Adventure Journals

My little library of "books" regarding my in-game experiences and adventures.
The date beside each is when it was last updated. :)

Note: This page has been rolled into the Projects and Journals section. Please visit that post by clicking here for an up to date listing!

Stories:
The End-Times [23 Feb 2015] 
Nameless (Creative Writing Experiment) [18 Feb 2015]
Tales of the Blight [19 Nov 2014]
Revista de la Presidenta [17 Oct 2014]
A Touch of Wizardry [16 Jun 2014]
Sacred: Journey Journal [29 May 2014]
Diary of a Marked One [10 May 2014]
Odd Jobs of Neverwinter [9 Mar 2014]
Dead Island Diary [26 Feb 2014]
The Darklands [4 Jan 2014]
Explorer of Tyria [20 Oct 2013]
XCOM: Defenders of the Earth [28 Jul 2013]
Skyrim's Adventure Journal [15 Jan 2013]

Explorer of Tyria

Thanks to my guild, I've been given Guild Wars 2 and thought I'd record my experiences in the game, just like I did with Diary of a Marked One and Skyrim Adventure Journal. :)

Possible spoilers ahead:
1.   Week #1 - Where am I?
2.   Week #2 - Burninating the Countryside
3.   Week #3 - Late to the Party
4.   Week #4 - Memory of a Flame
5.   Week #5 - Dragon Down (gained Order of Whispers Banner)
6.   Week #6 - Falling from High Places (reached level 80)
7.   Week #7 - The Furthest Lands (100% World Completion)
8.   Week #8 - Miserable Mesmer (gained Priory Banner)
9.   Week #9 - Racing the Clock
10. Week #10 - Different Roads (gained Vigil Banner)
11. Week #11 - Setting the Board
12. Week #12 - High Forces
13. Week #13 - Out of Content
14. Failures of Communication
15. Week #14 - Hibernation Elsewhere 
16. Stockbroker Wars 2
17. The Fall of Zhaitan
18. Flame, Frost and Donkey Kong
19. Deal Breaker: Melted Alliance
20. Your reward is Crabs
21. Dragons Bashed
22. Path of Pirates? I don't think so.
23. Aspects of Fun
24. Achievement Based Play
25. Vote for Ellen Kiel!
26. Ellen Kieled it! Time to celebrate with the Queen!
27. Queen's Gauntlet: Thief Experience
28. Treasures of the Crown Pavillion
29. Mabi improving Guild Wars 2
30. Invasion of the Everything
31. Preparation is Half the Battle
32. Box 2: A Less Super Adventure
33. Dragon Hunter Rox
34. The Maddening Grinds

Bonus Guides:
Fastest 100% World Completion

Due to not being able to log in (thanks ArenaNet), this story has ended. Thanks for reading!

Curiosity Fed the Cat

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! In this entry I am following my custom scenario "A Curse of Iron". You can follow the rest of the story here!

After sneaking across Dragon Bridge (guards will probably cane me) we continued on our journey past a friendly pair of Vigilants of Stendarr and then into Fort Snowhawk which was controlled by Stormcloak soldiers who recognized me from the war. Managed to take a lot of food some iron arrows and some hide armor. Also ditched the two hander and lumber axe for a pickaxe and regular sized iron sword. After cooking up what food I could we continued through the Morthal marsh fighting past a charrus reaper, a trio of horkers (for their meat) and a number of bandits, off whom I could scavenge better fur armor parts.

Reaching the start of the snowy region we came across another group of bandits taking down a big mammoth. Killed them off and took what I could before running into their nearby camp. There were only three of them, but it was a very tough fight. After killing the first guy, Wynna took an axe to the face leaving me to handle the remaining two dudes with a handfull of arrows that ran out quickly. Managed to finish the next guy with my sword before having to run circles around the final bow guy. Luckily my trick from Stalker Online worked here too, as I found a "sleeping" alpha snow sabrecat and hid near it. The fool woke it up by looking for me and became kitty litter while I made my escape.

This one loves breakfast in bed.

