Bereft in Deadly Bloom

I've been working a little on Zistrosk's undead scourge quest. The quest message is:

(  1)  Zistrosk     10/08/16     A dangerous undead scourge marches across the Realms...

News has reached Darkhaven of a deadly group of undead souls that have been involved in sinister trapping rituals. Peaceful living beings are having their very souls extracted and trapped in gravestones! The gravestones seem to be most commonly found near those with great power, where adventurer deaths are common. The motivation of the  undead and the purpose of their soul storage are unknown, but it is clear that their intentions are not benign. Who or what could be behind this sudden attack on the Realms?

A call to action has been raised by the good citizens of Darkhaven. Find these gravestones, free the innocent souls trapped there, and fend off any undead souls that dare to make themselves known.

Scapezist's Note: This quest will run throughout the month of October, with a climactic end-event on Saturday, October 29th. While any level player may free souls, only AV players should fight the undead, so choose your one char to involve in this event wisely. When questing, be IP1 in the area, and if player corpses are on the ground at the undead please select another target to attack. Quest activity will be tallied automatically. Declare your quest character to me please before you start, so there is no misunderstanding (tells/mudmail). Scoring will be a composite of gravestones sacced, and undead kb'd. All actions must be taken on your declared quest character to count. If you have yet to start this quest you have until the final event on the 29th to join in.

After trekking around the Realms I found my first grave in this room one before Blackmote in the Tower of Despair. It appears that Zistrosk has put a lot of effort into this quest. Here it is:

The Last Cells
The cells to the east and west are denied access to by a pair of iron-bound
wooden doors.  Upon each door is a sigil depicting a crescent moon entwined
by serpents.  Both cell doors glow with a red light, outshining the flicker of
the torches.  A lull descends over the hallway.  The horrid stink near the
altar has faded, but been replaced by wisps of a strange ether.
Exits: north [east] south [west]
The ground is covered in a thick misty haze of undead evil.
The gravestone of a trapped soul lies here preventing a happy afterlife.
A mystical spring flows majestically from a glowing circle of blue.

>exam gravestone
You take a closer look at gravestone on the ground...

Sacrifice the gravestone and the following happens:

>sac gravestone
Vl'aresch gives you one gold coin for your sacrifice of gravestone.
The gravestone crumbles into rubble, freeing the poor trapped soul within.
The Undead Minion Master moans as its power weakens!
Vilexur's help in freeing trapped souls has been recorded.
The ground shakes and shifts as an undead minion rises to protect his master's interests. 

The undead minion pops and looks pretty cool too:

The minion isn't too hard to kill, especially for a vampire, though you will need a handful of heals. Without too much trouble it will die:

An undead soul's bite grazes you.
An undead soul's kick scratches you.
An undead soul tries to bite you with his disease ridden teeth!
(a strand of polished jade gets damaged)
Your pierce rips an undead soul!
Your pierce gashes an undead soul!
An undead soul is DEAD!!
An undead soul screams loudly!
An undead soul exclaims 'The master will avenge me, and then you shall be turned to dust!'
Vilexur's deeds have been noticed by The Undead Minion Master.
An undead soul gasps his last breath and blood spurts out of his mouth and ears.

You get 967100 gold coins from the corpse of an undead soul.
The corpse of an undead soul holds:
     Nothing.

Quite a nice amount of gold on it too. Thanks to Zistrosk for running this quest. I hope I can find some more gravestones and am ready when The Undead Minion Master appears.

 

Random Roundup

Been busy working on a few different projects within the Realms of Despair since my last post. Here's what I've been doing:


Murg's Tulip Collecting
The deadline for Murg's tulip collection came and I managed to hand in nine different bouquets of tulips. For this gained 18 glory from Akael who said that I came 25th overall in the quest. I really enjoyed this quest and thought it was a cleverly designed quest for the following reasons:

• It was open to everyone of all levels of experience. People with their first character at level 10 could attempt it at the same time as people with over 100 avatars. While those with more experience and resources had an advantage everyone could participate.
• It was open to people of all locations. One thing that I can find frustrating is when quests are run at 4am my time. This quest could be done at any time of the day for anyone.
• Increased in difficulty as the quest progressed. The first few tulips were fairly easy to find but then you needed to keep track of what combinations you had handed in and what spare tulips you had.
• It encouraged teamwork. It was difficult to do well in this quest on your own. Trading tulips, tips on mobs that popped the rarer tulips and teaming up to kill the hardest mobs was required.
• It got people out to places and mobs they don't normally go to. It's always a good thing to do this and the rarer tulips could be found mostly in more obscure areas.

To me this was one of the best quests I can remember. The only downside was it did encourage a little staking and spam killing of some mobs. Overall it was a great quest and I came away with enough glory to get me a damage roll chunk added to an item. It just means I will need to work harder to get in to the top 10.


The Deck Again...
I found the deck again. Here's the result:

The Deck of Many Things lies in wait for a brave soul.
The Deck of Many Things says 'If you can find a card within me, you might be lucky enough to draw something of value.
However, once you submit to chance, you put yourself at the mercy of the cards.
The Deck of Many Things winks suggestively.

>g key deck
You get the Key to the Deck of Many Things from the Deck of Many Things.
The Key to the Deck shudders menacingly.
You drop the Key to the Deck of Many Things.
Vl'aresch gives you one gold coin for your sacrifice of the Key to the Deck of Many Things.
Be Forewarned : You could lose all that you own.
Sashell has been given the chance to draw from the Deck of Many Things.

>g card deck
You get a card from the Deck of Many Things.
A mystical being appears and points at you. Your senses reel as you are flung through the void to another place.
The card twists and wriggles in your hands.
A great flash of light envelopes the room, blinding you momentarily.
When your vision returns, you see that the Deck of Many Things lies before you once more.
It is highly recommended that you examine the deck before drawing from it. When you are ready, simply take the card.

>g card deck
You get a card from The Deck of Many Things.
You see that you have drawn the Ten of Swords.
What this card bodes for your future, only an immortal of level 57 or above can discover for you.
>tell loril hi loril can you please help me out with the deck?
You tell Loril 'hi loril can you please help me out with the deck?'

