Cursed: Lonely Banished Wood

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Opting to deal with the barbarians first, the squad heads to Lonelywood where the girls explore the town, help out who they can and go shopping at the Temple of Waukeen while the guys hit the tavern and end up bedding the local whore.

The next day they make the trek to the massive barbarian camp whose normally warring tribes were now under the leadership of their great king Wyldfene - risen from the dead to reclaim their rightful lands. Wyldfene agrees to an audience with them, but they are unable to come to any sort of truce despite Wyldfene's shaman siding with the adventurers.

Ahh, the traditional form of barbarian negotiation...

Ultimately, the risen King banishes the lot of them via gate to Burial isle to "wait for death". While the shaman is happy to do this (for honor and all), the team is less so and use hastened invisibility to quickly scout the island. It is crawling with wights and spirits who are moaning that their great king is just being worn by something else like a meat sack.

When proof of this is brought back to the shaman, he is willing to break their exile (since he can cast gate too) but insists the team find the Gloomfrost seer to help in unmasking Wyldfene.

Insight: There is some really nice (and expensive) gear in Lonelywood. Be sure to browse all the shops properly for things you can use.

Today I Smiled: Storm King's Thunderbolt Fantasy

"Hey, you're one of the heroes who has beaten Baphomet, slain Orcus, and helped defeat Tiamat! Can you please go catch 200 fish for us?" -Lonelywood Moron

I'm now a few days into the Storm King's Thunder Module in Neverwinter Online, and while it's pretty cool thus far I do have to question the inclusion of that moronic fishing quest at Lonelywood, perhaps designed by a crazy who worships Slenderman. It does seem to be very grindy campaign wise too, but I'll wait till I'm further along before commenting more on that. A little disappointed that there are no living root bridges at Lonelywood too, almost as much as learning that AllSpice is not all spices put together.

In blog news, I'll be starting up my Dark Souls adventure log shortly so that there's more variety than just Skyrim all day, everyday. What really has me smiling though is this show Juris and I stumbled on last weekend called Thunderbolt Fantasy. If you like anime, then give it a try. If you don't like anime - STILL give it a try because holy heck, does it have a strong opening. Even my wife got sucked in right away. Not bad for a show using dolls / puppets huh? That's it for today - not leaving a usual music clip for you this time because the music in Thunderbolt Fantasy is awesome enough. Seriously though, watch it! :P

It's the best puppet show I know of!