Arcane Awesomeness

Things have been going really well lately over in the Order of Arcanes. I've been happy about the amount of activity going on, new members joining and general atmosphere within the organisation. This was best highlighted by over the weekend where we all three of our leaders leading successful runs with a total of seven different members joining in on the action.

The first run was led by Ashetaka our number one to the Mountain of Lost Souls. The aim was to make some shades of light which are always in demand. It had been a long time since I had done that run myself. Despite a couple of minor hiccups along the way it went well. Using my barbarian I managed to get a couple of killing blows on some of the mobs along the way like this:

Your rending grip injures The bringer of Salvation!
The bringer of Salvation is DEAD!!
With the final blow, Salvation pulls back its mask revealing the face of a demon imp!
The bringer of Salvation says 'You have brought me the Salvation I sought.. '
The bringer of Salvation says 'Here is the Redemption you were looking for... May it bring you closer towards your own deliverance.'
From inside a gaping wound, Salvation pulls out a large object.
The bringer of Salvation gasps his last breath and blood spurts out of his mouth and ears.
The bringer of Salvation has no gold.
The corpse of The bringer of Salvation holds:
     (Glowing) the darkened robe of atonement
     (Humming) a small rune covered symbol named, 'Salvation'
     (Humming) a large rune covered symbol named, 'Redemption'

After this run I led a run to the Barren Wastes to make some leather leggings with a feathered trim. The first part of this involved killing the enormous winged beast. This part was easy enough though I learnt it is a lot easier with either 2 barbarians or 2 thieves instead of one of each. After this we did the giant serpent. Most of the run notes I see for this mob suggest using barbarians but I've found thieves work much better. With three thieves running in, circling and fleeing out when necessary we brought the serpent down with no problems. In the end the wanderer turned up and made the leggings:

You give a roll of feathery beige fabric to The wanderer.
The wanderer ruffles his fingers through the feathers of the roll of fabric, then bend the scaley hide back and forth, testing its pliability.
The wanderer thinks, 'Hmmmm.'
The wanderer says 'Shouldn't be too difficult.'

The wanderer takes a few unidentifiable tools from a small pouch and begins to work on the fabric and hide.

The wanderer tugs at the finished product, testing its durability.
The wanderer says 'Not bad, I'd think.  If you like feathers.'
The wanderer gives you leather leggings with a feathered trim.

Finaly Sarakin led a run to Salburg to kill the trees that pop parts to make the Ancient Breastplate of the Forest Wanderer.

These mobs aren't too hard to kill but they take a long time even with three people. In the end though we killed them without too much difficulty:

Your slash rips an old willow tree!
An old willow tree is DEAD!!
An old willow tree falls, cutting off a few of its whip-like branches.
An old willow tree catches its guts in its hands as they pour through its fatal
wound!
An old willow tree has no gold.
The corpse of An old willow tree holds:
     the curled branches of an old willow tree

I am far from the best run leader though I like to think of myself as competent at most of easy runs and a few of the harder ones. Between these three runs it reminded me of a few of my aims when leading a run:

• Make everyone feel welcome and that they are contributing
• Be extra prepared when leading. Have extra tank potions, ice girths, back up characters, etc.
• Be patient and explain everything - don't assume people have done this run before or remember all the details.
• Don't waste time. Once set get going and go so you don't get caught out with a repop hitting at a bad time.
• Know what to do when things go wrong (which they will at some point)

What I am most excited about though with these three runs is the potential of where we are going as an organisation and as individual players. We are improving our teamwork, learning each others strengths and weaknesses, building up knowledge of different areas and mobs while gaining some nifty new equipment. If we can keep this up we'll be able to run bigger mobs for better equipment in these areas. Hopefully in the not too distant future we'll be able to go after Khiurn'hai in the Mountain of Lost Souls, get the wanderer to make us some facestompers and dense wooden bracers in the Barren Wastes and maybe even take on Zharruk'din  in the City of Salburg.