>eq
You are using:
<used as light>      (Red Aura) Shifting black flames
<worn on finger>     (Red Aura) (Humming) Set's ring of Power
<worn on finger>     (Red Aura) (Humming) Set's ring of Power
<worn around neck>   (Red Aura) (Glowing) Cloak of Bloodlust
<worn around neck>   (Red Aura) (Glowing) Cloak of Bloodlust
<worn on body>       (Red Aura) (Humming) Golden Plate
<worn on head>       a fallohide's leather cap
<worn on legs>       a fallohide's leather breeches
<worn on feet>       (Glowing) demonscale Boots
<worn on hands>      (Red Aura) Sin
<worn on arms>       (Red Aura) a shadowy pair of dragonscale arm guards
<worn about body>    a fallohide's cloak
<worn about waist>   a fallohide's pipeweed pouch
<worn about waist>   a fallohide's waist sash
<worn around wrist>  (Glowing) a crystal dragon bracer
<worn around wrist>  (Glowing) a crystal dragon bracer
<wielded>            (Red Aura) (Glowing) darkness
<dual wielded>       (Red Aura) (Glowing) darkness
<worn on ears>       ears of the fox
<worn on eyes>       (Red Aura) (Glowing) Visage of Bloodlust
<worn around ankle>  a turqoise anklet
<worn around ankle>  a blue, glassy chain
(type 'garb' for a list of all wear locations)

Loril tells you 'Oh damn...'

Loril bounces in on a fluffy, white cloud named Nine.

The deck of many things is once again shuffled and dealt by the Gods.

>smile
You smile happily.

>where
Players near you in The Deck of Many Things:
| Loril          (God)                   | Within a Small Circle of Mystical Stones
| Sashell        (Guild of Spirit)       | Within a Small Circle of Mystical Stones

>i
You are carrying 8 items and have room for 12 more:
     a rat tail
     a small birch chest
     an icicle wand
     a journal
     (Glowing) the mystic lantern of the ages
     an ancient dagger
     the Art Gallery key
     a card

>eat card
You try to nibble on a card...

Loril says 'I sure hope it's quick! I was just prepping to leave.'
>give card loril
You give a card to Loril.

Loril apologizes for her rude behavior.

Loril drops a card.

Loril sacrifices a card to Adendra.
Whispering voices fill the room and a faint breeze blows from somewhere...
There can be no escape from the destructive power of the Ten of Swords.

A cold breeze from the winds of never washes through the void.

>hrm
You hrm. Hrm.

Loril says 'crumb'

You watch Loril gaze thoughtfully into space while rubbing her chin.

>say bad?
You wonder 'bad?'

Loril says 'Not great. What I need, though, is to remember how.'

Loril says 'Sorry. This may take a min or 2.'
>nod
You nod solemnly.

Loril chuckles politely.

A cold breeze from the winds of never washes through the void.
>say builds the suspense...
You say 'builds the suspense...'

Loril says 'I always check for the deck in the morning. :P'

Loril laughs.

Loril seems to agree.
>nod
You nod solemnly.
>hrm
You hrm. Hrm.

>say last time i got this card i got -5% resist magic to an item
You say 'last time i got this card i got -5% resist magic to an item'

Loril says 'Win some... lose some ... :)'

>nod
You nod solemnly.

>say a small loss is ok
You say 'a small loss is ok'

Loril forces you to 'save'.
Saved...

Loril says 'Welp, that should do it! :('

>hrm
You hrm. Hrm.

>say what happened?
You wonder 'what happened?'

Loril wonders 'Sorry for the wait. :( I can send you back to the deck or to the
[]. Which would you prefer?'

>say [] will do
You say '[] will do'

Loril says 'Ah, that's half the fun! Figuring it out! ;)'

Loril hugs you.

>say thanks for your time
You say 'thanks for your time'

Loril says 'Take care. :)'

Loril says 'Oh, you're so welcome. :)'

Loril says 'Thanks for your patience.'

>say you too - and thanks for something to blog about
You say 'you too - and thanks for something to blog about'

>wink lor
You wink suggestively at Loril.

Loril says 'ahhhhhhh'

Loril seems to get a laugh from something saying, "heh heh heh".

Loril says 'Be kind. I'm an avid reader. ;)'

Loril says 'Read: fan'

>thank lor
You thank Loril heartily.

Loril says 'OK. Trans in 3 ...'

>wave lor
You wave goodbye to Loril.

Loril has transferred you.

I should have known from before that the Ten of Swords was not a good card and just disconnected that character until after the next reboot, but Loril was very polite and friendly about it. Maybe next time I'll have better luck...


Druid Dressups
Last week I finished off levelling my first character for the year - a sea-elf druid. The druid is the only peaceful class I don't have at least one avatar of before this one. They are not my favourite class as I find them a "Jack of all Trades but Master of None" kind of class though they do have a few niche uses I wanted to test out like tanking at Belial. After sorting through storage characters, a quick killing of some basic mobs and a couple of items from the donations room in Arcanes I had my druid dressed as follows:

You are using:
<used as light>      the sigil of A'enari
<worn on finger>     a scorched band of glass
<worn on finger>     a scorched band of glass
<worn around neck>   (Magical) (Glowing) a golden torque
<worn around neck>   (Magical) (Glowing) a golden torque
<worn on body>       (Glowing) (Humming) a dragonscale breastplate
<worn on head>       the shade helm
<worn on legs>       (Magical) Leggings of Arcane Magicks
<worn on feet>       (Magical) moccasins
<worn on hands>      (Magical) (Glowing) Blessed gauntlets of the Templar
<worn on arms>       (Glowing) (Humming) a pair of dragonscale arm-guards
<worn as shield>     (Glowing) (Humming) shield of the Valkyrie
<worn about body>    (Glowing) (Humming) a Cloak of Light
<worn about waist>   a blackened, mangled belt
<worn around wrist>  a lion-crested bracer
<worn around wrist>  (Glowing) (Humming) a Bracer of Light
<wielded>            an icy metal flange mace
<held>               (Magical) the Ruling Sceptre
<worn on ears>       (Glowing) a sliver of glass
<worn on eyes>       the shades
<worn on back>       [nothing]
<worn over face>     [nothing]
<worn around ankle>  a blue, glassy chain
<worn around ankle>  a turqoise anklet

A very basic, cheap and easy to get setup for a new druid. I'm looking forward to dressing it up properly though I will need to make some gold so I can create some items like Ravager Plate & Shield plus an Edo Helm. And on the plus side I should have plenty of free time to run some stuff this weekend.

More on Murg and his Tulips

I've been running around looking for more tulips for the unhappy ogre Murg. I've managed to find another three vibrant red tulips today in the areas of the Kingdom of Juargan, the King's Castle and Revelation City.

I handed them over to Murg like before who looks like this:

Thick in form and intellect, this Ogre has a dull clump of tangled, sludge-
colored hair, and eyes like green drool. His oversized, underwashed body is
(thankfully) covered in an assortment of matted furs, covered in fleas that
were probably desperate to get away from the smell of his skin. The only parts
of him that are clean enough to see the deep charcoal grey colour of his flesh
are his drool-soaked chin, and the paths of two streams of tears on his cheeks.

Doing this quest got me thinking about how many different bouquets of three flowers were possible from a selection of five flowers. I gave this challenge to one of my classes at school to figure out with varying degrees of success. The answer to this problem is:

Number of bouquets with 3 flowers the same = 5 × 1 × 1 = 5
Number of bouquets with 2 flowers the same = 5 × 1 × 4 = 20
Number of bouquets with 3 flowers different = 5 × 4 × 3 ÷ 3! = 10

In total there are 35 different possible bouquets that can be made requiring a total of 105 flowers with 21 of each colour needed. With 2 bouquets handed in I have a lot of work to do...