Finally reached Dawnstar where I -wasn't- a wanted man (for a change). Decided to hit the iron mine and smelter then pushed on to a nearby deserted imperial camp where I used their forge to make a matching iron sword to my current one and upgraded both of them. Unfortunately there were no tanning racks around for me to make use of the hides from wolves and such I had been collecting though, so I pushed on - scavenging a small lighthouse for food then sneaking past a lazy giant snowbear before finally reaching Winterhold where I marched directly to the Mages College.

I found everyone gathered at the main hall, preparing for a seminar so I pulled my old teacher Tolfdir aside and explained my situation. He was intrigued and said that a few weeks ago someone had stolen something from the library's restricted section. Since no travellers had been reported coming in he assumes it had to be an inside job, and could be related to my problem. While the mages could come and go, they were currently all here so it was the perfect time to find the culprit.

Station Lockdown

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Turns out R4wEC, my new ecuadorian friend, had a lot of quests to complete in the Lubech station area so I decided to help him out - killing dogs and brownies mainly while keeping an eye out for spare parts wherever we travelled. He also advised me to steer clear of the Last_Light clan as they were "looters", an interesting assessment. It was slow going - back and forth in the mist but it was good to have someone watching my back and vice versa. Made a little money selling mutant parts at the Police Station but my funds were drying up pretty quick due to the price of ammo. Really need to find more "arts" soon.

They fetch a lot of money!

We were also both given a task to courier some documents to "the second post" wherever that was, but more alarmingly the gate guards today did NOT want us to exit this area due to the horrible mutants outside. Interesting indeed as I didn't think the gate would be "one way". Not a big deal however as we just took the tunnels underneath the wall, a quick trip since I had previously explored the whole of this underground area.

Once top side we decided to try again for "the city", blasting the mutts that got in the way and carefully avoiding wind and fire anomalies on the road. An encounter with a lone stalker of the First_Light faction startled R4wEC a little until I pointed out they were probably different clans. Got lucky on our approach as none of the other stalkers at the village us till we were in the protection of the guard zone. I say lucky because some of them were packing some scoped high-powered rifles, and we would have been easy pickings coming down the open road during the day like we did. In any case we made it and R4wEC went to get some shut eye while I headed to the chef for some chow.

Crisscross Scouting

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

The next day I decided to try finish a few more quests at the Station so I made my way back towards the apartment complex via a different route, encountering Revenants! These zombie guys were a little scary but alone were still no match against automatic rifles. I eventually came across a "gate guard" manning a large metal fence to a walled off zone. He let me through back into the misty dusk of the Station area where I then proceeded to sweep through the various sectors in the grid, killing a lot more brownies in my house to house searches.

Someone should have put this sign up. :P

A fenced-off section in the North East was home to large numbers of mutants too, dangerous due to the numbers they came in be they rats, brownies or spiders in the playground.

Eventually I found the Palace of Culture which I had somehow missed earlier) which had the entrance to the underground beside it. Followed the stairs down into the Labyrinth to
find it wasn't at all as mazey as I had first hought. It was big, but easily navigatable. Once outside I explored to the edges of the train track to the South finding only more large packs of wild dogs roaming the streets.

After spending the night with the next gate guards I awoke to the sound of gunfire - another stalker named R4wEC was shooting down the mischevious canines so I went to help him. We partied up and decided to try head for "the city" but on the way there encountered a pair of other stalkers heading the opposite way, giving us a warning that a duo of well-armed bandits waited up ahead. Just as well as my new companion had tasks to complete in the Station area anyway, so we hoofed it to the nearest gate and returned to the fog.

Bear-ly Returning Alive

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Back tracking to the old farm was trickier than I thought as violent wandering bears had taken up residence in the fields and forests I needed to cross. Ironically in Ultima Online, Skyrim, and Mabinogi where my character has a sword and bow I can take out bears just fine. Here where I have an AK-47 I empty an entire clip into the beast and still lose. :P

It's like the bastards were waiting for me.