14 Tips to being an Expert Explorer

Knowing the secrets of the game by solving all of the puzzles, finding the hidden rooms and items is a big part of the Realms of Despair game. Some knowledge is guarded and only told to trusted players so as to give their group an edge. With the following news item came this gold nugget of information:

As a side note, we will be trying to put in a number of new and previously
enjoyed Smaug areas (updated to modern standards) over the coming months.
Stay Tuned!

In this post I've written about some of the tips and tricks to exploring I've seen through out various areas of the Realms of Despair. While some puzzles are well known others I've been asking a few players about that they have not seen around. As a result I'm posting my tips and tricks in order of most commonly known to more hidden tricks.

 

Tip 1 - Have detect invis, hidden and traps

One of the most basic bits of advice is have these spells or the equivalent on when exploring. Gith characters start with detect invis imbued in them so make a good race for exploring lower level areas. Most people know this but it is always worth checking they haven't worn off or you never know what you will miss.

 

Tip 2 - Look/examine everything

Another obvious bit of advice but check everything when exploring. I think the first place I ever saw a use for this was when as a newer player I first explored Tullfuhrzky Manor and came across the following:

A Luxurious Living Room
You find yourself in a comfortable living room.  Beautiful artwork adorns
the walls, and you take a second to look at it all.  A crackling fire burns
in the fireplace.  A large, sturdy oak chair and a nice couch makes this
place feel like home.  Turning around, you see the curtains which prevented
you from looking through the windows.  There are also a few potted plants
sitting next to the windows, soaking up sunlight.  A beautiful grandfather
clock sits against the west wall.  A staircase leads up from here.
Exits: north east south up

>exam clock
You place your hands on the clock, and...it moves!  There's a secret passage
behind here!

>op secret
You open the passage.

I felt like a real player when I found that around level 10 on my first character. What was even better is the secret passage led to some nice equipment that I could use to maximise my constitution stat for the first time. Just be careful to type in the full word for the item you are looking it. Also don't forget that you can look under some items as well.

Tip 3 - Bump
Bumping is the trick to finding hidden rooms by just entering directions that are not mentioned as exits and seeing if you bump into a new room or get a message about some door blocking your way. This works well with the scry spell. I have a scryall alias set up so that I can quickly scry in all of the main directions when I walk into a new room. An example of it's uses are here in the Tower of Despair.

The Library
The denizen that resides here has a great love of books and scrolls.  The
shelves overflow with tomes, maps, scrolls and treatises.  The width and
breadth of subjects is astounding.  The shelves throw long shadows across
the candlelit chamber.  A slight breeze cools your skin.
Exits: west
(Red Aura) A shadow from the bookcase metamorphs into a human form.

>l north
The bookshelf is closed.

The above shows that there is a secret exit hidden to the north behind a bookshelf.

Tip 4 - Search and dig everywhere
Sometimes there are pretty obvious clues to dig or search in a particular room. Often there will be a message about disturbed soil or something similar. Other times there will be no clues at all but something useful hidden away such as:

A Wind Torn Beach
Twisted, stunted trees line the beach, their tortured roots extending into
the waves as if seeking relief in the cool waters of the sea. Fluttering in
the gusts of wind that blow in from the ocean, grey spanish moss dangles from
the branches, enveloping the almost barren limbs in a funeral shroud.
Exits: west down northeast

>search
You begin your search...

Your search reveals a coral monkey!

Also with that make sure you have a shovel item in your inventory to help with digging. I should also mention about searching containers. If you ever examine a chest and find it is empty but the description of it does not match up then there is something hidden inside it such as the following chest in Bartok Grove.

>exam chest
You take a closer look at a leather bound chest on the ground...
You see nothing special.
A leather bound chest appears to be nearly full.
A leather bound chest contains:
     Nothing.

>search chest
You begin your search...

Your search reveals a pair of rose tinted eyeglasses!

Tip 5 - Break things
One of the newer commands and tricks is the break command. Try it out on anything you can your hands on because you never know when it will work such as the following in Winterlight Island.

A Snowy Pathway
The road is thickly packed with snow, drifts on either side encroaching each footstep, making the pathway little more than a railing-width of clearing for travelers to step upon. A nearly buried hovel has been left untended to the northwest, a possible shelter...but apparently not a popular one, as the rickety doorway is piled high with unswept snow. Thick icicles droop from the rooftop, melding into the drifts to create a cagelike sculpture of ice.
Exits: south northeast [northwest]

>exam icicle
The icicles are insanely long. You might be able to break one off, if you wanted to.