Arcanes Quest Roundup

Two days ago was the deadline for submission of my Arcanes quest for January. I found the quest to be an overall successful endeavour and thought provoking exercise on how quests are ran in the Realms of Despair.

Before even starting the quest I took into consideration what my aims for the quest were. I wanted to focus on players developing the achiever side of the Bartle Test accomplishments. To do this my aims included:

• Getting less experienced players with only a few avatar characters out and killing mobs that are a challenge but not too difficult so that they can learn from it.
• Encouraging small teams to work together for the slightly harder mobs.
• Giving people something to do that they can attempt on their own.
• Making it challenging enough for more experienced players to keep them busy going after items they haven't bothered trying to get for a long time.
• Getting some publicity out in the game about Arcanes being an active and inclusive organisation.
• Having decent prizes that will help people equip their alts better.
• Getting people to have some fun and enjoy the game.

From this I chose a list of 30 items to send players after. The full list of items was: a set of icy leggings, blackened blade of the corruptor, bloodhunger, bracer of light, cloak of demons, cloak of light, crusade, crystal dragon bracers, crystalline teardrop, darkened gauntlets, demonscale boots, demonskin ankle bracer, doomgiver, godskull shinguards, golden torque, moccasins, a shadowy pair of dragonscale armguards, platinum band of the draco viridis, sash of the magi, scorched band of glass, sets ring of power, shield of the Valkyrie and shifting black flames. Each of these items I can get on my own from a variety of strategies and each of these items is useful for an avatar character to get a basic equipment set up.

In the end I was happy with the results I got from the quest. Activity within the order improved from a slow December and those who participated all responded positively. One of the unexpected bonuses was that to get some of the items in my quest it overlapped with a quest being run by the Immortal Quest Council over the month resulting in players making a little glory too. This experience also did lead to an increase in appreciation for the time and effort the Quest Council members do put it into the planning and building for some of the more elaborate quests they release every now and again.

With the positive results I'm already working on a couple of ideas for another quest in a couple of months time.

Arcanes Quest

For the last couple of months I've been toying around in my head with the idea of a quest to run for the Order of Arcanes. I've been wanting to do something that is:

1.  Accessible to everyone regardless of how many avatar characters they had.
2. Would encourage people to go out and kill mobs they haven't killed before or for a long time.
3. Not too difficult, too easy or long.
4. Would promote teamwork with other members.

I had been thinking of doing some sort of quest that focused on killing mobs but didn't want to just have a "go kill mob X" sort of thing. My first idea was to give the description of a mob with the name removed and have people figure out what the mob was, kill it and bring back an item from the mob. The problems with this idea were:

1. It got very spammy on the notes.
2. Some mobs didn't have a proper description.
3. Most of the mobs had their descriptions fully covered on Rodpedia.

In the end I decided to place 30 item names into a wordsearch using a website I sometimes use for my remedial classes who struggle with basic literacy (using MUDS to improve basic reading and writing skills... interesting idea)  to make worksheets for. I also needed to find some decent prizes to use as an incentive. After searching around my storage spaces I'm offering up the following as prizes for the first three placegetters: Maniacal Tendencies, the dagger of metaphysical deliverance and the Breastplate of the Ravager and various gold prizes to other participants.

The notes I posted on the Arcanes noteboard for the quest are shown below:

 

Hopefully this quest will be a success and get people working together to kill some stuff plus maybe even get some people interested in joining us.

And finally Happy New Year to anyone reading this. I hope 2015 is a good one.

Festivus Trolled

Every year around this time of year the immortals of the Realms of Despair host the Festivus Raffle. Prizes include decent pieces of equipment, rare things like rename scrolls, big gold prizes and the super special rare prizes. Usually it is on around a time I can't manage to make but for once I was able to be on around the time of the drawing. To buy tickets you had to visit the Festivus Troll at Darkhaven Square:

>look troll
The troll stands around handing out tickets and wishing you a Merry Festivus.
He also encourages you to read the sign before making any purchases.

A Festivus Raffle Troll is in perfect health.

You peek at his inventory:
     Nothing.

>exam sign
You take a closer look at an important raffle sign on the ground...
PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU GIVE ANY GOLD TO THE FESTIVUS TROLL

To purchase a ticket:
  give 1000000 coins troll  (1 ticket)
  give 10000000 coins troll (10 tickets)

Do NOT log out with your tickets, or they will be lost!

Do NOT give any amount of gold other than 1 mil or 10 mil at a time.  If you
do, that amount will be lost!

You may purchase as many tickets as you like, but you will be limited by inventory space.  You may store the tickets anywhere you wish.
The tickets are not tagged to individual characters.

Read the Archives for more information.

>give 1m coins troll
You give 1,000,000 coins to a Festivus Raffle Troll.
A Festivus Raffle Troll gives you Festivus ticket number 612481.

>exam ticket
You take a closer look at Festivus ticket
number 612481 in inventory...
You see nothing special.

I do wish that they would make the tickets save so that players not able to be on at the time of the drawing could be in with a chance to win something. In the end I decided to gamble 75,000,000 gold coins on the raffle. I thought that would be enough to give me a chance of winning something without going overboard on the draw. Just before the start of the draw Gonnil announced the following:

Gonnil quests 'a total of 13,161,000,000 gold was spent in this year's raffle'

If you add in however many tickets were given away as prizes to minor quests beforehand I realised my odds of winning on any particular draw are about 75 in 13,300 or slightly better than 1 in 200... But hey there's plenty of prizes? Surely I was in with a chance?

In the end the following identification of a ticket shows it all:

>c id ticket
Object 'Festivus ticket number 612481' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 51 trash, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This trash has a gold value of 0.

The part where it says "trash" sums it up for me - not a single winner. The closest I got was when the ticket that won the Echoes of Damnation was just 5 more than one of my tickets. I guess there is always next year and next time I'll have to invest more than 75 million on the draw, but hey it's always good to be a part of the event. Thanks to Gonnil for running the event and congratulations to all the winners.

Calm Your Farm and More...

I've been slow on the updates lately. I haven't done any one major thing in the Realms of Despair of late but several little things so this post will be a bunch of snippets of things that are happening.