After a few attempts I managed to sneak past. Also encountered "normal" spiders who are actually easier to handle that the small counterparts (bigger target, still low HP). Was pretty smooth going from there until I reached the first SILENCE fort I visited - the guards there opened fire! I guess it is to do with how much time is left before the base comes under siege? Anyway I just steered clear and ran back up the hill to the road and through the broken wall back to the city.

A large shape lurked in the burned forest nearby though - it was another bear. Being a smart-ass I shot the thing and bolted to the town gates. Didn't get loot or XP since the town sentry killed it (eventually) but it felt good seeing one dead for a change. After selling various critter bits I was carrying I upgraded my gear according to Pioyer's previous instructions then repaired my nearly empty guns, and bought fresh ammo too. A fair number of Last_Light faction members were beginning to enter the town (accompanied by loud gunfire) so I figured it was best to lay low at this point and let them passby. Sure enough, I spotted Null25 on approach in the far distance of the fading light just before I found some dark shadows to conceal myself in.

Country Walkabout

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

It was pretty easy going, traveling the country. The thing I saw earlier was a fortress controlled by the SILENCE faction. Seems they controlled a large portion of the midlands here as my journey North-East led me to two more of their strongholds (the one on top of a mountain was really nice)! The guards seemed friendly enough too. Killed more boars and spiders as I trekked through forest and field to another fort, this one held by the GROM_INT group. Less friendly here as they didn't even let me trade with them but at least I could spend the night in safety. At the break of dawn I continued East into the tall grass and I must have stepped on a spider nest or something because before I knew it, dozens of the arachnids were on my case.

If these are "small" I'd hate to see what "big" ones are!

Managed to kill all the leggy insects and make it back to a road where I fought and killed a mountain brutor. I wonder if this muscular dwarf is related to the burers? I tried to continue down the road through the valley but there was some large-scale anomaly here causing me to stagger. Kinda missed my psy-helmet now too. Pulled back and opted to follow the road West instead. Made for easy travelling again and though I thought I heard distant gunshots at one point, I didn't run into a single soul on this journey. Took a small dirt path North to some old farms but found them quite empty. After spending the night by a campfire I pushed on across the fields to another small deserted village. Looked like everything here was looted.

With no more map to the West I followed the road South, finding some larger boars now. Another fort, this one held by the GROM faction, was coming up but I didn't make it there as their sentries opened fire on me! Had to backtrack to the empty village to lick my wounds and rest up for the night. I had less than half the ammo I started with now, and my guns were slowly deteriorating. As nice as it was out here I had no choice but to try make my way back to the city eventually.

Which is a pity because it can be really nice out here.

A Good Place

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

As we trekked down a lonely road we passed multiple anomalies, some moving around. Larger mutated dogs prowled the streets here, and I took note that even my heavily armored companion was sniping them from as far away as he could. Eventually I saw where we were headed, a small village on the outskirts of the metropolitan area. Smoke from the chimneys were a tell-tale sign of life. Came across a poison anomaly on the road first which Pioyer pointed out had an "art". He instructed me to learn to pick it up which was quite painful, but I managed to get out before dying. With a short congratulation we continued to the village which boasted every single type of shop I've seen so far - what Pioyer called "the city". He explained that selling "arts" was the best way to make money and after selling the one I got for 30k, I really believed him.

He then took me to the local outfitters and got me to buy a backpack which allowed me to carry 10 kgs more weight. After advising what armor I should buy next when I had enough funds, he took his leave - having to rest up for future adventures. Alone again, I decided to explore the surroundings during the day, finding more brownies in houses and learning the big dogs had a bigger aggro range (nothing the AK couldn't handle though). Also found some small boars and a "small" spider (not very small) that Emile was talking about before as well as a line of guild houses nearby. Most importantly I bagged another artifact, this one selling for 50k! At night I explored the village more, and noted there were much fewer stalkers out here (counted around 4 separate people) which made sense.



Yeah, I'm not going out there at night.

