Dying Isn't All Bad

I've been very slow on the updates again lately. It's not that I've stopped playing though the Christmas/New Year period did slow me down, but more a combination of procrastination, not having anything exciting to write about and not having any major success of late until a small breakthrough today.

One area I've been working on exploring lately is D'Morian's Land. I'd heard of a rumour of an item that could be only gained through an unusual way - death. This is unusual in that to get an item you normally need to find it lying around, put it together from the other pieces or from the cold dead hands of the mob they are on. The hard part is you need to die to a particular mob in a particular room.

The room you need to die in is the following:

At the Back of the Tower Knoll
A short flight of steps leads from the path up to the back of the knoll. The steps are badly chipped and also caked with the thick dried blood that seems to be so liberally spread about here. The air here is mysteriously calm, although the heather further down hill still ripples in the wind.  A few odd looking items are scattered about on the stony ground at the foot of the steps, they seem to be broken pieces of armor and a few blood-soaked rags.
Exits: northeast northwest

You can examine both armor and rags which gives some clue that there is more to this room than meets the eye:

>exam armor
A steel vambrace lies bent and discarded at the foot of the steps, while
what resembles a pouldron is sticking out of the heather off to the side.

>exam rags
A few fragments of clothing are caught tangled in the heather, or glued to
the steps with blood. 

The mob you need to kill you in this room is a decaying zombie. This is made hard as the rooms in this part of the area have a program where the wind blows you out of them. Add in zombies then chasing you and casting spells that drain your movement points quickly and things start getting tricky. I've been most successful by killing all the zombies and then waiting in the room for repop to die. However, when you do get lucky:

A decaying zombie's bite wounds you!
You wish that your wounds would stop BLEEDING so much!
The Zombie's hands clutch around your neck.
(claws of the mole gets damaged)
Curse the gods, you've lost 0 experience!

..Everything begins to fade to black.

You feel yourself leaving your body... rising up into the air, you feel more free than you have ever felt before...

However, before your deity comes to collect your soul, you feel a strange pulling sensation as strange and colorful mists swirl around you...

If you are lucky (pop rate isn't 100%)... When you do your corpse retrieval the following item will be in it:

>c identify dented

Object 'dented vambraces of a fallen warrior' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 50 armor, weight 6.
Locations it can be worn:  arms
Special properties:  metal
This armor has a gold value of 3000.
Owner:  Charix
Armor class is 14 of 14.
Affects damage roll by 6.
Affects armor class by -10.
Affects constitution by 1.
Affects strength by 2.
Affects hp by 10.

>exam dented
You take a closer look at dented vambraces of a fallen warrior in inventory...
You see nothing special.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in superb condition.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

Frustratingly they are owner tagged - this one to a cleric of mine.  I'm not sure what the best use of these arms are for - maybe a barbarian or to replace a few cheapo evil characters using Shimmergloom arms? It's an option though that not many have heard of before. Now hopefully I can figure out a few more things in this area.

Monkey Business

During September the Order of Arcanes ran a competition to increase the knowledge on our forums board. This included information on low level to avatar challenges. This got me thinking about the mysteries of the game that I don't fully know about but sort of know a little on. This list included the following:

• Low level mysteries: Golden Gauntlet, eight monkeys, Sapphire Blade, troll hide helm and Macmillan Family Farm.
• Avatar mysteries: Long Lost Boots of Ranger Thoric, dark matter, acidstroke, Absolution, Orcus/Hastur, Underworld beyond Satan and KoTR armor crafting/Starre's project.

The one that has been bugging me the most is the mystery of the eight monkeys. They are spread mostly though the Southern Mountain Ranges geo with trips to neighbouring areas for some of the monkeys and parts to make them. These often involve mini-quests of differing sorts. For example to get the quartz monkey you need to do the following:

>Inside The Run Down Shack
This structure barely qualifies as a shack. Bits and pieces of trash are poorly hammered to cracked strips and timbers, all of which would collapse were it not leaning against the cliff face outside, plainly visible through the cracks in the walls. The shack sits in the low trough against the cliff face and what is left of the rotting floor is very damp. An unkempt bed rests on stone blocks in one corner and a crooked square table stands with the help of the wall. It is possible that this is someone's home.
Exits: north
An old ranger stands very still here.
Begbee looks up at you, seeming a little surprised.
Begbee thinks, 'Hmmmm.'
Begbee says 'I don't often have visitors...'
Begbee says 'Are you lost or is there reason for this intrusion?'

>say cress
You say 'cress'
Begbee looks a little shocked.
Begbee wonders 'Oh, you know Cress. Tell her her daddy would love to see her soon, wouldya?'

A Low Spot On The Canyon Rim
This natural low area on the canyon rim provides a beautiful view of the canyon stretching far to the southeast and the canyon floor below. A small fire has been built here and still smolders warmly. The rim trail follows the higher parts of the rim, passing this spot by. The east wall of this depression has a slight overhang of the sandstone at the very top, providing a tiny space of shelter, just enough for one person vertically.
Exits: north
(Glowing) A fire has burnt down to a bed of hot coals here.
(Hide) A young girl hangs by her feet in the shelter of the overhang.