Levelling and McFarming
The little drow warrior I posted about levelling earlier is ticking along nicely and got up to level 45 quite quickly. I slowed down a bit as I wanted to use him to explore a couple of lower level areas, one of which is MacMillan Family Farm. This area has puzzles and some nice equipment only accessible to characters under level 45. The first puzzle I came across was with the well. This one has similarities to spaces in the Barren Wastes in particular around the horned beast you need to kill for the facestompers. Here's what I've figured out:

Fork in the Road
The roadway comes to an intersection here, splitting around a simple well that supplies the farm with water. The chalky pebbled path leads off to the northwest, where a pair of large wooden barns can be seen. To the northeast a dirt road continues off towards a small farmhouse, and more orchards. To the north, large canyons can faintly be seen in the distance, making passage into the mountain near impossible from the farm.
Exits: south northeast northwest
An old stone well is here, shaded by a small cedar roof.

> exam well
You take a closer look at an old, stone well on the ground...
Created ages ago, this well is constructed from very large river rocks, plucked from the canyon beds below, held together with mortar. Once clean and polished, it is now all but covered with a thick green moss. The well is capped with a cedar roof, resting a few feet above the opening. The roof is supported by two large spruce posts, attached to the peaks of both sides. This well has supplied the farm with fresh water since its inception. There is a rope tied to one of the spruce posts, it trails off and coils into the grass behind the well.

> drop rope well
You grab the coil of rope and let it down to the darkness of the well below.

> climb down rope
You carefully climb over the well's ledge, and climb the rope down into the darkness below.

Deep Within the Well
Not very much is visible from the few strands of dust-filled light that filter down from the well entrance high up above. The smooth block walls spiral down to meet the shin high water of this underground river well beneath the earth's surface. Small ripples form around the few small slippery rocks that crest the surface of the otherwise calm water. The remains of the well's bucket can be seen strewn about just beneath the water's surface, torn into many pieces by some unknown force.
Exits: none

> exam rocks
Four larger rocks crest the waters surface, creating tiny islands. Many smaller rocks and pebbles blanket the spaces between the main four. Three of the larger rocks look quite secured, but one of them looks as though you could look under it.

> look under rock
As you go to look under the rock, an armored baloth jumps out at you, snapping!

Again leave no stone unturned. The fight against the armored baloth is on the tough side for a character under level 45 but when killed it has a chance of popping a piece of a better item.


Questing for Glory
I was lucky enough to be on when an immortal ran quest was on. This one involved finding snow shovels to help a stuck buffalo free. I found my first one on the Valley of the Elves as follows:

A Trail Less Travelled
Exits: down northeast southeast
A deluxe snow shovel lies here.
An antelope is here, peacefully munching on grass.

An antelope leaves southeast.

>g shovel
You get a deluxe snow shovel.

>c id shovel
Object 'a deluxe snow shovel found by Jessyl' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 51 treasure, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This treasure has a gold value of 0.

>exam shovel
You take a closer look at a deluxe snow shovel found by Jessyl in inventory...
You see nothing special.

>Darkhaven Square
You are standing within the expanse of the famous Darkhaven Square. An immense stone statue of Duke Luther sits in the center of the square, surrounded by fountains of shimmering crystal water.  Gardens and shrubbery enhance the air of serenity and peace here in the center of the great city. A plaque set into the base of the fountain attracts your eye.  Cobblestone roads lead away in the four cardinal directions, while to the northeast
and northwest are forested paths.  The cathedral spires of Notre Dame de Sioux rise with majesty above the treetops to the northwest.
Exits: north east south west up northeast northwest
A large sundial lies here, useless during the night hours.
Torrents of flame flow a river of fire through the night sky above the square.
Stone fountains containing crystal clear water surround the Duke's statue.
(Fade) An enormous pile of snow seems to be slowly moving.
A snow covered buffalo is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
(Hide) (Translucent) Rentuke StarSword-Belforte is hovering here.
(Hide) Lareawan Dawnbreaker is the voice inside your head [NC-ON] is hovering here.
Only a deluxe snow shovel will help dig out the snow.

>give shovel buffalo
You give a deluxe snow shovel found by Jessyl to a snow covered buffalo.
A snow covered buffalo thanks you heartily.

I went on to then find two more shovels in The Mire, one in Ocean Keep and another in the Desert of Despair. With 2 glory per shovel the prize 'm now only 7 glory short of an extra damage roll.


Barbarian Adventures
A couple of fellow members of Arcanes have recently finished levelling barbarians and needed to get the dressed up so I've helped people kill a couple of mobs with barbarian items. The first was the yeti - this mob is frustrating with it's low pop rates and the timing needed to kill it so you have a chance of getting a claw.

After this we've also been killing the enormous manticore. This mob has been strange in that it does not appear every reboot and I'm not even sure what area it is officially in as when you use the where command in his room it gives you a message about not knowing where you are. In the end we had few problems killing the manticore. Of all the barbarian equipment mobs this is the easiest where the good old choke, flee, quit, relog, repeat... method works well. End result being:

You choke the life out of an enormous manticore as he struggles to break your grasp!
You injure an enormous manticore!
An enormous manticore is DEAD!!
You lose your death-grip on your victim's neck.
An enormous manticore lets out a horrendous cry that rises high into the air before disappating. A portion of an enormous manticore's head is ripped off as it falls to the ground. An enormous manticore catches his guts in his hands as they pour through his fatal wound!
You get 1054000 gold coins from the corpse of an enormous manticore.
The corpse of an enormous manticore holds:
     the horned helm of the plains wanderer

Underworld Grinding
All this week I've been setting myself up in The Underworld grinding away at making some Maniacal Tendencies. The strategy for this is simple - kill Eylops with a warrior using non-magic weapons and an immobilizing mage immobilizing away. Once down grab the keys, switch the warrior to wielding a Nasr and then have the warrior/mage team kill Rage and Fury and fingers crossed pop an essence off each. Repeating this for a week I managed to pop 8 of each. Connecting these and then sacrificing them using an augurer with 22 luck resulted in the following 7 times:

>g rage birch; g fury birch; connect rage fury; drop unfettered;sac unf
You get the essence of rage from a small birch chest.

You get the essence of fury from a small birch chest.

You cobble the pieces together...
 ...suddenly they snap into place, creating Unfettered Delirium!

You drop Unfettered Delirium.

A'enari gives you one gold coin for your sacrifice of Unfettered Delirium.

On the 6th attempt out of 8 however...

>g rage birch; g fury birch; connect rage fury; drop unfettered;sac unf
You get the essence of rage from a small birch chest.

You get the essence of fury from a small birch chest.

You cobble the pieces together...
 ...suddenly they snap into place, creating Unfettered Delirium!

You drop Unfettered Delirium.

A'enari gives you one gold coin for your sacrifice of Unfettered Delirium.
Strange sounds rise up from the ground echoing in a chorus of insane laughter. A twirling mist forms about the ground, bringing an immediate chill to the air. As you look down you spy a strange looking helmet which has appeared by arcane means.
You get Maniacal Tendencies.

I'm hoping to continue grinding away for another week or two in the hopes of making three Maniacal   Tendencies - one for my drow warrior, one to use a prize for an Arcanes quest and one to sell/trade for other items.

