Lowbie Quests

After taking a break for a while my low level thief that I used to buy cheap potions deleted so I started a replacement today. I called him Vioby since his main job is buying violet potions. One thing I enjoy about the lower levels is there are a number of low level quests available with different rewards that are easy to miss. I found two interesting quests I hadn't seen before - the level five quest from the spirit guide in the academy and one from Dave the bard in Jed's tavern 8s, 3w from DH[].

The level five quest from the spirit guide was this:

You raise your hand in response.
The guide says to you 'You need to learn to acquire beneficial equipment while
'exploring. Not only keep your knowledge broad enough for your level when you
'are ready to gain another but also gather the items that you can use and that
'are doing the most for you. Look everywhere when exploring. Open containers
'and look in them. Try the consider command at every interesting mob. You
'should be able to easily explore Isle of the Monkeys. It is a small area. Get
'a woolen blanket there and bring it to me. It is simple.

So I travelled to the Isle of the Monkeys, tracked down Captain Eldyr killed him and got this item:

Object 'a woolen blanket' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 3 armor, weight 1.
Locations it can be worn:  about
Special properties:  none
This armor has a gold value of 50.
Armor class is 3 of 3.
Affects damage roll by 1.
Affects affected_by by detect_hidden.

After returning to the academy I gave the blanket to the spirit guide and the result was:

You give a woolen blanket to Spirit Guide Selmanovic.
Spirit Guide Selmanovic nods to you and says "Ahhh, yes..."
Spirit Guide Selmanovic tells you 'This is the right blanket, Yes.'
You gain 1400 experience.
Spirit Guide Selmanovic gives you a heavy woolen blanket.

When identified the item I received in return was:

Object 'a heavy woolen blanket' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 5 armor, weight 1.
Locations it can be worn:  about
Special properties:  none
This armor has a gold value of 50.
Owner:  Vioby
Armor class is 6 of 6.
Affects damage roll by 1.
Affects affected_by by detect_hidden.

 Notice that it is a slightly improved version of the previous blanket. The second quest from Dave in Jed's tavern starts when you walk into his room.

A Dark Corner Room
Exits: east
A pensive soul sits at a table, randomly questioning his liquor bottle.
Dave the introspective bard tells you 'So, Vioby. If you must be taking up space in this room, please sit down, at least.'
 

So I then sit down. Sit as a command only seems to have an affect in a handful of rooms besides here. The first time I ever saw sit doing something was in a room in the Desert of Despair. Next happens:

You sit down.

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'I could tell you quite a story, Vioby. I

once ventured with a band of eager thieves into the stronghold of the Hobgoblin King.'

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'We went in to steal the hobgoblins' gold. We were led by a brave warrior, he could kill three or more hobgoblins in a fight. Our thief only needed to take on one hobgoblin at a time, the warrior was so strong.'

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'That left me free to navigate to the Hobgoblin King, and find the hidden treasure I had heard about. The warrior fought, the thief was able to open locked doors and I knew about the gold.'

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'When we were surrounded by the hobgoblin soldiers, though, the cowardly thief ran. He and my leader were both killed. They kept me alive as a trophy to give to the king. I was enslaved and forced to work alongside the miners.'

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'I was forced into hours of labour that no human should be subjected to. But I listened to the miners. The miners sang songs while they worked. They chanted songs about the centuries old conflict with the gnomes.'

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'I listened to their songs and I learned the secrets of the hobgoblins. The gnomes had a secret weapon. I know the gnomes' secret, the hobgoblins sang about it.'

Dave the introspective bard smiles at you.

Dave looks away, apparently aware of something you don't see.

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'I know the secrets. The secrets of the hobgoblins and the gnomes. I know the secrets.'

Dave the introspective bard tells you 'Anyway. If you are joining me, you could buy me another winter green ale.'

 

The winter green ale can be bought from just a couple of rooms away in the tavern. Giving Dave the ale results in:

You give "Black" Jack's Green Winter Ale to Dave the introspective bard.
Dave looks at green.
Dave the introspective bard tells you 'The gnomes scientists can make a liniment, a paste that they apply to their skin to make themselves invulnerable to the hobgoblins. They keep some of it around and the whole village is ready to defend against attacks.'
Dave the introspective bard tells you 'Apparently the gnome children go out and kill fire ants to collect the blood, I have seen the flasks that they use. If you were to collect fire ant blood from the tunnels below the academy, the gnomes might let you have some of the salve.'
Dave the introspective bard tells you 'So anyway, here.  Have the flask, take it, and I thank you for the ale.'
Dave the introspective bard gives you an empty flask for collecting blood.
 