>say begbee
You say 'begbee'
Cress says 'Yes, he is my father. He gave me something but I've... I think it fell into the canyon. I search for it every night but I think it's...'
Cress looks very sad.

The Northwest Corner Of The Enormous Canyon
The canyon floor is rather flat here, devoid of the hoodoos and other rock formations that fill this canyon with wonder. The high canyon walls are extremely crumbly and climbing here would be impossible. The balancing rock formation to the southeast looks precarious as if it ought to topple to the east into a nearby hoodoo at any moment.
Exits: east south

>search
You begin your search...

Your search reveals a quartz monkey!

>give monkey cress
You give a quartz monkey to Cress.
Cress says to you, 'That's it. That's the little monkey! It's not broken, it's perfect.'
Cress looks both happy and very sad at the same time.
Cress says to you, 'Thank you for showing me. I'm glad I didn't break it. You keep it, though.'
Cress gives you a quartz monkey.
Cress says to you, 'Take good care of that, I can't keep it, it makes me sad.'

As you can see it involves talking to various mobs and searching in random rooms to get the monkey. Similar missions are involved to find the other monkeys, but I am stuck on the last two monkeys. The jade and sugilite monkeys still have me stumped but hopefully they will pop up soon for me.

One of the good things about joining an organisation in the game is that players can share information and put questions out there like the above for others to answer or solve themselves. Hopefully someone will have the answers.

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.



Belial and Beliebing

One area I really want to do some more in is The Keep of Belial. This is an area that is good to explore, not too large, has some great equipment (a lot with cool sounding Latin names) and not much information is publicly available.

The first room in the area has a little item buried in it. Digging will reveal the following:

>A Path Through the Trees
The path slopes upwards towards the peak of a tall hill overlooking the surrounding forest. Snow lines the sides of the narrow passage between the trees is barely visible, each twist covered with rocks and patches of slick snow. A steep hill rises to the east topped, its edge covered in green and brown shrubbery. The top of the slope is adorned with taller trees, the branches droop downward due to the heavy snow. On the western side of the path are several dark green and brownish orange plants. Hoof prints, frozen forever in the center of the path, lead inward towards a few spires of swirling smoke.
Exits: north northeast

>dig
You begin digging...
Your dig uncovered a rune!

>exam rune
You take a closer look at a rune on the ground...
The rune is a simple yet magical stone with an engraving etched into
its surface:
                           |\
                           |/
                           |\

>get rune
You get a rune.

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

I'm not certain of the purpose of this rune. There are some other runes scattered through out the Realms but I believe this one is a way for Romani, the creator of this area to leave their mark. Around the early part of the area are shops selling potions and food, but the first challenge is Llwyd.

To get to Llwyd you need to take a hidden northeast exit and then up from just before the bridge. This leads you to here which is tunnelled to 2 characters maximum fitting in the room:

Huw Llwyd's Pulpit
The dark rocks rise jaggedly against the landscape, their pointed tips striking up and splitting apart any living thing that lingers too long. Dripping from the top of the falls are icicles, forming a shivery banner of white which points downwards towards the distant stone bridge. The water turns white as it cascades over the rocks, splashing a dusting of white sparkles to coat the black rocks. A large black rock spreads out over the edge of the falls creating a natural altar. Placed upon the surface of the dark altar is a single standing stone of no more than a meter in height.
Exits: none
A small altar rests on the edge of the stoney pulpit.
(Hide) (Red Aura) A dark cloaked figure stands before the altar chanting.
Llwyd shimmers beneath an aura of dark energy.
Llwyd is engulfed within a blaze of mystical flame.

This is a tricky little mob to kill for the reason being that against certain classes and alignments he heals himself up faster than you can hurt him. It seems that only good aligned sorcerers, shaman and divinity classes will be able to kill him. The first time I killed Llwyd I used a good cleric. It was a long fight because if I was to solo a mob a good cleric is the last class I'd ever choose. The end was this:

Your swat wounds Llwyd!
Llwyd is DEAD!!
A brilliant light casts down from the heavens and embraces you, wrapping around you like an angel's wings. A booming voice fills your head, 'You have done well here. The true test awaits, may your sacrifice be true and worthy."
Llwyd's soul rides a single beam of light towards the heavens; his lifeless body is all that remains. Llwyd gasps his last breath and blood spurts out of his mouth and ears.
You get 40000 gold coins from the corpse of Llwyd.
The corpse of Llwyd holds:
     a cross shaped key
     (Glowing) scapulare aequitas

The scapulare is a half-decent waist item - translated to English aequitas means equity. One good thing about this key is that it is one of the few keys in the game that does not disappear when you log off. The key is needed to enter the keep just after killing a couple of skeletons. Past the entrance to the keep you end up in this room:

The Gate of Crosses
Interwoven crosses make up the large black gates that adorn the wall, barring any chance of passing without gaining access from the guardian. One larger cross is formed as the doors remained closed, the same silver churning with black swirls. A pulsing bead of red light glows within the thin crack of the ominous gates leading to the depths of the keep. The gate latch is made of two large black metal bolts and a keyhole almost large enough for a pixie to fly through. Blasts of cold air rise from the depths causing rivulets of ice to
form on the black moss dripping from the ceiling.
Exits: south
(Red Aura) A massive wall of muscle looms before the blackened gates.
The Gate Keeper shimmers beneath an aura of dark energy.
The Gate Keeper is ensphered by shards of glistening ice.
The Gate Keeper gazes at the assembled mortals pondering which one it will be.
The Gate Keeper says to you 'To progress, I require a sacrifice.'
The Gate Keeper gazes at the assembled mortals pondering which one it will be.