More Reading
I've also been reading a couple of blogs by other players. Firstly Graham's blog at http://gsbarcanes.blogspot.com. Its still kind of new but it shows a different point of view of happenings around the Realms.

Secondly Syldir's Corner of Despair at http://realmsofdespair.info/blogs/Syldir/. A very different blog to mine and well worth checking out.

Bonus Weekend

This weekend I logged on to not one but two exciting events in the Realms of Despair. The first was a change to the announcement of the day to:

The second exciting event was the following questnews:

 

I didn't waste anytime with the summer breeze quest, logged on my ranger and started running around all over the place to find them. My first success was in Transylvania as follows:

A Trail In The Eastern Forest
As you push through the dense forest growth, you notice blood stains cover almost all of the forest floor.  The silence is ominous, and you wish for the peacefulness of more familiar territory.  You may travel north or south along the trail, or head west towards a lighter area of the forest.
Exits: north south west
A summer breeze drifts through the air.
A little brown bunny rabbit nestles into the greenery.

>g summer
You get a summer breeze.

>c id summer
Object 'a summer breeze found by Jessyl' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 51 treasure, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This treasure has a gold value of 0.

I continued questing after this and found another four summer breezes between Northern Plains, Dunhill and a couple of other places. In the end I found my fifth summer breeze and handed in 5 minutes before the end of the quest:

Darkhaven General Assembly
This vast room--the largest in the whole building--was designed for meetings of massive segments of the population. Rows upon rows of blue-padded benches line the walls like bleachers, and a small stage rises above the floor at the south end of the giant room, lit by gigantic torches. The floor of the room is tiled  in glimmering silver-veined marble, and the walls are draped in luxurious gold velvet. Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling like icy stalactites. Despite the ample seating, there is still plenty of room to walk, and grand balls have been held here in the past.
Exits: north
(Ascendant Goddess) (Red Aura) Destre is shrouded in a demonic aura. [Sanc]

Destre smiles happily.

>ngree
You nod in greeting to everyone present.

Destre says 'all set :>'

>give summer dest
You give a summer breeze found by Jessyl to Destre.

Your glory has been increased by 10.

>tail
You wag your tail. Feeling happy?

Destre cheers you on like it's going out of style.

>say Thanks for the quest
You say 'Thanks for the quest'

Destre says 'welcome :>'

After this it was time to get into the levelling spirit. I started myself a new druid after losing the password to my old one and with the double experience I got it levelled up fast. One thing I found exciting was while levelling the druid I came across a low level quest I had never seen before:

 > The Darkhaven Bakery
Upon entering the Darkhaven Bakery, you find yourself surrounded by citizens of the marvelous city, each waiting in line for their daily bread.  Gazing eastward, you see a farmer's shop which sells all forms of dairy products.
A butcher's shop also lies to the west, while an opening in the tent to the south leads back out onto Market Street.
There is a small sign here.
Exits: east south west
An important looking scroll hangs from a wooden board.
Nimmith, Darkhaven's famed baker, is here.
Nimmith Looks you over.
Nimmith says to you 'Yes, you will do.'
Nimmith claps you rather roughly on your back.
Nimmith grumbles.
Nimmith goes on 'My usual shipment of flour from the Shire is three days late and I am running low. There will be some unhappy customers if I dont have their bread ready when they come in. I suspect marauders in the Forest of Tears. Go to the mill there. And hurry! I must have that flour.'
Nimmith rolls up his sleeves and starts kneading dough.

 This led to a short trip to The Shire for the following:

Bywater Road
You stand on Bywater Road, the busiest street in all of Shiredom.  The road
continues to the east and west.  A large, imposing building lies to the south.
You catch a glimpse of the Brandywine River to the north.
Exits: [north] east south west
The Miller is here, overseeing his busy mill workers.
'You're from Nimmith. I can tell by the flour dust all over you. No respect for personal space is all I'll say on the matter.'
The Miller chuckles politely.
'I knew that he would send someone when we were late. 
A wolf got my last delivery boy and I havent hired another yet. '
The Miller snaps his fingers and a millworker appears with a sack of flour.
The millworker gives the sack to the Miller.
The Miller gives you a sack of flour.
'Hurry now. Nimmith relies on these shipments.'

The flour was then returned to Nimmith for the following result:

The Darkhaven Bakery
Upon entering the Darkhaven Bakery, you find yourself surrounded by citizens of the marvelous city, each waiting in line for their daily bread.  Gazing eastward, you see a farmer's shop which sells all forms of dairy products.
A butcher's shop also lies to the west, while an opening in the tent to the south leads back out onto Market Street.
There is a small sign here.
Exits: east south west
An important looking scroll hangs from a wooden board.
Nimmith, Darkhaven's famed baker, is here.
Nimmith says to you 'Varlok, did I mention that the Western Trade Route would be the best way to go? Did you find the Shire?
If you have my flour, please give it to me.'

Nimmith says 'The Shire better bring that next flour shipment soon...'

> give flour nimmith
You give a sack of flour to Nimmith.
Nimmith claps you rather roughly on your back.
Nimmith exclaims 'Well done and just in time, Varlok! My thanks!'
Nimmith gives you 100,000 coins.

It is amazing the little quests scattered through the game you can easily pass over.

I thought it was great idea for the immortals to test the double experience out. It has been well thought out and advertised on the twitter account:

The proof of the success of this initiative will be when the mudstats site updates its numbers. I can't wait to see what new initiative the immortals have lined up next...

Dragon Killing and Kissing

Over the last few days I've been lucky enough to run into a couple of immortal ran quests involving dragons. The first one involved hunting them down and killing them while the second involved mounting a ride, finding them and then kissing them.

For the first quest I had to track down a different red, white or blue dragon and then kill them. I managed to find one in the Valley of the Elves. It took me a while and a lot of heals on my ranger but my main strategy of attack, flee, quit and relog when needed worked to eventually kill it.

Wandering a Small Valley
The grassy woodland gives way to a small garden here behind a cottage which
is just south of it.  More than likely, this is someone's kitchen garden,
planted to provide fresh vegetables for the cottage owner perhaps.  As you
look it over, you note neat rows of beans, corn, squash and several other
types of commonly grown vegetables, even some herbs grow here in a neat
corner off by themselves.  There appears to be no door into the cottage
from this side, although there is a window but it's too high up off the
ground for you to look through.  The forest and grassland continues in all
directions around you, save where the cottage stands.
Exits: north east west
A mystical spring flows majestically from a glowing circle of blue.
(Fade) Glistening shards of ice cover the dragon.
A white dragon is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
A white dragon is ensphered by shards of glistening ice.