>break icicle
You easily snap off a long, deadly icicle.

>i
You are carrying 8 items and have room for 12 more:
     the sigil of Vl'aresch
     a brown leather satchel
     a fate banshee's pouch
     a small birch chest (2)
     (Glowing) a rune-covered bag
     a small pick axe
     a long, deadly icicle

>c id icicle
Object 'a long, deadly icicle' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 50 thrusting weapon, weight 1.
Locations it can be worn:  wield
Special properties:  two-handed
Classes allowed:  Warrior Paladin
This weapon has a gold value of 0.
Damage is 6 to 54 (average 30).
Causes elemental damage: 'icy' 50%.
Affects damage roll by 6.
Affects resistant:cold by 5%.
Affects dexterity by -1.

>You take a closer look at a long, deadly icicle in inventory...
This monstrous icicle is nearly your own height, almost too large to consider using as a weapon... but with two hands, it might be possible to jab the pointy end into someone.
This seems to be a thrusting weapon.
It appears to be within or below your level range.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in superb condition. 

Tip 6 - Eat things
There are a few cases in the game where you can eat an item to create another. One place where this works is in the area of Nevermore.

DYING>
Jeanne's deathrattle fills the air as you drain her life...
Your suspiric grasp thrashes Jeanne!
Jeanne is DEAD!!
Jeanne hits the ground ... DEAD.
You get 215600 gold coins from the corpse of Jeanne.
The corpse of Jeanne holds:
     a floral printed apron
     a tray of freshly made buns
     a copper pot

>g buns corpse
You get a tray of freshly made buns from the corpse of Jeanne.

>exam buns
You take a closer look at a tray of freshly made buns in inventory...
The perfectly browned buns have been enhanced with a light apricot glaze.
As you examine it carefully you notice that it is fresh.

>c id buns
Object 'a tray of freshly made buns' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 37 food, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This food has a gold value of 0.

>i
You are carrying 10 items and have room for 10 more:
     a burlap sack
     the sigil of Vl'aresch
     a brown leather satchel
     a fate banshee's pouch
     a small birch chest (2)
     (Glowing) a rune-covered bag (2)
     a small pick axe
     a tray of freshly made buns

>eat buns
As you eagerly gobble up the warm buns, several crumbs lie unnoticed at the corners of your mouth.

>i
You are carrying 10 items and have room for 10 more:
     a burlap sack
     the sigil of Vl'aresch
     a brown leather satchel
     a fate banshee's pouch
     a small birch chest (2)
     (Glowing) a rune-covered bag (2)
     a small pick axe
     a small tray

>exam tray
You take a closer look at a small tray in inventory...
The granular items lurking in the corners of the tray are crumbs.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in superb condition.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

>c id tray
Object 'a small tray' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 2 armor, weight 1.
Locations it can be worn:  shield
Special properties:  none
This armor has a gold value of 0.
Armor class is 6 of 6.
Affects damage roll by 1.

Tip 7 - Sit, stand, sleep...
There are places in the game that are only accessible by first standing on items or sitting in a particular room. For example in the Barren Wastes there is a part of the area only accessible by first standing on a stone.

Behind a Small Shack
The back of the shack, much like the front and side, is void of any kind of entrance or exit.  The support struts seen at the side and front are constructed here as well, though a few large blocks seem to have fallen from the temple and landed on the ground near the shack.  The temple above provides a cool, dry atmosphere for this area, protecting it from the elements.
Exits: northwest
A large block of stone lies here near the shack, roughly square in shape.

>stand stone
You carefully climb atop the large block of stone.

>climb roof
You climb atop the roof with the help of the added height from the large stone block.