This room is a dead end. The Gate Keeper like Llwyd talks about a sacrifice which is the key to getting beyond. You need to have more than one character in this room with one saying the following:

>say I am the sacrifice

You say 'I am the sacrifice'

The Gate Keeper nods solemnly.
The Gate Keeper says 'Your sacrifice will not go unrewarded.'
The Gate Keeper brings his sword swiftly towards you, striking you dead in your tracks.
The Gate Keeper slays you in cold blood!

..Everything begins to fade to black.
However, before your deity comes to collect your soul, you feel a strange
pulling sensation as strange and colorful mists swirl around you...

You feel yourself leaving your body... rising up into the air, you feel
more free than you have ever felt before...

The Gate Keeper is one of only a handful of mobs in the game with the ability to slay. You will find the character that says the password is killed while the other characters in the room get transed beyond to a maze.

Most mazes in the Realms of Despair annoy me but this one is quite straight forward - just map each room with magical springs until you find the one room where you can't cast spells. After this it won't be long before you get transed through to outside of Belial's room:

The god of lust smiles upon you and has chosen you to face him.
A Dark Passage
The black stone walkway extends over a churning river of silver surrounding the a black throne resting on a raised platform in the far distance. The walkway is a mere two feet wide. The edge is jagged and the surface slightly rounded upwards in the center allowing for smaller rocks fall off into the abyss far below with a splash before being absorbed into the churning mass. The silver rises and falls as it swirls outward in a large circle along the outer edge of the massive cavern in a hall of almost mirrors all exits lead to
one place, the throne of Belial.
Exits: north east south west northeast northwest southeast southwest
(Red Aura) A stunning brunette hovers over the swirling mass of silver and black.
Morrigan shimmers beneath an aura of dark energy.

The down exit leads to a death trap:

 

One thing I noticed when looking at the above screenshot was there is a rare typo. The people running the mud do a good job of spotting most of these errors before they get into the game. However our aim is to take on Belial in his lair. A challenge with Belial is that it only allows certain classes into Belials room. For example if a vampire enters his room:

Lord Belial exclaims to you, 'What a pitiful undead creature. Be gone!'

Belial does something similar with characters of all classes except sorcerer, shaman and divinity genres, plus his room is tunnelled to 4. Belial himself manages to look quite scary:

Two yellowish horns slope upwards in twisted curls out from the top of Belial's slender pointed head. His jaw is strong, sloping towards his fanged mouth. His nose is broad, set low beneath the two large oval sockets containing his blood-red eyes. His lower lip appears to be missing, showing the gums of his teeth and the slope of his pointed jaw which accentuate the points of his ears. His broad shoulders are covered in tattoos of the souls he has claimed through the years. The trail of souls of each now face less name written down through the years in a myriad of slithering lines down his torso and covering his back. His feet are cloven, giving him a powerful gate as he moves within the confines of his prison. At the end of each of his hands are claws, sharpened carefully on the stones within the keep.

Lord Belial is in perfect health.

Lord Belial is using:
<used as light>      Luminarium

His light the Luminarium is a nice light though it's regeneration rate is not quite 100%. When identify is cast on Belial he identifies as a nephandi:

Lord Belial is in perfect health.
Lord belial appears to be between level 50 and 55.
Lord belial looks like a shapeshifter, and follows the ways of the nephandi.

To fight Belial the best classes to use are a druid for tanking (another use for druids - I really need to level one) and augurers or destruction mages to hit. The fight itself takes a while but when done the end result is:

Opposing realities clash and collide, striking Lord Belial with their reverberations.
Your paradox flux wounds Lord Belial!
Lord Belial is DEAD!!
Lord Belial shimmers as he fades back into the swirling silver surrounding his throne cave.
Lord Belial exclaims 'I will return stronger! You will pay for your puny attempts to rid the world of my lust!'

Besides the Luminarium there is a chance to pop two different other items - a mysterious talisman or gnarled wooden staff. Both of these are pieces which can connect together to make Divinitus Corrigo, which in English is "God Correct", a pretty cool name for a very nice cleric weapon.

I need to kill Belial some more to make his weapon. I currently have a mysterious talisman lying around in storage somewhere so if anyone has a gnarled wooden staff they'd like to sell then please send me a tell, though I would prefer to take it from Belial's cold dead claws.

Abishai's Trail...

After the last post I realised that Gartock is hiding within The Graveyard. To get to him you need to find the ghost down inside the earthen tomb maze and attack it with a low level character - lucky for me I have an augurer sitting on level 15. After killing the ghost it revealed Gartock in disguise.

Your pierce decimates a ghost!
A ghost is DEAD!!
You receive 66 experience points.
Your final blow rips the disguise from your attacker!!
Gartock looks around nervously.
Gartock says 'Ok, what do you want...I don't have the dagger...'
You see no corpse here.
You do not see that here.