Your spell wounds a white dragon!
A white dragon's hail of ice injures you!
Your slash rips a white dragon!
A white dragon is DEAD!!
A white dragon catches his guts in his hands as they pour through his fatal wound!
You get 542000 gold coins from the corpse of a white dragon.
The corpse of a white dragon holds:
     a white dragon scale won by Jessyl
>exam scale
You take a closer look at a white dragon scale won by Jessyl in inventory...
You see nothing special.

>c id scale
Object 'a white dragon scale won by Jessyl' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 51 trash, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This trash has a gold value of 0.

For the second quest I ran around to every different area I could think of with dragons in - Dragon Pass, Dragon Tower, Ocean Keep, Shadowport, Blasted Lands, Great Eastern Desert, New Ofcol, Antall, Morgul Vale, Coral Depths... The trick to get the prize from them was to kiss them:

At the Crack in the Cliff Face
You are at a spot where forest ends and cliff begins, or perhaps it is
the other way round.  No matter, the point is that to the east is a
thick and lush forest, and to the west is a tall black cliff with a
crack that looks large enough to enter on horseback.
Exits: east west
(Invis) (Fade) (Hide) A trail of chocolate footprints ends here.
A chocolate dragon is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
(Mount) A strong and proud horse whinnies at your approach.

>kiss dragon
You kiss it.
A chocolate dragon gives you a chocolate ocean keep dragon given to Jessyl.

>c id chocolate
Object 'a chocolate ocean keep dragon given to Jessyl' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 51 trash, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This trash has a gold value of 0.

I do find the items being level 51 a nuisance as it does make any strategy of killing mobs involving fleeing and quitting such as chokehold on a barbarian useless. Either way though I managed to get a total of 13 glory from the two quests which gets me up to a total of 113 glory on my ranger. Not sure what to do with it but getting some ideas.

Thanks again to Destre and Romani for running the quests.

Seafarer's Research - part 2

In my last post about the fathomer's quest I jumped the musket a bit. It turns out I was chasing the wrong captain in Raven Tor instead I should have been hitting good old Captain Lodd in Ocean Keep. Once dead the following happens:

DYING>You feign an attack, then strike from the opposite side!
Your feint hits Captain Lodd!
As your deadly blow hits, Captain Lodd collapses in agony.
Captain Lodd is DEAD!!
Captain Lodd wheezes 'The king will hear of this.  My death will be avenged.'
The captain appears to make one last attempt at raising his weapon. 
He falters, and you see he is trying to use his last moments to conceal a precious item.
Captain Lodd hits the ground ... DEAD.
You get 824144 gold coins from the corpse of Captain Lodd.
The corpse of Captain Lodd holds:
     (Glowing) a sword with the king's crest
     (Magical) (Glowing) (Humming) a jade cameo
     a sea captain's dial
You gain 7680 experience points from your success!

Object 'a sea captain's dial' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 35 armor, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This armor has a gold value of 0.
Armor class is 2 of 2.

> exam dial
You take a closer look at a sea captain's dial in inventory...
Small and delicate, this dial is made of whisper thin metal. Etched upon both sides are intersecting lines and numbers at certain points.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in superb condition.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

After taking this dial back to Erneth:

Erneth stands over an anvil, pounding away at his work.
Erneth looks up at you, smiling.
Erneth asks you, 'Did you find the dial?'
> give dial erneth
You give a sea captain's dial to Erneth.
Erneth smiles at the sight of the sea captain's dial.
Erneth says 'This is most excellent. It will work perfectly.'
Erneth says 'Where did you get it? Actually I'd rather not know.'
Erneth says 'I will get to work finishing off your astrolabe, it will still take a bit of time.'
Erneth says 'Why don't you come back tomorrow, and I will have it finished for you.'
Erneth bows his head slightly then hurriedly returns to his work.

 Next was a little waiting for Erneth to get on with his job. After about a day of mud time he completes his task but with a little catch:

Erneth stands over an anvil, pounding away at his work.
Erneth looks down at his hands, unable to meet your gaze.
Erneth says 'I am so sorry.'
Erneth says 'I had just finished your astrolabe, when someone entered my hut.'
Erneth exclaims 'I tried to tell him I was closed, but he just demanded the astrolabe, he knew all about it!'
Erneth says 'He pulled his sword on me and threatened my life.'
Erneth sighs to himself.
Erneth says 'If you find him I'm sure you will be able to get it back.'
Erneth says 'He mentioned an Island he hides out on, called Stormpoint.'
Erneth looks up, finally meeting your eyes.
Erneth says 'I have never heard of it myself.'
Erneth says 'However, I'm sure if you mention the name of the island to a ship's captain, you might be able to get a ride out to it.'
Erneth nods to himself, feeling better about the ordeal.
Erneth says 'Good luck my friend. If you get it back you should show it to Noah, I'm sure he would like to see it.'

After this it's now time to gear up and prepare for a fight and adventure in Raven Tor.

Seafarer's Research - part 1

Recently released was a new quest for fathomers. I have a fathomer which I don't use very much and is only moderately well dressed. When I first saw it mentioned as a news report I thought I'd better finish getting my fathomer a basic enough equipment set up to try out this new quest. The first thing I had to do was the rogue equipment set quest. The first part of this quest is meant to be easy - go to the Falcon's Nest Tavern in the Western Trade Route and talk to Matinah. The problem I had was I walked into the tavern without knowing that there was an inter-guild quest being run which involved multi-av mobs in the tavern as follows:

At the Bar of the Wild Boar
Considered the focal point of the Tavern by frequent patrons, to the dismay of a few of the wandering bards who stop to play music for donations, the bar and its bartender have become part of the local 'scene'. More than just a place to get drunk, the Falcon's Nest is considered by many to be a gem in the rough. A local tradition has it that anyone who rings the bell gets to buy everyone who is at the bar a drink. It has been said to be sure you have enough to cover the tab as well, or Marech does not take kindly to you. Behind the bar is a sliding wall partition that seldom sees the light of day. The bar itself is made up of a dark, well polished wood and has seen its fair share of sleeping drunks.
Exits: north east south northeast southeast
A long, well polished table acts as the tavern's main focal point.
A shining, golden bell hangs from atop the bar.
(Magical) A perfectly calm and clear pool of water is here.
(Magical) A mystical spring flows majestically from a glowing circle of blue.
The corpse of Harvey lies here.
A pool of spilled blood lies here.
The tavern's owner and bartender stands near the bar, serving drinks.
Marech is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
Laheon Silzarou (Nx-Gn) is hovering here.
Laheon glows with an aura of divine radiance.
(Hide) Kily the Titled is hovering here.
Kily shimmers beneath an aura of dark energy.
(Translucent) Jutsanna the consummate Druid is hovering here.
Jutsanna glows with an aura of divine radiance.
Zanikr Bloodbane is hovering here.
Zanikr shimmers beneath an aura of dark energy.
(Invis) (Hide) (Translucent) Joandaxjimli is the sum of your fears is hovering here.
Joandaxjimli is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
An enormous rabbit lounges at the bar, wearing a plaid vest of Celtic colors and a drunk look.
Harvey is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
Harvey stands up form the bar and begins to yell at someone on the far side of it before realizing you have arived.
Harvey wonders 'What you be looking at? You never seen a big rabbit before?'
Harvey says 'I'm the real Harvey, I am I swear'
Harvey gets a nervous look on his face.
Laheon nods solemnly.