Tip 8 - Don't believe everything on Rodpedia
I use rodpedia a lot. It is the best publicly accessible site full of information about the game out there at the moment. It is made by contributions from the public which does mean that there are a few bits of information missing and just because there is a map of an area with a green completed status on it does not mean the map is complete. For example there is a room in the Desert of Despair that can be only accessed by sitting. I've marked it on the map below:

Inside a large tent
Wooden slats lain across sturdy woven baskets operate as tables in what appears to be a makeshift bar. On one side of the tent, a large burly woman stands serving liquids to the few folks that have made time to come in here. Each liquid is scooped from woven casks with a ladle and poured into small ceramic bowls. The patrons don't seem very rowdy. No doubt they have been working hard.
Exits: north
A thin woven cask sits against the wall.
The heavy, lonely barkeep stands behind her casks.

>sit
You sit down.
Pulling a small cask to a table, you make yourself at home.
A makeshift table
The large casks tied together form what some would call a table. Others would call them... well... large casks tied together.  The casks were long ago emptied and have since had knives, axes and swords driven into the wood.
Exits: none

Tip 9 - Talk to and bribe mobs
Some area have mobs that will interact with you when you mention the correct words or even better give them some gold coins as a bribe. It is often worth just saying every word you can think of to do with the area and see if they respond to any of them. On top of that it can be worth just giving them some gold coins to see if that will make them talk. For example again in the Desert of Despair:

>give woman 50000 coins
You give 5,000 coins to A rich woman.
A rich woman says 'You can throw away the pink stone from that wretched cook.'

Tip 10 - wait
In some areas you need to wait around for something to happen. At the right time of day a certain mob may pop up on a sneaky mission or a travelling merchant may pass on by.

Tip 11 - Use the where command
Whenever I go to a new area one thing I do is use the where command with an argument after it to try and find names of mobs that may be hidden in it. I always use the obvious words like dragon, guard, soldier, ogre, vampire, thief... I also use the names of anything I can think of that may be related to the area which can even show up the odd mob you're not supposed to see. Such as in Transylvania:

>Entrance Gate to Transylvania
You approach a large, rotting gate that stands about 15 feet in height. It seems that what was once a beautiful monument to a beautiful city, has decayed to the point of collapse.  Adjusting your eyes to the dim light, you can barely read the words, "Welcome to Transylvania".
You notice a bright golden plaque suspended in mid-air, and can't help but want to look at it.
Exits: north south

>where lestat
| Lestat is currently at Mao's Coffin

Using this to find mobs in the area gives you an idea of things you can try to track or portal to.

Tip 12 - Try killing with different classes, races, aligns or items
This one can be a nuisance. Some mobs in the game only pop items if killed by particular races, classes, aligns or if the person getting the killing blow is carrying a particular item. For example to make the Dragon's Bane sword in The Village of Edo you need to pop the hides from various dragons. These hides will not pop at all unless the person getting the killing blow is carrying a directive from the grandmaster in Edo. Without a directive the killing blow on Shimmergloom is:

Shimmergloom is DEAD!!
The huge black dragon's neck buckles, and its huge head crashes against the pile of treasure upon which it once slept.
Shimmergloom gasps its last breath and blood spurts out of its mouth and ears.
You get 1081600 gold coins from the corpse of Shimmergloom.
You split 1081600 gold coins.  Your share is 540800 gold coins.
The corpse of Shimmergloom holds:
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale leggings
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale arm guards
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale gloves

However with a directive there is no guarantees but you will get an extra line of text:

Shimmergloom is DEAD!!
The huge black dragon's neck buckles, and its huge head crashes against the pile of treasure upon which it once slept.
A piece of Shimmergloom's hide breaks off and shatters into thousands of pieces.
Shimmergloom screams furiously as it falls to the ground in a heap!
You get 1081600 gold coins from the corpse of Shimmergloom.
The corpse of Shimmergloom holds:
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale leggings
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale arm guards
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale gloves

While the successful pop is:

Shimmergloom is DEAD!!
The huge black dragon's neck buckles, and its huge head crashes against the pile of treasure upon which it once slept.
With a horrible tearing sound, a piece of the dragon's hide falls to the ground.
Shimmergloom catches its guts in its hands as they pour through its fatal wound!
You get 1081600 gold coins from the corpse of Shimmergloom.
The corpse of Shimmergloom holds:
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale leggings
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale arm guards
     a shadowy pair of dragonscale gloves