The obvious response is to start talking to him about everything he may know. He responds to the following:

> say Abishai
You say 'Abishai'
Gartock snaps around to glare at you.
Gartock wonders 'What would you know about The Wizard?'
Gartock suddenly looks years older as he rakes you with his eyes.
Gartock sneers 'They all laughed at him! The rift is open, isn't it?'

> say rift
You say 'rift'
Fear flashes in the boy's eyes for a moment.
Gartock says 'It's open, I saw it. Before Abishai died, I saw it.'
A haunted expression crosses the boys face, as he remembers.
Gartock exclaims 'It was dark, but you could see them. Red, green, black, they were there!'
Gartock says 'When I came back the next day, he was dead and the morgue was locked up.'
Gartock sighs loudly.
Gartock says 'Its here. The dagger is here. If I can just find it, I can get inside.'
Gartock says 'The witch said it was here. In this tomb. I'll find it, you'll see.'

> say wizard
You say 'wizard'
With a sigh of agitation, the young boy slumps against the wall.
Gartock exclaims 'Look, what do you want from me? He's dead, ok?! '

> say witch
You say 'witch'
Gartock snorts in disgust.
Gartock says 'If you want to call her that. Even I can see her 'magic' for what it is.'
Gartock says 'She's nothing more than a pretender, she has no real power..'
Gartock sits down and thinks deeply.
Gartock says 'Though, she seems to have the answers to many questions about the Rift'
Gartock peers at you quizzically.
Gartock says 'I suppose you want to know where to find her now.'

> say where is the witch?
You wonder 'where is the witch?'
Gartock gestures to the north.
Gartock says 'You can find her in the courtyard of the old tomb sometimes...'
Gartock says 'Can't miss her, she's the one mumbling 'magical incantations''
Gartock snorts in disgust.

>say morgue
You say 'morgue'
Gartock wonders 'Ya telling me you didn't see the morgue when you came in?'
Gartock falls against the wall laughing at you mercilessly.
Gartock says 'If you can't be seeing something that big, when it's right in front of you,'
Still laughing, Gartock says 'you'll never find that dagger!'
Quick as a whip, Gartock darts off into the darkness once again. 

After this I adventured around the graveyard to find the witch and have a chat to her after collecting a skeleton hand and finger. She had the following to say:

Outside the Tomb
Exits: east northwest
A delicious magic mushroom is here.
A modest flame burns beneath the bubbling cauldron.
A black cauldron squats in the center of the courtyard.
A beautiful woman hovers in the air brewing spells of summoning.
The witch pauses in the middle of casting her spell to glance at you.
The witch says 'Greetings Iryx, it is not safe here for you.'
The witch says 'Unless you have brought me something I need...'
The witch grins at you.
The witch says 'I think you had better leave quickly.'
The witch gazes thoughtfully at you and says 'Hmmm.'
The witch says 'Have your brought a finger of bone?'

> say dagger
You say 'dagger'
The woman's mask of indiffernce slips, but only for a moment.
The witch says 'Someone has been speaking before they think. Tell me Iryx, what dagger'
The witch wonders 'were you speaking of? Who sent you to me to ask such a thing?'
Your blood heats as the witch stares at you intently.

> You say 'gartock'
The witch snorts in disgust.
The witch says 'I knew he could not be trusted, that boy is pure trouble.'
The witch sighs loudly.
The witch nods and says 'Yes, there is a dagger here in one of'
The witch says 'the tombs. It is buried, but not deeply. Find it, and you will gain'
The witch says 'access to the morgue.'
The witch frowns at what you did.
The witch says 'Be certain that is what you really want, they will not welcome you.'
The witch looks behind her, then suddenly vanishes with a cry of alarm.

> give finger witch
You give a bony finger to The witch.
The witch smiles in satisfaction and gathers the spell components.
The witch frowns.
The witch exclaims 'Quickly Iryx, give me the hand of the dead to finish the spell!'

> give hand witch
You give a skeletal hand to The witch.
The witch nervously smooths the folds of her robe.
The witch exclaims 'Rainbows of fire, ashes of wine. Dream evil, summon the demonkine!'
The witch gasps in awe as a twisted apparition materializes.
The greater demon decimates you!
(a sailor's hat gets damaged)
The greater demon mauls you!
The greater demon's slash wounds you! 

I was hoping I could get more information about the rift from the witch but this did all result in getting me into a fight with the greater demon. After killing the greater demon I popped a blessing of demons. I've never bothered to do this mini-quest before but it was a handy item for my augurer. I then went back to inside the earthen tomb and dug up the dagger:

Inside an Earthen Tomb
Exits: north east south west northeast northwest southeast southwest

> dig
You begin digging...
Your dig uncovered a silver dagger!
You gain 40 experience points from your success!

> g dagger
You get a silver dagger.

> rec tablet dagger
You recite a magical tablet of disclosure.

Object 'a silver dagger' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 11 piercing weapon, weight 1.
Locations it can be worn:  wield
Special properties:  none
This weapon has a gold value of 100.
Damage is 2 to 8 (average 5).
Affects damage roll by 1.