After killing the third fire ant:

Your stab rends a Fire Ant!
A Fire Ant is DEAD!!
You receive 581 experience points.
As the fire ant collapses, you collect enough of its blood to fill your flask.
Now you must take the filled flask and find the Gnome Scientist that Dave spoke
of.
A Fire Ant catches its guts in its hands as they pour through its fatal wound!
You can't carry that many items.
The corpse of a Fire Ant holds:
     340 gold coins

The gnome scientist is found in the Shattered Refuge not far from DH. The result of giving the flask to the scientist is:

Breaks in the trees
Exits: north east south west
A scientist wanders around deep in thought.
A gnome scientist says to you, 'I see you've been gathering plenty of blood from
 the fire ants.'
A gnome scientist says to you, 'If you give it to me, I will gladly share the sa
lve I can make.'
You give a flask filled with fire ant blood to a gnome scientist.
A gnome scientist thanks you heartily.
A gnome scientist says to you, 'This will be of great use to the gnomes. Please
take a sample with our gratitude.'
You have gained 9050 experience points.
A gnome scientist stops using a wicker basket.
A gnome scientist gives you a wicker basket.
You take a closer look at a wicker basket in inventory...
You see nothing special.
A wicker basket appears to be nearly empty.
A wicker basket contains:
     black and red paste (5)
 

The paste in the basket is kind of handy:

Object 'black and red paste' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 6 salve, weight 1.
Special properties:  none
This salve has a gold value of 12200.
Has 7(7) applications of level 29:
  'fireshield'  'dragonskin'

It casts fireshield and these days there aren't many fireshield items out there since they stopped them being brewable. Either way I got some handy experience out of it for my lowbie and found a couple of little known quests along the way.

Undead (still)

It's been a long time since my last post on here. While there are many reasons for this (real life responsibilities, other games and having a hard time getting started writing) I'm hoping to be posting a lot more updates now. Bottom line is I'm still an undead vampire with more stories to tell...

One piece of recent news that is causing concern is the change to the structure of guilds. The end result is the Guild of Vampires only has months left in it's current form. The plan is amalgamate the Guild of Vampires with the cleric, paladin and nephandi guilds. I have mixed feelings on this. I'll have to wait and see how it all works out before planning my next move...

Cleric equipment.

I haven't posted an update for a while on what I've been doing in the Realms. I spent a couple of weeks working on getting my new cleric equipped. Currently it's dressed as follows:

You are using:
<used as light>      the sigil of A'enari
<worn on finger>     the shade ring
<worn on finger>     the shade ring
<worn around neck>   (Magical) (Glowing) (Humming) scales of alpha & omega
<worn around neck>   (Magical) (Glowing) (Humming) scales of alpha & omega
<worn on body>       (Magical) the Aegis
<worn on head>       the cloth hood of the Chosen
<worn on legs>       the cloth leggings of the Chosen
<worn on feet>       (Magical) moccasins
<worn on hands>      claws of the mole
<worn on arms>       silver dragonhide armguards
<worn as shield>     (Glowing) (Humming) shield of the Valkyrie
<worn about body>    the cloth robe of the Chosen
<worn about waist>   (Magical) (Glowing) the platinum band of the Draco Viridis
<worn around wrist>  (Glowing) (Humming) a Bracer of Light
<worn around wrist>  Queen Guenevere's bracelet
<wielded>            (Magical) (Glowing) The Dragon Claw of Legend
<held>               (Humming) the Storm
<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

All fairly easy to get and cheap equipment but for a cleric it does enough to get it equipped well enough to be useful. The most interesting item there is the claws of the mole. This is the gnome totem item. To get it you need to teleport into the gnome totem room in Vast Horizons and then accept the totem item. I was lucky this time and landed in the right room in less than 20 minutes. To get some of the other totem items I've spent 6 hours teleporting around trying to get it. The stats on it are:

>exam claws
You take a closer look at claws of the mole in inventory...
A set of thick, shovel shaped claws look to be the perfect digging tool, and
would be nasty if used in a fight.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in superb condition.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

Object 'claws of the mole' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 50 armor, weight 2.
Locations it can be worn:  hands
Special properties:  none
Races allowed:  Gnome
This armor has a gold value of 40000.
Owner:  Charix
Armor class is 12 of 12.
Affects backstab by 10.
Affects damage roll by 5.
Affects mana by 15.
Affects susceptible:blindness by 10%
Affects disarm by 20.
Affects carrying capacity by 25.

Not bad for a free item. Besides working on the equipping the cleric I've done a few other projects including levelling and equipping a warrior, killing a few mobs (including revenge on Julajimus!!!) and some other secret projects...

Levelling

Been working on levelling a cleric for the last month. One thing that has amazed me is how many experienced players don't realise that there are mini quests available for levels 2-5 in the academy from the Spirit Guide. The level 2 quest I got was this:

You raise your hand in response.
The Spirit Guide says to you 'You believe yourself to be ready for a test.'
'Since you are level 2 we will keep this one easy.'
'In the garden of The Halls of Knowledge is a fountain. The
'fountain features a statue of a couple. The couple's names are
'inscribed on the fountain's plaque. So, Charix. What is her name?'

