Hear ye, hear ye!

An important meeting for all the inhabitants of Arilon has been called for on Friday the 25th at 21:00. I wonder what is so important as to gather as many as possible of us.

Into the Urdar Mines

Yesterday i came out of meditower to find the world covered with a thin layer of fog. At least, to my eyes it seemed to be, others told me it was a fine day, so i guess it only was some sleep still clinging to my eyes. I wandered around a little, until i was asked to join a group going into the Urdar mines. At first i hesitated, wondering if i´d be of any use with seeing things through a thin veil, but some exercises with my hatchet showed me that at least my muscles worked properly and so i went after them. The first snell was quickly cleared and in the second we met not only bats and spiders, but also Urdar ghosts.
It was surprisingly hard to hit them where they would feel it and only Dresko seemed to have gotten these lessons from Battuo yet. Still, with some patience we managed to bring them down. At the next crossing we turned north and landed in a dead end, but had the chance to see a marvellously carved statue of a dragon in a paved spot.
Sadly we could linger much longer as the spiders were reproducing quickly and more and more ghosts came toward us, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The next way to the north was blocked too. We could the the remnants of a stone wall, but boulders had crashed down from the ceiling and stopped us even before.
Just around the corner we suddenly faced a dozen urdars and ghostspiders. We managed to bring down several of them, but our healers slowly failed to heal our wounds as fast as we got hurt and more and more urdar mages showed up, hurling their lightening on us.
Our lines wavered and we had to watch our back too. I managed to cut the legs of two of the ghostspiders and gather them intact, but there was no time to examine them further as we were pressed back.
We tried to run to a safe, but one by one we fell, some bitten, some hit and especially he fighters powerless against lightening stikes coming from all directions. Only Newt managed to reach the safe and for once the steep ground that caused the bodies of Crash and Lafa to slide down to it seemed to be helpful. But in the end even Newt fell to the creatures waiting for him just outside the safe and so we were finally defeated.
Back in town i immediately talked to Battuo, asking him to teach me more, so that i soon may be able to find the weak spots even of ghosts.

Wake up - it´s hunting time!

The last days i was lucky enough to come out of the meditower right when a hunt was about to start. Two days ago i was asked to join a group going to Yarimada. We made our way pretty quickly to the first tower, although with all the weight i have gained i was out of breath a little when we arrived. We made our way down to the basement and then disturbed the water in the well to summon the first Orga. I had to watch my balance in this fight even more than usual, always fearing to stagger and land in the water.
All in all the hunt was very successful. We proceeded well and had nearly no trouble with the bigger Orgas or the Pirates. At one point we didn´t watch out though, and Newt fell. Tarra and me had to wait for Crash to chain him to town and come back with Tofors additional healing power. Together we gathered the last pearls for the firerum Crash wanted to get. Although i fell on my way home, as it had become rather late it had been a very nice trip.
The next day i awoke and was immediately occupied with sorting my thoughts as i received lots of questions wether i´d stay awake longer with my thinking crystal. Soon it was decided to hunt in Ardvell and i headed to the eastern Kittytemple. Sadly there´s still no way to avoid the waterway if no portal-trained mage is available and due to the mage chosing the wrong landing place i had to search for a safe place to wait for them.
When we finally arrived on the spider plateaus, we immediately started killing some spiders. It went quite well, only advancing too fast into the next snell without looking and landing amidst a dozen mammuth spiders made some problems, but the group reacted quickly and solved the dangerous situation excellently.
After a while we were heading west and south from the landing place. Suddenly we saw a ladder mounted on a steep part of the cliffs to our right. We quickly agreed that it had not been there in the past, but of the builders we could find no sign. We climbed up and made a quick end to the Ch'omaks.
The small plateau was connected to one further south by a small rift, invisible to the untrained eye. But our way led into the cave opening and so we found ourselves in a new entrance into the Noth caves. We were not able to destroy some of the catapults that make the boat travel to Ardvell even more dangerous, but some of the hooded inhabitants of the caves fell to our blades. I was pretty excited and curious how well we can perform in Noths already, but as it had become late i gathered what courage i had and made my way home over the river alone. Luckily i encountered just a single Sekat and so was able to row safely home, where i started meditating, wondering which hunt will start the next time i wake up.