> exam dagger
You take a closer look at a silver dagger in inventory...
It has a long, sharp blade that is made entirely from silver.  A small rune
has been engraved on the blade next to the hilt.
This seems to be a piercing weapon.
It appears to be within or below your level range.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in superb condition.

 In summary I found out a few more things about the Abishais/Graveyard/Sesuad'ra Rift mystery. I'm sure there's a lot more to it than this but I'll unravel the mysteries sooner or later.

 

Abishai and the Mysteries of the Morgue

After stumbling upon the page of Abishai's journal in Sesuad'ra Rift I've been playing around in Abishai's Morgue trying to figure out the link between the two areas. The morgue is a rather small area but it has some puzzles in it. The first one is to do with the cultist priest. If you walk into his room and are not invisible the following happens:

(Red Aura) A black-robed figure carefully studies the east wall.
The cultist priest shimmers beneath an aura of dark energy.
The priest turns sharply as you enter, dropping to a crouch.
The priest hisses 'The secrets of the rift you shall not have!'
You yell 'Help!  I am being attacked by the cultist priest!'

It's a mystery as to what he has to do with the rift... The second mystery of the area is where is Abishai? His journal pages are scattered through the Realms of Despair. One page can be found in the morgue as follows:

 This leads me to the questions of:

1. What are the cultists plans?
2. Who is Gartock?
3. Which hole are they meeting at and when is the Day of Awakening?
4. Where is Abishai? Will he make it back?

But it's not just me trying to figure out where Abishai is. One of the mobs has the following to say when you enter his room:

A hideously twisted creature attempts to claw its way out of the hole.
You float easily over the black pit below.
The twisted creature gazes wearily at you from the darkness.
The broken one says 'I have no quarrel with you. I seek only the one called Abishai.'

Why is this broken creature looking for Abishai? Is he Gartock?

There is also a further mystery to the pages of Abishai's journal. His journal can be found inside a locked desk in one of the rooms in the morgue. To unlock the desk you need to find the whisper thin rapier. It is hidden behind a painting in the room where the cultist priest appears. Sometimes the cultist will drop a ladder and then you can look behind the painting to get the rapier. However, when you get the journal it is empty of pages:

>exam journal
You take a closer look at Abishai's secret journal in inventory...
There are no pages between the thin leather covers, they have all
been ripped out, leaving only jagged bits of parchment.

So my next mystery is where and how many pages of the journal are scattered through the Realms?

Looking around the rest of the area I have two more puzzles to solve. The first is in this room after examining several items in the rooms descriptions:

Done With Mirrors
The south wall is completely covered by a pair of shredded, red drapes that
seem to stretch on indefinitely to the east and west, though the alcove is
in reality quite small. There is no evidence of the somber stone walls and
floors of the morgue proper here, instead a bank of mirrors make up the
boundaries of the confine with an unnerving and dizzying effect. A counter
stands in the middle of the enclosure, each item upon it is set in an exact
and precise fashion. Above, the rafters are clean of cobwebs and dust, the
wood gleaming and a scent of newly cut timber filling the dusky air.
Exits: none

>exam counter
A simple glass bowl is placed exactly center of the counter. A white
bar of soap, the center worn thin, lies a few inches from the bowl on
the right side. To the left of the bowl, a shaving razor has been
placed, the sharp edge folded neatly inside the handle. A thick,
leather strap is draped over the side of the bowl, one end of which
is secured behind the counter. Standing straight on end inside the
bowl, is a silver-handled foam brush, used to apply the soapy lather.

>exam brush
The brush stands within the bowl, with no apparent means of support,
almost as if it were frozen in place. The beautiful, silver handle
looks solid, expensive, and out of place.

>exam handle
Upon close inspection, the letters S E E K can be seen
engraved near the bristles of the brush.

My question here is what is the deal with the brush? The work "seek" has popped up earlier in this area so what is it's meaning? I tried pushing, pulling, breaking and searching the brush but haven't had any luck. What do you need to do to it?

The next room has got my stuck but I also did manage to solve one mystery here.

The Circle of Ravens
Tiny specks of light dance over the smooth, stone surface of the walls; like
fireflies caught behind glass, or distant stars winking in a night sky, it
casts a faint, eerie glow around the chamber. The domed ceiling is ringed by a
shelf where black statues are perched, each a careful distance from the next
on either side. The underground chamber is perfectly round, and with the
walls glowing so strangely, any sense of direction quickly vanishes.
Exits: none
You drop down into the chamber.

>exam statues
The statues are ravens, the mythical birds of ill omen. They are carved
from solid obsidian and detailed to life-like perfection, right down to
their clawed feet that seem to cling precariously to the ledge of the stone
shelf. In fact, they look as if one good jarring would send them falling
from their perches. Each of the seven statues are an exact replica of the
next, set at every lateral direction upon the shelf except north. Beneath
each raven, on the walls of the chamber, their reflections are cast in
giant relief, barely noticeable unless looking directly up at them.

>exam reflections
Very close scrutiny of the walls reveals minute fractures in the
surface. Once the outline is traced, the silhouette of a large
raven is evident, with a line dissecting it from top to bottom.