Tip 13 - Use socials
In some situations the trick is to use a certain social in the right room. For example in Daichaal there is a puzzle where you need to use the hshake social. There are clues to it:

Unadorned Offerings
A delicately chiselled alcove fills most of the room, edges limned by white
flames that flicker and dance. At the centre, a worn brass altar sits without
adornment. The walls are covered by velvet drapes of deep green and the floor
is of highly polished marble. No dust appears to have gathered, as if this
chamber is somehow immune to the passing ravages of time.
Exits: southwest

>exam altar
At first seeming entirely plain, the altar reveals more than expected upon
close examination. Etched into the worn surface of the top is a very faint
circle of ancient lettering...

                   Those who extend their hand in peace
                        Shall receive one in return

>hshake
You look for someone to shake hands with.
The very air itself seems to thicken with anticipation.
A slender jade hand, palm outstreched, materialises in the air above the altar.

Some people I know even have aliases set up to use every single social on every mob when they go exploring.

Tip 14 - Don't be scared to ask for help
If you get stumped on an area a fresh pair of eyes can uncover things another may have missed. Ask a friend to have a look around for you. If you have no friends join a guild/order/clan and see if they can help you out. Do a google search for what you are looking for as there may be info on another site somewhere about it. Lastly use a public channel to ask for help - what's the worst that can happen besides silence?

I'm sure everyone who plays this game will have their own advice and tips to add to this list (I'm sure I'll think of things I've left off here over the week). Again if you have any questions about anything feel free to send me a tell.



Facestomping Fun

Tonight I found myself with the two things I haven't been able to obtain:

• uninterrupted time
• a group of people willing to trust me to lead a run

So with this and the available characters the group members had I decided to run a couple of mobs I hadn't killed in a long time from the Barren Wastes. The last time I think I killed anything there was in this post. The first challenge with killing the mobs here is that every single mob has some puzzle that needs to be solved before it can be killed. There are clues as to what is required to be successful, however I was very rusty as to how to solve these.

The first mob I wanted to kill was the horned beast. The problem with this mob is that he is a pacifist mob meaning that you can not attack it. Of course there is a way around this via a puzzle broken up into several smaller puzzles with clues hidden around the area. For the horned beast the two clues as to how to make it killable are on a hidden piece of parchment:

>exam writing
nearly got bitten in half
new strategy, I prefer to stay whole
    blasted thing makes it difficult to stay whole


  in a cavern, I'll cave it in
       crush it with a falling ceiling
broke my foot, ceiling fell on it
    new strategy again
  

And the second is a bit of hidden ascii art that can only be seen if  in the following room:

A Temple Corridor
Thick cracks snake their way through crumbling stone walls, pits and etches
scattered throughout the entirety of the stone slabs.  Along the bottom of
one wall are faded symbols parallel to the floor, a thick layer of dust
obscuring the intricacies of each symbol.
Exits: north south

To get rid of the dust you need a hidden brush somewhere else in the area. Brushing the dust then shows the following:

What this all means is you need to be able to trap the horned beast in a particular room by getting a character that is strong enough to push boulders on to from the room above. To do this you need more than one character to complete and have a few more little puzzles to solve. The first step starts here:

A Desert Valley
Massive walls of hard stone shoot up into the sky, seemingly out of place in a landscape as barren and desolate as this.  The walls are far apart, creating a broad valley, though natural bridges and jutting stones are scattered about the valley walls, making it difficult to fly.  The desert's hot orange sand covers the valley floor, while the rock walls are covered in dust.  Boulders of various shapes and sizes are scattered throughout the valley, though the only ones that remain intact are the ones situated furthest from the center of the valley floor.  The massive prints that can be found throughout the desert can
be found pressed into the valley floor as well, though spaced more closely together.
Exits: east northwest
Suddenly, your capability to hover disappears...

Examining the boulder here shows:

>exam boulders
Boulders of various shapes and sizes are scattered about the valley floor.  The only boulders that seem to be the most intact are the ones furthest from the center of the valley pass.  The boulders are made of a rough type of rock, drab in color, though one boulder seems to have fared better than the rest.