Figured that since I was in pretty good shape equipment wise, I went for minor repairs then headed out to explore this region. Started my journey with the nearby burnt forest, taking down a couple of young boars on the way to a broken part of the wall. After crossing the rubble and climbing a rise I found myself on a road! I checked my map and saw that I could go anywhere from here so since old habits die hard, I decided to follow it North but soon got side tracked off it to explore some buildings I could see in the distance across the plains. 

Looks much better in the day.

Journey to the City

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

There was a lot more traffic at the station today as I counted seven other stalkers talking amongst themselves, doing business or just passing through. Loaded up some ammo then took a task to find out what brownies eat. Fortunately for me, it's not people - as a wandering one managed to knock me out after my gun jammed. After getting it repaired and getting healed up I was running quite low on money and ammo so I thought I'd try go for an ammo stash I heard about hidden somewhere in a nearby warehouse. The place now acted as a giant dog pen though, with those mutated mutts all over the place. Killed a few before the sound of a heavy rifle scared the bejeezus out of me. It was a polish pro-stalker named Pioyer and he was showing an american "newbie" called Emile the ropes. I asked if I could loot the heads since they were leaving them behind and he said it was fine. He also said that I should tag along - I didn't find the ammo stash but I did find a teacher.

A teacher with a heavy machinegun.

He took us to a field near the police station to show us anomalies, explaining the whirling death ones were very dangerous and how to retrieve "arts" (artifacts) - suggesting we purchase a magnetic grip when we are able. He offered to take us to the next part of the city (which he called "the city") but Emile refused, wanting to train up first. I was game to do so, but he took one look at me and said I needed gear first. Emile left us to return to hunting dogs while we returned to the station where my new benefactor outfitted me with 10k rubles, leggings, a vest, a hat, and most importantly an AK47 with 700 rounds of ammo! Just as we were preparing to leave my old frenemy, Null25 showed up, having been similarly outfitted by someone else and now belonging to the "Last Light" faction, and asked if he can tag along. I had previously told Pioyer of my last encounter so he knew I wanted to avoid him. This didn't stop Null25 from following us though, leaving me somewhat uneasy.

The trip took us past the police station and a graveyard to another guarded building. This one had stairs down which we took into some spooky looking tunnels. While we were at it Pioyer taught me how to sprint. The tunnels branched out into a bloody labyrinth in the next section and Pioyer pulled me aside down one tunnel and made us wait for a few minutes. We could hear Null25 calling out for our position and in truth I felt bad leaving him out there but I would have felt worse bringing him along. I can only hope he simply turned around and went back to the station. After many turns we eventually came to stairs going up which led us to the middle of a field in an apartment block complex, and the bright sunlight was a good change from the mists of the first area. "Ready your AK," said Pioyer - confirming that we had come to a dangerous place; however this wasn't "the city" Pioyer was referring to.

Those aren't just ordinary dust devils.

Welcome to Lubech

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Eventually the train pulled to a stop at an old looking station surrounded by heavy mist. There were a number of homeless people outside, as well as some well armed security personel. I instinctively checked for my pack but remembered that I had lost pretty much all my gear (and money) catching the damn train in the first place. A man called "Blacksmith" told me where I was, at the city of Lubech - which I've never heard of before... maybe the zone was expanding? He also handed me a map and gave me directions to another guy inside the station proper who was equiping "newbies" with a small medkit and a small pistol with 100 rounds. The interior was pretty well setup, they had electricity, a bar, an apothecary, a number of shops and a courier bank system in place - anything you stored in one bank could be delivered to another as long as your standing at the other end was high enough. Still, this place was quite deserted. Maybe the other guys who came on the train had already moved out?