I'm not sure how to open the walls with the statues but I do know there is an item called a stone raven from somewhere within the area. The statues had me stumped as to how to get them. I tried searching, breaking the shelf, doorbashing the wall and then I had an idea. I made myself a druid (been on my to do list for a while now) and levelled it up to level. After taking it to the above room I got it to cast the earthquake spell and the following happened:

 >c earthquake
You gain 1600 experience points from your success!
Your spell causes the statues to sway on their perches.
A statue falls from above, landing at your feet.
With a hiss, a new statue appears to take its place on the shelf.

> g rave
You get a stone raven.

>exam statue
You take a closer look at a stone raven in inventory...
The raven's wings glisten where the black marble of the statue seems
to be alive, almost as if the wings were about to spead and the statue
take flight. Small pin points of red light in the center of each of
the raven's eyes make it appear aware of everything around it.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in need of repair.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

>c id statue
Object 'a stone raven' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 15 armor, weight 10.
Locations it can be worn:  hold
Special properties:  evil magic
Alignments allowed:  evil neutral
This armor has a gold value of 5000.
Armor class is 5 of 10.
Affects luck by 2.
Affects hit roll by 4.
Affects damage roll by 2.
Affects armor class by -15.

It's a pretty handy hold item for evil low level characters and has me now thinking about what other places is this spell going to be useful in exploring?

Demons and the Rift

When I am on the Realms of Despair I always have a number of projects going on. These can include levelling, exploring, preparations, running large mobs, questing, searching for certain items and so on. My current projects include:

• Levelling a warrior. It's currently level 35 which means it is at the start of the level 35-40 range which is my least favourite levels to complete. Not sure if I will reach level 50 with it or keep it at level 49 for my next project...
• Macmillan Family Farm. This is a newer area that I've been doing a little work on exploring. I need a higher level non avatar character to kill some of the mobs there more easily. I've solved a few puzzles there but need to figure out some more.
• Belial - I want to run this mob again. I put in a fair bit of work figuring out how to run this mob but need more practice at killing it. Plus I need to level a druid to tank/lead this mob with.
• Dark matter... There's more to this item than meets the eye and I want to find out how far you can push it and if there is something to do with it.
• Crusader tasks - the Guild of Spirit has a set of tasks to complete to raise the crusader rank of the player. This is a good idea and the tiers of it do test a lot of different skills. I've completed the first tier (though still need to submit the items).
• The Deck of Many Things. I posted enough about this last time but am still searching.

And this leads to this weekend's efforts: Sesuad'ra Rift
This area I've never fully explored. In the past all I have done is go through the first maze to get to the second maze and killed the babau demon for the cleric leggings. I know that this area also leads to the lower part of the Underworld... I don't know the lower Underworld very well but want to learn it so that I may be able to lead a group or two into killing some of the more powerful mobs with better equipment there.

The first part of Sesuad'ra Rift is a maze. In it there are rooms with exits in all directions plus a glyph. Each glyph will have a bit of ascii art on it and most will have a different letter as well. In total there are nine different glyphs with letters on them. The way through this part of the rift is to find the room with a glyph that has a letter T on it as shown below:

The trick to finding this room is that it seems that only the north, south, east and west exits will take you to a different room. All of the other exits take you back to the same room as you are in. Once in the room with the T simply type "onslaught" to pass on through to the next part of the area.

The second part of the area is another maze filled with aggressive demons. Most of the demons here are quite easy and can be stunned to death easily. The only exception is the babau demon which when killed with a cleric that is ip 1 will pop the cloth leggings of the chosen. I usually kill this one by using a warrior with a nasr to first track it down and then get it down to DYING, supplicate recall out the warrior and finish off with the cleric.

I killed all of the mobs in the maze repeatedly but couldn't figure out how to get past the maze. I'm assuming its a trans maze where I need to wait for long enough in the right room. My next effort will involve marking every room using springs, fires or balls of light. However, looking around the maze did lead me to a couple more mysteries...

Two of the demons in the maze - the chasme and nabassu demons drop interesting items: The Tear of the Gods and skin of the Gods. Both of these items are not very good statistics wise but it is the description on them that has me wondering what else is going on. For example the skin of the gods description says:

The belt glows with an unearthly light that is entirely too wholesome to
have found its way around the demon that once wore it. There is a story to
be told about this belt...

That makes me wonder - what is that story and who should I go to for answers?

The second mystery is a journal I found lying around near the start of the second maze. When you examine the journal it comes up with this:

A clue to Abishai's Morgue hidden all the way over in Sesuad'ra Rift??? Sometimes when you go exploring you get more questions then answers. Either way it gives me more to think about and try to solve.