The obvious thing to do is to push the boulder but there is a little catch here. If you use a character that has less than 25 strength you see the following:

>push boulder
The boulder proves too heavy as you attempt to move it.

On a 25 strength character though:

>push boulder
The boulder grinds along the valley floor, revealing a slight opening.

 Once inside this cave your 25 strength character isn't going to be much use. To climb up to the top you will need a character with 25 dexterity. There are a few times where you will need to guess around to find the exact right commands to get there. If all goes well you can get it up to this room:

A Desert Mountaintop
A slight breeze wafts its way around the desert mountaintop, carrying bits of sand in the gust.  Small stones, large boulders and oddly shaped rocks lie scattered about the sandy plateau.  A steep ledge leads down into the desert valley, and while the topography of the mountain slope seems to make for an easy trek down to the valley floor, a trek back up the slope seems impossible.  A hole in the rocky wall leads back to a gap in the mountain cavity.
Exits: down

 There are boulders that can be pushed off the cliff to trap the beast but your 25 dexterity character isn't strong enough to do this and a 25 strength character can't climb up inside the cave. The trick here is that hidden within the area are two parts of a rope that can be connected together and then dropped down by your 25 dexterity character so that the stronger one can climb up. The first part of the rope is hidden in this room:

A Desert Trail
The orange dunes of sand, though massive in width, are comparatively shorter in height, as if something is keeping the sand from accumulating to the point of growth.  The  blistering temperature creates a blur effect on vision, though massive prints can be seen  pressed into the dunes.
Exits: northwest southwest

> dig
You begin digging...
Your dig uncovered a short rough leather rope!

> g rope
You get a short rough leather rope.

> exam rough
You take a closer look at a short rough leather rope in inventory...
This length of rope is too short to be of any use, though is
made of a rather tough leather.

> c id rough
Object 'a short rough leather rope' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 3 piece, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This piece has a gold value of 0.

The other piece of rope is a bit trickier to find but can be found within the cave in this room:

Pitted Walls
The walls of the narrow ascending cavern continue to be covered with pitts and scratches, while stones protrude into the open space, increasing the difficulty of maneuverability.  An awkwardly shaped stone stands out from the rest of the protruding stones, as it is pointing upward at the tip, almost like a hook.  Nothing but the darkness of the mountain cavity can be seen below.
Exits: east down
With great finesse, you maneuver between narrow footholds in the wall.

>exam stone
This stone in particular is oddly shaped and stands out amongst the rest.  The base protruding from the wall is thick, though it narrows towards the tip and turns upward, resembling a hook.  Upon closer inspection, a rope seems to be tightly tied around the tip  of stone.

>untie rope
You carefully untie a length of rope from a protruding stone.

>exam rope
You take a closer look at a long coil of rope in inventory...
The coil is a drab shade of light brown, though contains darker patches of dirt throughout its length.  Though long, the fabric of the rope seems weak, and would most likely need to be reinforced before use.

> c id coil
Object 'a long coil of rope' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 2 piece, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This piece has a gold value of 0.

Once you have the two pieces you can connect them to make:

 > connect rope 2.rope
You cobble the pieces together...
 ...suddenly they snap into place, creating a reinforced long leather rope!

>exam rope
You take a closer look at a reinforced long leather rope in inventory...
A long rope, reinforced with lengths of leather of various sizes
looks sturdy enough to be an efficient climbing aid.

> c id rope
Object 'a reinforced long leather rope' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 17 rope, weight 3.
Locations it can be worn:  hold
Special properties:  none
This rope has a gold value of 0.
Affects dexterity by 1.
Affects climb by 35.

After  using this rope to climb up the cliff you can start dropping boulders on the horned beast. Once trapped by this you can start killing him. The fight isn't too difficult with a paladin tank and 3 thieves hitting though he does lag a bit, throw in the odd room attacks and hit random people. Once the fight is done you'll get this:

DYING>circle beast
Your circle wounds A massive horned beast!
A massive horned beast is DEAD!!
The beast thrashes about in its final moments, crashing into the stones that block the valley exits, crumbling them to dust.
As the beast crashes to the ground, a piece snaps from its right horn.
The ground quakes as a ferocious scream resounds throughout the area.
A massive horned beast hits the ground ... DEAD.
A massive horned beast has no gold.
The corpse of A massive horned beast holds:
     the tip of a massive broken horn

Like the other mobs in the area once you kill them you need to take the part of the beast and attach it to the correct statue in the temple part of the area to open a door to a room with a chest that contains some type of material to make equipment with.