Having received my "care package" I took a walk out into the streets of perpetual dusk. It reminded me of Silent Hill. Little mutated rats scurried around in the tall grass that was overgrowing the place, and the small delapidated wooden homes nearby were now occupied by little malevolent imps called Brownies. Two bullets were enough to take those fast moving freaks down though, and some houses had random spare parts I could collect for later crafting. Behind the houses I found large packs of mutant puppies - zombie dogs who I used as target practice, and took their heads back to a homeless guy collecting them. The rubles I earned were barely enough to buy back the ammo I had used though so I took a job to deliver a message to a nearby police station in hopes it would pay better. The streets were mostly inhabited by the mutant dogs, but the cop shop wasn't that far away. The building was also guarded by security but had less facilities within, though I did find the clan registar upstairs. There was little money in the task I did though, and with no ammo vendor here I decided to head back to the station before I ran too low.

If pyramid head shows up, I'm outta here.

After restocking I decided to try explore the streets to the south while looking for spare TV parts for another homeless dude. Threw rocks (out of bolts) to make sure no anomalies were ahead of me and carefully avoided a cluster or rats beside a burned out car. I hadn't gotten very far when suddenly I was being shot at! I turned around to see another stalker/bandit named Null25 shooting at me from near point blank! Fortunately these pistols are crap, so I managed to survive and empty a clip in his direction. Decided to make a run for it while he took cover, but it wasn't long before he and his bullets were after me again though (at least it looked like it) so I carefully positioned myself on the street to bait him to take cover behind the burned out car and soon enough he did. Not sure if my plan worked, but between me shooting him and the rat pack that should have been nibling his feet he retreated back into the station. I used the opportunity to do the same. Once inside the guards deterred any futher shooting and he apologized for shooting at me, thinking I was a bandit. Told him not to worry about it and decided to spend the rest of the day resting up indoors, under the watchful eye of the guards.

Diary of a Marked One

A journal about my re-run through Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl using the mega Stalker Soup MOD. I've previously won this game (as well as Clear Sky, Call of Pripyat, and Metro 2033) years ago but the new gameplay mechanics are bound to keep things fresh and exciting. Even if they don't I'm such a big fan of the Stalker series that I wouldn't mind playing it again anyway! I had originally thought to just go in using "the Collector" which begins the gameplay -after- the main story is finished but where's the fun in that?

Later on I'm continuing the tale in Borderlands which has a similar setting to the Stalker universe anyway.

And so, after ramping up the difficulty to the hardest mode, the adventure through the radioactive zone begins...

1. Tripping out at the Cordon 
2. Wrong side of the Tracks 
3. Another Mans Treasure 
4. In-depth Research
5. A Bar full of Bullets 
6. Rostok Rumba
7. Southern Circuit
8. Descent Into the Dark Valley 
9. Escape from the Dark Valley
10. Surprises in the Swamp
11. One Heck of a Detour
12. Drive and Draw
13. Return of the Yantar
14. Another Lab of Horror
15. Guns make the World go around
16. Night of the Full Moon
17. Breaking Dawn 
18. Anomaly at the End of the World
19. America! Fuck Yeah!
20. Monolithic Defense
21. Welcome to Lubech (moved to Stalker Online Beta)
22. Journey to the City
23. A Good Place
24. Country Walkabout 
25. Bear-ly Returning Alive
26. Crisscross Scouting
27. Station Lockdown
28. Bus to the Badlands (moved to Borderlands)
29. Let the Cleansing Begin
30. Steroids aren't the Key
31. Hammer Time
32. Auto Duel
33. Ghosts and Monster Trucks
34. Things Great and Small
35. What's up DAHL?
36. How to deal with Scum 
37. A Lance of Crimson
38. Sherrif of the Wastes
39. Melting Moments
40. There can be only One
41. Intentional Miscommunications
42. Impaired Living
43. The Best Cure is Bullets
44. Familiar Ground
45. Defeating the Creator
46. Memories of the Fall (moved to Farcry 3)
47. The Warrior's Path
48. Independent Princess
49. I've got the Stones
50. Deals and Devils
51. That's not a Knife
52. Peekaboo! Guess Who?
53. Trippin Balls
54. The South Island
55. Crazy Monkeys
56. This Little Piggy
57. Killing is Winning
58. A New Target
59. The Long Way Around
60. Gear Check
61. Bunker Down
62. Drug Worship 
63. Hard Earned Riches