The Statue of Ha'rach

In my previous post I wrote about the entrance to the hidden tomb of Ha'rach. The challenge of Ha'rach is much deeper. Once inside the temple you are greeted with the following room: The Temple The majestic temple glows from the majestic golden statue at its center. The statue stands about two times the height of a good sized half-troll. The gold is soft and warm to the touch. The statue is surrounded on all sides by golden columns stretching to the ceiling, though falling well short of their mark. The statue looks down on its visitors with a grim face. Its eyes are a hollow darkness. Its hands extend out, palms facing the sky, shaped as cups.  Looking high above, the gigantic cavern lets the smallest amounts of light through, a small speck barely visible. Exits: east northeast southeast (Trap) A vacant space in the statue's forehead awaits its piece. (Trap) The right eye of the statue gazes with an empty stare. (Trap) The left eye of the statue gazes with an empty stare. (Trap) The right hand of the statue stretches out. (Trap) The left hand of the statue stretches out. This is the final puzzle before you can fight the Statue of Ha'rach. To start off with you need to get rid of the traps using either the detrap skill or remove traps spell. Even doing this you need to be careful as being unsuccessful results in: >detrap eye Ooops! You are sliced by a razor sharp blade! That really did HURT! You wish that your wounds would stop BLEEDING so much! Unlike most traps in the Realms of Despair which are mere nuisance these ones do some serious damage and can kill if you have low amount of hit points and no sanctuary spell. After successfully removing all five traps comes the puzzle. The five parts of the statue contain a container. They look as follows (before removing the traps): You take a closer look at the forehead on the ground... The empty spot in the statue's forehead is perfectly round.  It has a small lip around the edge that makes it look like a small compartment. The forehead appears to be nearly empty. The forehead contains:      a trap What you need to do here is place a gem in the containers. There are five different mobs throughout the area that have them when you kill them. Each mob drops five different coloured gems. The result is you need the right coloured gem from the right mob and to place it in the right statue part in the right order. One of the mobs with the gems is Kaerell - it always gives me a little laugh when I see his rodpedia entrance advising not to kill him. What this all means though is that there are (5!)³ possible combinations of gems/mobs/conatiners/orders for the gems which all up adds to 1,728,000 possibilities. Fortunately there are two things that can make this puzzle easier: When you place a gem correctly there is a message in the room to say so There is one mob in the area which gives clues to the puzzle. This mob is the rich leader's wife found in the oasis part of the area. Bribe her with some gold coins and she will give you hints like: A rich woman tells you 'A stone from a shopkeeper is affixed first, but let it not be red.'  After putting the hints together I made myself a tree diagram on four pieces of A4 paper to help narrow down the possibilities. When exploring and trying to solve puzzles in RoD I often write pages of notes. A scan of them can be seen below:

While the above shows that my handwriting is rather messy and my scanner is cheap it also shows how I go about solving some puzzles. The end result was it narrowed down the number of combinations for the first gem from 125 to 12. Luckily for me I managed to get the right gem the first time I did this. After solving the puzzle you place the final gem and this happens:

You put a red gem in the left hand.
The statue's left hand grips the gem mightily and rises up!
The statue awakens from it's slumber and let's out a mighty yell!
The Statue of Ha'rach utters the words, 'zabrahpdjatz'.
The Statue of Ha'rach makes the earth tremble and shiver.
You yell 'Help!  I am being attacked by the Statue of Ha'rach!'
The Statue of Ha'rach's slice rips you!

While there is a sense of achievement in figuring out the puzzle there is also the sudden realisation that you are fighting an end of area boss mob. There are easier ways of killing the statue but the first time I led a group to it we used 3 barbarians rending and a paladin tanking. We didn't have too much trouble and finished off the statue:

Your slash tears the Statue of Ha'rach!
Your slash tears the Statue of Ha'rach!
The Statue of Ha'rach is DEAD!!
The Statue of Ha'rach's arm is sliced from its dead body.
You see nothing like that in the corpse of the Statue of Ha'rach.
The corpse of the Statue of Ha'rach holds:
     (Flaming White) (Magical) (Glowing) (Humming) sword of magic
     a pair of golden bracers
     (Flaming White) (Magical) a pair of golden leggings

The sword of magic and golden leggings are kind of junky items but the golden bracers are some of the nicest wrist equipment in the game.

Overall figuring out all the puzzles in the Desert of Despair and leading a group to successfully kill the Statue of Ha'rach is one of my proudest achievements in the game and gives an amazing buzz.

Cheers,
V.

No Stone Unturned!

When I completed the Bartle test and had my results say that the motto I live by in the Realms of Despair is "No stone unturned!" it straight away made me think of the Desert of Despair, in particular the fifth marker stone. I have briefly mentioned it in passing before but this stone is important to the whole area for three different reasons. You need to have a character with 25 strength and a lot of free weight to lift it up. If you're lucky you'll find a golden dagger underneath. It's a weird once per reboot area pop item. The dagger identifies as follows:

Object 'a golden dagger' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 50 treasure, weight 1.
Locations it can be worn:  wield
Special properties:  none
This treasure has a gold value of 100000.

This dagger is the key to the whole desert area, not to be confused with the golden dagger from Dragon Tower. Within the Desert of Despair there is a "Travelling the Sands" maze. Besides being lots of crap buried in this maze it also leads to the Barren Wastes area, a small oasis and hidden away (without being mentioned on the Rodpedia map) is the tomb of Ha'rach. To find this tomb the entrance is near the Barren Wastes and is nw from a room that starts its description with "Clear and cold". The entrance to the nw opens and closes on a timer. Be patient until it opens up and you find yourself here:

A bold monument
Here, in the center of the desert, a large monolith stands tall. Reaching for
the sky, the monolith reaches above a large troll and his steed. Set slightly
off to the south of the monolith, a half-circled rock has managed to remain
clear of the sand that has piled on everything else around. It is undoubtedly a
door that makes up the carved square that marks the center of the rock.
However, there doesn't appear to be any way to open it.
Exits: southeast

 Dig down and you will sucked into this room:

>dig d
You begin digging...
You dig open a passageway!
You are sucked into a swirling vortex of colors! 