Oops... As I was multi-ing at the time I think I managed to totally mess up that kill for them. Oh well - not much I could do about that. In the end I completed the easy parts of the rogue set and now my fathomer is dressed as follows:

You are using:
<used as light>      Aura of the Righteous
<worn on finger>     (Magical) the ring of the dragons
<worn on finger>     (Magical) the ring of the dragons
<worn around neck>   (Magical) (Glowing) (Humming) scales of alpha & omega
<worn around neck>   (Magical) (Glowing) (Humming) scales of alpha & omega
<worn on body>       the Spoils of Thievery
<worn on head>       the shade helm
<worn on legs>       the black ring mail greaves of the Falcon
<worn on feet>       the black leather boots of the Falcon
<worn on hands>      (Magical) (Glowing) Blessed gauntlets of the Templar
<worn on arms>       the black ring mail spaulders of the Falcon
<worn about body>    (Magical) (Glowing) the Cloak of Royalty
<worn about waist>   [nothing]
<worn around wrist>  dance of the dolphin
<worn around wrist>  dance of the dolphin
<wielded>            (Magical) the black hilted sword "Shieldbreaker"
<dual wielded>       (Magical) the black hilted sword "Shieldbreaker"
<worn on ears>       (Magical) a crystalline teardrop
<worn on eyes>       the shades
<worn on back>       a thick piece of lizard hide
<worn over face>     [nothing]
<worn around ankle>  a turqoise anklet
<worn around ankle>  a blue, glassy chain 

It is all fairly basic equipment but is enough to make my fathomer usable enough to try out this new quest. After trying out a few different shipwrights in the realms I found out it was Noah the shipwright in  Camden I needed to see:

Camden Boatyards
Rolls of rainbow hued sailcloth lie stacked in the corner, partially covered by a dark green tarpaulin. Towering overhead, piles of lumber from the forests of the north stretch to the ceiling. Wood shavings litter the floor, centered around the skeletal frame of a boat that sits at the upper end of a stone slide that slopes gently towards two large doors at the back of the shoppe.
Exits: north
A heavily muscled man works solemnly at his chosen craft.
Noah the Shipwright glows with an aura of divine radiance.
Noah the Shipwright looks up from his work as you enter, a thin smile creeping over his weathered face.
Noah the Shipwright says 'Hello there Zenth, it is nice to see another such as myself, so in love with the sea.'
Noah the Shipwright exclaims 'Have I told you yet, of mah idea? It would change our craft for ever, I'm sure of it!'
Noah the Shipwright wonders 'I would need help though, would you be willing to help me?'
Noah the Shipwright says 'Nod at me if so.'
> nod noa
You nod in agreement to him.
Noah the Shipwright's face breaks into an enormous, toothy grin.
Noah the Shipwright exclaims 'That is most excellent!'
Noah the Shipwright says 'I have had this idea for a device, which would use the stars and the sun to direct a person around.'
Noah the Shipwright says 'However, it is too intricate of a design for me to create myself.'
Noah the Shipwright says 'I have, however, made these schematics of it.'
Noah the Shipwright takes a piece of paper out from his pocket, and waves them about with his grubby hands.
Noah the Shipwright says 'If you would be willing to find someone to build it for me, I would gladly teach you how to use it.'
Noah the Shipwright asks you, 'Will you help me?'
Noah the Shipwright looks up at you, expectantly.
You say 'I will help you'
Noah the Shipwright nods his head in excitement.
Noah the Shipwright says 'Wonderful. Here are the plans.'
Noah the Shipwright gives you a set of astrolabe schematics.
Noah the Shipwright says 'I would bet a blacksmith who lives by the sea may be able to construct it for you.'

The next stop was then in Eurion. This area is a little tricky to get to in that the way most people travel to it is via the ship Meridia . This involves paying a fee and then waiting until the ship gets to its destination. Once at Eurion the blacksmith there says the following:

Eurion Smithy
The heat from the forge fills the room. Immediately after entering, sweat begins to bead on the arms and brow of everyone that enters. The fishermen bring in parts for their ships for repairs and orders for parts to be replaced. The walls are decked with some of the finest of metals. A well-learned smithy indeed is one that has created such a collection. It's amazing the island doesn't give the appearance of a bit more sturdiness with such fine craftsmen around. A few of the villagers wander up and down the stairs that lead to the second story of this hut.
Exits: south up
Erneth stands over an anvil, pounding away at his work.
Erneth stops pounding on the anvil momentarily.
Erneth wonders 'Were you the one interested in the astrolabe?'
Erneth says 'All I need to see are the astrolabe schematics...'
> give schem ern
You give a set of astrolabe schematics to Erneth.
Erneth says 'Well, isn't this interestin'.'
Erneth takes the set of astrolabe schematics into his hands, and looks them over.
Erneth says 'These are quite the drawings here.'
Erneth says 'I could probably build this for you, but I would require some special skarn deposits.'
Erneth nods to himself, seemingly happy with his request.
Erneth says 'You would best look for those in the mines around Juargan.'
Erneth exclaims 'Those dwarves sure can dig a mine!'
Erneth says 'Bring me the ore, and I will see what I can do.'
Erneth continues his endless pounding at the anvil.

So next stop was the Kingdom of Juargan looking for some skarn deposits. This didn't take too long:

Dwarven mines
This section of the small shafts is a intersection of three separate tunnels. They lead north, east, and west.  A faint glow is within the walls of this small intersection.
Exits: north east west
> dig
You begin digging...
Your dig uncovered a rock containing skarn deposits!
> g ska
You get a rock containing skarn deposits. 

From here it was back to Erneth with the skarn:

You give a rock containing skarn deposits to Erneth.
Erneth looks intently at the skarn deposits, holding it up in the light to eye out the glint.
Erneth says 'I think this will do nicely, yes.'
Erneth says 'I will need some time to work on this. In the meantime I have another task for ya.'
Erneth says 'To complete the astrolabe, I will need a sea captain's dial.'
Erneth says 'I don't think I would have to tell you where to find one of those.'
Erneth grins as he begins working on the ore.
Erneth says 'I would try a sea captain.'
Erneth focuses his attention away to the task at hand. 

This is as far as I have gotten with this little quest. I think the sea captain's dial may be somewhere in Raven Tor but I need to do some more looking around there. Since I got this far in the quest I have been a little busy dealing with problems in real life and just haven't had the time/energy to give it a good look around but finishing off this little quest is one of my next aims.