Challenges!

Not much has happened the last days. One day i woke up when a call for help in Boanyoo reached me. Due to my skills in finding paths that shorten the way significantly i soon arrived at the entrance to the area, where Sophos and a pretty sick-looking Rion were waiting for me. We had just climbed outside when a bunch of poisonous lizards came running towards us, trying to find victim to intoxicate. We were able to fend them off and even an Earthwyrm didn´t stop us on our way to the fallens.
The rescue then turned into a nice small hunt through Boanyoo, although a good many of the lizards were about, making you watch every step and always trying to keep yourself between the purple creatures and the healers. In the south we had some challenging moments when we met two Snigils and a sandworm at once or when a large group of Jawas tried to lay a hand to our purses. It was fun, but somehow i felt the challenge missing that had made the area even more interesting before.
Later that day we tried to hunt in Ardvell, but sadly there were always people sleeping or having to leave, so that Leda ported some of us in vain to Ardvell and back again. I decided it was time to prove myself again and so i started trying myself on several challenges offered throughout the lands in the last days. While some, like the wildcat challenge required a bit of preparation, others were managed quite easy. With the help of Lafaborn i was able to hunt enough Derain snakes, Barwidgee wolves and rats in time to complete the challenge on the very first try, i´m really grateful for the help of my clanmate here. Others, like the foxchallenge seem to require more preparation than i had thought on the first try, but i´m confident that i will be able to complete this and other challenges pretty soon.
Other than that i´ve begun to use my short muscle-stretchings outside of meditower for quick searches of ore. Recently Bertus has shown that he is really working and not only pretending to and as i´d like to have my own house one day i´m now providing some more building materials for him than i have in the past.
I´ve also made a proclamation for another try of the LDV-hunt, i´m really curious if enough people turn up this time to do what i intend to try.

Bugs!

Once more a group of Arilonians sat in town, some discussing what to do, others napping peacefully. Suddenly a brown bug appeared walking on its hind legs, its wings on the back buzzing frantically, but unable to lift the massive body, and the forelegs raised for attack. At first just a few of the Blymoids appeared and we quickly slew them.
But with passing time stronger Blymoids appeared, like the red shimmering ones or the ones looking like innocent walrusses. These made for tough fights in town and we had a hard time to bring them down.
I hadn´t heard or seen anything from them since we had defeated Snarl, so i was pretty much suprised by their attack, especially considering that Snu should be grateful for our help. But maybe with their newly won strength the Blymoids now want to take revenge for their losses taken in that struggle. I wouldn´t be surprised to find that they have dug entrances from their hives to the surface again.

Later i was invited to join an expedition to Marranyin, the newly discovered area east of Ravyn. Before i knew what i´d have to face i had agreed and so i suddenly found myself not walking towards the path, but to another way into the area, which involves not only a long trip with the boat, but also running through a dark cave which houses the Grendel-like Thyonen, which are as dark and being pursued by them try not to fall into the water but jump in one of the boats! Luckily the river we had to row along lay still and was too muddy for any hostile fish to live in.
We then fought our way back north along the river, where mostly kojotes were to be found and we managed to collect several of their furs.
We then turned east, into the desert, where we met quite a lot of the adult Raste-Winder, who were a big challenge to us, as well as several cobras. These reptiles seem to feel completely at home in this hot, sandy environment on which not even Kudzu will grow.
Suddenly we saw some palm trees ahead and when we got closer we could make out a small lake and some houses. We made a small break in this village, it is called Weyiny, to investigate the houses and took the opportunity to drink to compensate for the fluid loss in the outside. Several rooms held bookshelves, but most of the books were too fragile to handle. One of their inhabitants may be worth another visit though, he is selling spiked shields.
Next we began a systematic walk over the spiderplateaus in the northeast of the region. Crash ran with his map from landmark to landmark while i took the opportunity to study the surroundings for possible paths. We did find a safe with someone offering coins for slaying lots of the spiders in a short time and a lower lying area with a pyramid inside, but we couldn´t make out any way down. A monolith in the plains made me wonder about their purpuse though, maybe one of our mages will find a way to transport people through them.
We were already heading back, when suddenly i accidently brushed one of the sand-towers and a group of angry termites stormed out to defend it. While the small ones were killed quickly, the mediumsized bugs seemed to have a very thick chitinarmour that we could pierce only after lots of tries. Soon after we found a gaping hole in the ground and as it turned out, this was the entrance to an old mine that the termites have taken over.
It had become late and so we didn´t go deep in, but headed back to the river. Several kojotes seemed to take us for a worthwhile meal, but in the end we managed to bring them down and continue on our way. Minowia and me headed back to Arilon by then, while Newt, leda and Falk were already waiting for the rest of the group to go back. I´m curious about the discoveries they can tell me when i meet them next.