Beneath the monument
The small chamber beneath the monument is a roughly hewn cave. The walls are almost too hot to touch. The geologic oven is marked by two glowing orbs on the walls. Beautifully etched golden rods are strapped across the eastern wall, protecting a heavy stone door. A distant sound of heavy gears working resound through thin slots in the wall above the door.
Exits: none
A pair of orbs flank the gold-bound door.

After waiting around for a while in this room and have a golden dagger on you will see the following message:

A small keyhole catches your eye above the bars.

Then put your dagger in the keyhole...

You put a golden dagger in a keyhole.
The golden dagger slides smoothly into the keyhole, creating an audible *click*.
You get a golden dagger from a keyhole.
The golden rods are slowly pushed out of the wall, eventually dropping to the ground.
As the bars strike the ground, the vault opens slightly. 

This opens the door to the Room of Death maze - a maze where if you make one wrong move and you've hit a death trap. Do not enter this place unless you know what you're doing - even then I use naked characters. There are clues to the maze hidden around the rest of the Desert of Despair. If you manage to get through the maze you will end up at this room:

Treasure Awaits
This room is very different from the rest.  One entire wall is covered with a
golden statue. The room glows with the light from the statue, drowning out any
other light brought in.  The ceiling here stretches much further as well.  It
seems it would be taller than the surface of the ground above. With such a
large statue in such a small room, the only place to put people is to stack
them on top of each other, otherwise any more than three would be very cramped.
Exits: west
(Glowing) An enormous statue rests in front of one wall.

 This is not the Statue of Ha'rach - but it is close. When you examine it you the following:

The brilliant gold of this statue is different than any you've seen before. It
almost looks like a fluid, the way it shimmers.  The statue depicts a large
man, a ruler or god perhaps. He sits in his magnificent seat, his hands resting
on his knees, palms facing the ceiling above, as if waiting to catch something.

 Drop your golden dagger here and if you have failed to do other parts of the area correctly then the following will happen:

You drop a golden dagger.
As the dagger drops into the statue's hands, the room begins to
glow with a vibrant light.
And then, a flash...!
The entire statue begins to change shape...
The hands begin to rise up and take the form of a serpent head!
The statue arches its back and the golden serpent comes after you!
You yell 'Help!  I am being attacked by the Golden Serpent!'
The Golden Serpent _demolishes_ you!

This  serpent is impossible to kill since the room it is in a non magic room which if you flee from it back into the Room of Death maze you will either die or the Golden Serpent will disappear. If however you have done the other parts of the area correctly first then the following will happen:

You drop a golden dagger.
As the dagger drops into the statue's hands, it quickly morphs and
is absorbed by the rest of the gold.
A brilliant flash of light consumes the room!
> look
Thoth's Rune on Vertic Avenue
Walking down the cobbled roads of Vertic Avenue, you come to a section
of road which widens into a square.  A massive rune of teleportation has
been engraved deep into the ground here, symbol of the scriber's might.
Walls surrounding the castle and church are to the east and west,
while Vertic Avenue ranges to the north and south.
Exits: north south
A large man, scarred in battle, strides boldly and hefts a large axe.
Harakiem is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
Harakiem is surrounded by a mix of ice-shards and sparking flames.

Meanwhile your other characters who were waiting Beneath the Monument will be transed through to here:

A ledge above the temple
Standing on the edge of an underground canyon, the floor drops away to the
front. Some distance below the ledge, the glow of gold illuminates the
brilliant stalactites that take careful aim at their victims below.  A small
temple is the source of the light.  From this height, the temple does not
appear to be very large.
Exits: down 

From here it's a short run past the albino goblins, through no supplicate rooms, one tricky puzzle and you'll be at the Statue of Ha'rach... More about that some other time, but to me the fun part is there is a lot to find in a big area like the Desert of Despair. There are hidden clues and secrets - much of the most important information is missing from Rodpedia. Don't be scared to explore - but be careful to avoid unnecessary risks. Most of all leave no stone unturned.

Bartle Test

One of the best parts of the Realms of Despair community is the production of the Cry of Despair. Basically this is a newspaper/magazine produced in game by the players on a semi-regular basis. The most recent edition discusses the Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology. This test divides a game like the Realms of Despair into 4 different areas - exploring, achieving, killing and socializing and asks the player which order their prioritise them. My results were as follows:

I'm not surprised that I came up mostly as an explorer. Finding hidden little secrets that no-one knows is a great feeling. I have been a little too busy on the achieving side to do any exploring of late - finishing off levelling characters and equipping them takes up time. Hopefully I'll be able to get back onto exploring more soon. I was however surprised that I came up as more of a killer than a socializer. But with the new guild restructures I'll be able to have opportunities to do a lot more socializing soon.