>attach horn statue
You climb to the statue's head and carefully rest the missing piece atop the right horn. As you climb back down, the right horn lowers and a small panel opens in the wall behind the statue.
The tip of the right horn slides from its place and shatters onto the ground.

 >sw
A Small Recess Behind an Alcove
The smooth, bare walls from the temple alcove slightly crumble as they narrow to create this small recess.  The floor is covered with dust, sand and small pebbles which have also slightly blackened.  A thin line of seemingly simple symbols is etched into the wall under a small shelf not far above the ground.
Exits: northeast
A small metal chest sits on a shelf at the back of this small recess.

>l in ches
A small metal chest appears to be nearly empty.
A small metal chest contains:
     a small steel spike

 >g spike chest
You get a small steel spike from a small metal chest.

We managed to do two kills of the horned beast quite easily though I did manage to die both times. I need to practice at using a paladin to tank and hitting with a thief at the same time. After killing the beast twice we went and hit the serpent. We had a hard time here because I did something stupid - I tried using the strategy to kill the head described on Rodpedia with barbarians instead of my usual method. After failing with barbarians we switched to using thieves. Just have them ungrouped, wimpy set to max, walk in to the room, kill serpent, circle serpent and then flee, flee, flee. After this heal up and repeat until:

DYING>
Your pierce tears The diamond-shaped head of a giant serpent!
The diamond-shaped head of a giant serpent is DEAD!!
As the head of the serpent crashes to the stone floor, one of its fangs cracks and splits from its root.
The ground quakes as a piercing screech resounds throughout the area.
The diamond-shaped head of a giant serpent screams furiously as he falls to the ground in a heap!
The diamond-shaped head of a giant serpent has no gold.
The corpse of The diamond-shaped head of a giant serpent holds:
     a hefty fang

Again I took the part that popped, attached it to the statue and got the material as follows:

 >attach fang statue
As you attach the massive fang to the broken root, the statue begins to twist and twirl aroundthe alcove, revealing a small passageway.
The fang falls from the statue's mouth and shatters onto the ground.

 >nw
A Small Recess Behind an Alcove
The narrow stone walls which lead from the temple alcove widen and meet
in a smooth curve as they reach the back of this small recess, while
the stone ceiling slightly raises.  Though pitted, the stone bricks
of the walls contain etchings of simple, yet incomprehensible symbols
that have surprisingly withstood the erosion of time.
Exits: southeast
A small granite chest sits on a shelf at the back of this small recess.

>g all chest
You get a small hide of brown scales from a small granite chest.

And then finally with the two spikes and small hide of scales I found the wanderer and gave him the materials:

>You give a small hide of brown scales to The wanderer.

>You give a small steel spike to The wanderer.
The wanderer inspects the spike, poking the tip to test its sharpness. The wanderer says 'Have an idea, but I'd need another one.'

>give spike wand
You give a small steel spike to The wanderer.
The wanderer inspects the spikes, poking the tips to test their sharpness, then bends the scaley hide back and forth, testing its pliability.
The wanderer thinks, 'Hmmmm.'
The wanderer says 'Wonder if this'll work.'

The wanderer takes a few unidentifiable tools from a small pouch and begins to work on the spikes and hide.

The wanderer slips the finished products on and off a few times, testing their durability and practicality.
The wanderer thinks, 'Hmmmm.'
The wanderer says 'Better than mine.  Well, meaner, at least.  Good thing the equipment doesn't make the man.'
The wanderer gives you facestompers.

 All of that effort for this:

 Object 'facestompers' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 50 armor, weight 5.
Locations it can be worn:  feet
Special properties:  none
Classes allowed:  Warrior Barbarian
This armor has a gold value of 25000.
Armor class is 14 of 15.
Affects hp by 50.
Affects damage roll by 4.
Affects constitution by 1.
Affects intelligence by -1.
Affects wisdom by -1.