No LDV - but still a nice hunt

In the last days i wasn´t travelling around that much, most noteworthy was a Wendiehunt. We did quite well and managed to kill the wendies quickly, only forgetting in our frenzy that the forceful strikes crashed the skulls of our opponents. Even Night- and a Morningwendecka were no obstacle for us and so we made it all the way to the narrow valley in the north blocked by rubble, where a moment of unawareness together with a Bloodback made an end to our hunt.I had also heard of the Cursed Marsh, a swamp in the south where it was all too easy to get lost, but which was said to be home to Kajmanos. To not get lost i decided to visit just the entrance to this area, but i didn´t even get as far as that. The so-called swamp is covered by more than kneedeep water! It seems i have to either purchase the Kajmanoskins i need or travel by boat to the Ardvell swamp, which is at least a little drier.
After my previous two crystals that i have really liked have unfortunately crumbled lately, i have decided it was time to combine some of those i still had in a more offensive way and so asked mages to mount several crystals that enhance my force of swings. I´m pretty happy with the result as these cougars had to find out.
Yesterday i had planned the first "LDV - Large Death Voyage", an open hunt that my clan Fast Feet plans to hold regularly from now on. Sadly just 7 Arilonians were present and so the plan to hunt through the Orga Woods was a bit overambitious. Instead we decided on a tour through the normal Orga Camp. We started with Camp 2, where i found that bricking Trotzkis is well within my abilities now. On we went into the underground cavern to challenge the Orga Chief. It took two tries, but eventually the big Orga crashed to the floor and didn´t move anymore, while we happily devided the coins from his treasure.
Back in Camp 2 we finally met several furies but had to experience that fighting more than two at once was too hard. But regrouping and advancing a little slower then made quick work of the furies.
After the Camp was cleared again we headed for Camp 3 with a short sidestep to the Grendels. Camp 3 and the northern passage were rather uneventful, not even a handful furies and only a single LDV were waiting for us. At the ladder we then met Leda and together entered to visit the Wyrms. Thanks to Ledas mental enhancements we had no bigger problems with two Wyrms at a time, but often we found ourselves in the middle of another spawn as we weren´t fast enough with killing. Nevertheless, these situations were not only challenging, but also great fun, at least to me.
In the end many wanted to try to reach the far end of the cave and investigate the entrance to the den there that had always been blocked in the past. I was still very sceptical that we could reach it, but with some determined trying to kill as fast as possible and some luck with rather empty western snells we finally made it. The dense carpet of poisonous mushrooms in front of the destination made some trouble and 2 of our 3 healers fell to them. Falk and Lafa tried several tactics to reach them, but none worked. In the end we managed to get everyone back on their feet though and headed back home, as it had become late. The controlled hunt became a flight when we ran into half a dozen Wyrms who followed us all the way to the entrance of the cave, but in the end we survived even this dangerous situation and so arrived exhausted, but happy back in town, although the planned LDV had to be cancelled.