You say 'Mariyah'
Spirit Guide Selmanovic nods in agreement with you.
Spirit Guide Selmanovic tells you 'Good, you've seen it. You're able to notice m
ore than the casual explorer.'
You gain 400 experience.

Easy 400 experience points. I was a little disappointed that my level 5 quest did not involve receiving any equipment but it's always worth a shot. A bit later on I tried out another quest I'd never done before in the northern trade route starting at Mayera.

Inside a Small Chapel
Made from logs and painted a white color, this small chapel was built to aid
the sick and dying as they traveled through the forest. A few cots have been
set up around the room, each with a thick grey blanket and a small pillow. A
barrel filled with water rests in one corner of the room, with strips of cloth
in a neat pile beside it. A fireplace at the other end, provides both warmth
and comfort.
Exits: northwest
A woman tends to the wounds of the sick and dying.
Mayera is shrouded in flowing shadow and light.
A small girl lies in one of the cots, her face deathly pale.
Mayera smiles at you.
Mayera says 'Are you the one sent here to help me?'
Mayera says 'That poor child is dying, I can't leave her alone'
Mayera wets a strip of cloth and places it on the girl's forehead.
Mayera says 'We must hurry if we are to save her, she's burning up.'
Mayera says 'Just nod if you are able to help me'

You nod solemnly.
Mayera breathes a sigh of relief.
Mayera says 'To make a remedy to cure the girl, I need 5 items.'
Mayera says 'bay leaves, beholder candy, black cohosh, a head of
Mayera says 'lettuce and basilisk salve. Please hurry and bring all'
Mayera says 'of these back to me. If you aren't sure of a certain'
Mayera says 'item, just ask me about it.'
Mayera gives you a hug and wishes you good luck.

You give a small bottle of basilisk saliva to Mayera.
You give beholder candy to Mayera.
You give bay leaves to Mayera.
You give a head of lettuce to Mayera.
You give black cohosh to Mayera.
Mayera puts all the ingredients into a large bowl and mixes them.
A flash of blinding white light fills the room for a moment.
Mayera turns to the girl and applies the ointment.
Mayera says 'I have something for you in return for all your help'
Mayera drops a thick, white salve.
Mayera says 'A little something to aid you in your travels.'
Mayera thanks you again and returns to watch over the girl.

It was quite an easy quest to do though I did not know where a couple of items came from off the top of my head but I managed to find track them down without too much effort.

In the end my cleric reached level 50 and ended up with a 620hp and 379mana base - not too bad. Next job is equipping it.

V.

Maniacal Tendencies!!!

Been doing all sorts of stuff in the realms lately including more killing in the Barren Wastes, starting to level a cleric and more exploring but by far the most exciting thing to happen in the last week is this:

>wear unfettered

You stop using the armored cowl of the Defiler.
You don Unfettered Delirium upon your head.
The voices in your head roar up as you attempt to wear the helm.
You quickly remove the helmet and throw to the ground, sacrificing it to your deity!
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.
You twitch nervously.

Object 'Maniacal Tendencies' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 50 armor, weight 10.
Locations it can be worn:  head
Special properties:  dark evil
Races allowed:  Human Elf Dwarf Half-Ogre Half-Orc Half-Troll Half-Elf Gith Drow Sea-Elf Gnome
Classes allowed:  Warrior Fathomer Barbarian
Genres allowed:  aberrant
Alignments allowed:  evil
This armor has a gold value of 400000.
Armor class is 20 of 20.
Affects intelligence by 1.
Affects dexterity by 1.
Affects wisdom by -2.
Affects resistant:sleep by 5%.
Affects damage roll by 6.
Affects hp by 90.
Affects moves by 25.

Nothing else to say except woohoo!!!

Bingo!

Only had an hour to play today at a time when pretty much no one else is on. Went golding and made a quick 25 mill then topped it off with this:

> exam stone
You take a closer look at a small stone on the ground...
  |
-[ ]-
  |
You lift a small stone and look beneath it.
     a golden dagger

> get dagger stone
You get a golden dagger from beneath a small stone.

My lucky day - now I have enough off a stash of daggers to get working on it.

V.

Julajimus

Spent an hour and a half today working on Julajimus solo. The end result was this:

Your slash tears Julajimus!
Your slash tears Julajimus!
Your slash tears Julajimus!
Julajimus is DEAD!!
As Julajimus falls to the ground, its hide is damaged beyond repair.
Julajimus hits the ground ... DEAD.
You see nothing like that in the corpse of Julajimus.
The corpse of Julajimus holds:
     Nothing.

No pop damnit! I need to start making some gold but when a mob like that won't pop for you its a real nuisance. Oh well maybe next time...

V.