>exam facestompers
You take a closer look at facestompers in inventory...
A tough but sturdy hide of scales makes up the majority of these boots, folded and flattened upon itself various times before being shaped into something wearable.  A small, sharp metal spike lies fastened to the bottom of each boot, hinting that these boots were constructed for a specific purpose.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in very good condition.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

I enjoyed myself. These two mobs in the Barren Wastes involve a lot of exploring and problem solving before you can actually fight them. The achievement felt from successfully completing the challenge is great.

Barren Wastes and the Yeti

Today started off with me trying to kill the serpent for the other half of the Barren Wastes leggings. It didn't go so well doing it solo on my paladin - basically wasn't doing enough damage on my own. I called in a couple of friends and had more success. Sounds like the easiest way to do it next time is to have back up characters logged off in the room before and ready to run in as soon as someone dies. In the end we killed the serpent and he popped a fang. Like before I connected the fang to the serpent statue and opened an entrance to a room with a chest in it that contained a a small hide of brown scales. Finally took the loot to the wanderer and gave it to him like this:

> give fabric wanderer
You give a roll of feathery beige fabric to The wanderer.
The wanderer ruffles his fingers through the feathers, closely inspecting the roll of fabric.
The wanderer wonders 'Can't do much with this alone.  Have anything else?'
The wanderer drops a roll of feathery beige fabric.

> give scaley wanderer
You give a small hide of brown scales to The wanderer
The wanderer ruffles his fingers through the feathers of the roll of fabric, then bend the scaley hide back and forth, testing its pliability.
The wanderer thinks, 'Hmmmm.'
The wanderer says 'Shouldn't be too difficult.'

The wanderer takes a few unidentifiable tools from a small pouch and begins to work on the fabric and hide.

The wanderer tugs at the finished product, testing its durability.
The wanderer says 'Not bad, I'd think.  If you like feathers.'
The wanderer gives you leather leggings with a feathered trim.

 The leggings he gave me aren't bad at all for a mage type of character:

> exam leggings
You take a closer look at leather leggings with a feathered trim in inventory...

The leggings are made from a rough hide, tanned into a hardened leather.
Large beige feathers trim the sides of the leggings, which are soft to the
touch, but immediately bounce back when ruffled or bent.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in superb condition.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

Object 'leather leggings with a feathered trim' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 50 armor, weight 2.
Locations it can be worn:  legs
Special properties:  none
Genres allowed:  sorcerer divinity shaman
This armor has a gold value of 250000.
Armor class is 14 of 14.
Affects hp by 45.
Affects mana by 45.
Affects wisdom by 1.
Affects constitution by 1.
Affects luck by 1.
Affects damage roll by 2.

All up The Barren Wastes was a success and not overly difficult. Next time I can do it quicker and better I'm sure. I just wish I could figure out the rest of that area. In return for helping me kill the serpent in Barren Wastes I helped out killing in the Northern Plains. The Northern Plains has a lot of barbarian equipment mobs - Julajimus, Shadowstalker and Yeti to start with. Today some new gloves were needed so it Yeti hunting time.

To make the gloves you need to kill the Yeti using a long blade and hopefully pop a hand. It took us 5 kills before we managed to pop a pair of hands but we also got ourselves enough hides in the process to also make a fur lined cloak of the plains wanderer. The final kill:

Your slash tears the Yeti of the Plains!
Your slash tears the Yeti of the Plains!
The Yeti of the Plains is DEAD!!
In a desperate attempt to fend off your attack, the Yeti of the Plains puts up i
ts arm to defend itself.
Your final blow severs the Yeti of the Plains's hand from its arm!
The Yeti of the Plains catches his guts in his hands as they pour through his fa
tal wound!
You get 300000 gold coins from the corpse of the Yeti of the Plains.
You split 300000 gold coins.  Your share is 150000 gold coins.
The corpse of the Yeti of the Plains holds:
     the gnarled hand of the yeti

What a great day - I killed a mob I'd never killed before, got some great loot and helped out some people.

V.