Dragon Ore

It seems as though the movement towards the guild mergers is speeding up. This has been shown in the last week by quests exclusively for members of the various guilds with a storyline around first a plague needing dragon blood to create a cure followed by one now where the dragons are getting angry in turn seeking revenge. To counter this the aim is for the guild members to find dragon ore to create different weapons with. The quest starts at Duke Luther:

The Throne Room
Castle Darkhawk's glorious Throne Room is an immense hall, reminiscent of Notre Dame de Sioux design.  A high ceiling of stained glass depicting Odin's might allows the sun's light and warmth to filter into the room.  A host of small, brilliant balls of light float about at the commands of the Duke, aiding numerous peasants to read their declaration or request.  A dozen rows of wooden pews allow the citizens of Darkhaven to sit as they wait patiently for their turn to speak.  A throne of solid gold, adorned with rubies and jewels, is where the smiling, seemingly trustworthy Duke normally sits.
Exits: north south
Duke Luther is sitting here, cloaked in a majestic cape.
Duke Luther welcomes you.
Duke Luther says 'I have a task for you guild member... please ask me about the quest if you are up for it. The future our Darkhaven is at risk...'
>say quest
You say 'quest'
Duke Luther exclaims 'Welcome my valorous Guild member, It is time that we begin to put together our forces... it appears the dragon's are angry!'
Duke Luther sighs loudly.
Duke Luther says 'So, to that end I've requested Farrar, my faithful armorer, to gather ore and smelt it to make weapons to fight these beasts. The metal is a special one, made from dragons themselves...'
Duke Luther grins.
Duke Luther says 'Go see Farrar for more information.'

It's good to see Duke Luther doing some leadership. Farrar then says to you:

The Castle Darkhawn Forge
This small hut has been hastily put together to allow the Duke's personal armorer to smelt ore into metal. Located just outside the castle, due to the fumes, a simple foundry, anvil and table and chairs are the only things within the room of note.
Exits: southeast
The Castle Darkhawk foundry burns brightly as it converts ore to metal.
Farrar, the Duke's personal blacksmith, aids in the defense of New Darkhaven.
Farrar looks up as you enter.
Farrar says 'Well met Guildmember. Are you here about the Duke's request?'

>say quest
You say 'quest'
Farrar nods solemnly.
Farrar says 'Yes, the duke has requested that I stop everything and begin smelting ore into metal so that we may make more weapons to fight a possible dragon attack.'
Farrar looks at you.
Farrar says 'I am told that the Duke is only trusting Guild Members to aid in the collection of metals for me to smelt. I see you are a member, so if you would like further information, please ask about 'smelting ore'.' 

>say smelting ore
You say 'smelting ore'
Farrar says 'The dragon ore is all over the Realm. Just dig it up! Once you find some ore, put it in my foundry and it will create bars of metal that we can utilize to forge dragon weapons.'
Farrar says 'As I've taken on the duty of smelting the raw ore, Irdrak in New Darkhaven has taken on the task of forging the weapons. You will need 3 bars of dragon metal to get him to forge an appropriate blade.'
Farrar says 'Depending on the quality of the dragon metal bars, she may be able to make lesser or better weapons for our use. Once you get the weapon, come back and see me for your reward.' 

So I first went and found myself a shovel item to improve my chances at digging. My personal favourite is the small pick axe from the Desert of Despair. It is hidden in a crate within that area. I like it because it has a weight of 1. After picking up this it was time to go digging in the dragon packed areas. My first success was in this room in Dragon Pass:

Nearing the End
The trail you follow has widened significantly and you feel the tension draining from your shoulders. The signs of other travellers fills your heart with joy knowing that safety should be close at hand.  Your pace quickens when your eyes catch a glimpse of a tall stone wall far to the north.
Exits: east northwest
>dig
You begin digging...
Your dig uncovered a large rock filled with dragon ore!
>g ore
You get a large rock filled with dragon ore.
>exam ore
You take a closer look at a large rock filled with dragon ore in inventory...
This large rock appears to have dragon ore throughout it. This would be ideal to smelt down and make into dragon metal bars.
>c id ore
Object 'a large rock filled with dragon ore' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 2 ore, weight 5.
Special properties:  none
This ore has a gold value of 1000.
>save
Saved... 

After looking around I found five more pieces of ore between Dragon Pass, the Village of Edo and Ocean Keep. Once I had 6 pieces of ore I started smelting in the foundry back at Farrar's room:

 >p ore foundry
You put a large rock filled with dragon ore in the Castle Darkhawk foundry.
Heat radiates around the Castle Darkhawk foundry as the ore is smelted into its base metal.
The Castle Darkhawk foundry launches a bar of dragon metal out onto the floor.
You get a bar of dragon metal.

Once I had my six bars of metal I took them to New Darkhaven's weapon seller Irdrak in the Daring Attack:

The Daring Attack
Racks line the walls of this tent, each filled to the brim with weapons. You grin evilly at the items of destruction, and try out a couple on the practice dummies hung from the ceiling.  A counter in the center of the room is where the keeper of this shop does business.  To the west is the Solid Parry, while an opening in the tent to the north leads back out onto Market Street.
Exits: north west
An important looking scroll hangs from a wooden board.
A man hammers at a steel blade here, cursing under his breath.
Irdrak looks at you.
Irdrak says 'Welcome Guild member... if you're needing to turn in some dragon-metal simply say 'I am here with dragon metal for you to forge'. 

>say I am here with dragon metal for you to forge
You say 'I am here with dragon metal for you to forge'
Irdrak says 'Welcome Guild member, let me have a look at the dragon metal you've had crafted.'
You give a bar of dragon metal to Irdrak.
You give a bar of dragon metal to Irdrak.
You give a bar of dragon metal to Irdrak.
Irdrak says 'Ah, yes... these will do nicely. Let me see what I can make with them.'
Irdrak begins to heat up the dragon metal.
Irdrak hammers the dragon metal and sparks fly off in many directions.
Irdrak looks upon his work, a satisfied grin upon his face.
Irdrak says 'This metal will work nicely and I'll be able to create a sturdy blade with it.'
Irdrak gives you a dragon metal sword.
Irdrak says 'There you go... now take it back to Farrar for a reward.' 

Once I had the sword (and a dagger too) I took them back to Farrar and for the reward:

You give a dragon metal sword to Farrar.
Farrar exclaims 'Ah, Vilexur, I'm glad to see you back. I see Irdrak was able to make a nice sword for you. This will come in handy in the coming fight!'
Farrar smiles at you.
Farrar puts the weapon safely away.
Farrar exclaims 'Your first weapon returned... well done. This sword will be a good addition to our armory. Please bring more!'
Your glory has been increased by 2. 

It  was great to see a quest like this and to earn a small amount of glory too. A big thank you to whichever immortal made this quest.