../part3 - Agrelaa, part 4 - ../part5

Contents

  1. Agrelaa, Male High-Elf Loremaster, part 4
    1. Intermission
    2. Old Forest 13
    3. Bree
    4. Wilderness
    5. Minas Anor
    6. Wilderness
    7. Lothlorien
    8. Altar of Winds
    9. Mirkwood 11 to 12
    10. Lothlorien
    11. Wilderness
    12. Bree
    13. Gondolin
    14. Minas Anor
    15. Lothlorien
    16. Orc Cave 10 to 13
    17. Bree
    18. Orc Cave 13 to 17
    19. Bree
    20. Orc Cave 17
    21. Bree
    22. Orc Cave 17 to 16
    23. Bree
    24. Old Forest 13 to 15
    25. Bree
    26. Lothlorien
    27. Lost temple 13, attempt 1
    28. Lothlorien and Bree
    29. Lost Temple 13, attempt 2
    30. Lost Temple 13, attempt 3
    31. Lost Temple 13, attempt 4
    32. Lost Temple 13, attempt 5
    33. Wolves' quest

Agrelaa, Male High-Elf Loremaster, part 4

by UserPageKernigh

Agrelaa is a High-Elf Loremaster in ToME 2.3.4. He follows the style of my previous character, Forewyth. My strategy combines Archery, Summoning and Symbiosis.

At the end of part 3, I achieved my original goal for Agrelaa, to reach and explore the bottom of the Barrow-downs; and I ended part 3 by identifying the last loot from the Barrow-downs, including a Pair of Hard Leather Boots of Speed [3,+6] (+8). Agrelaa is my first character to survive this far into ToME, so part 4 opens as I decide what to do next.

Intermission

Agrelaa is in Bree. I have Agrelaa sell his Pair of Hard Leather Boots [3,+5] because he now wears the Boots of Speed. Now I may take him to the next dungeon. Where is the next dungeon?

I have already scouted the locations of the Old Forest and the Orc Cave, two dungeons nearest Bree; but I recall that Agrelaa sung this verse at the bottom of the Barrow-downs.

This probably corresponds to the quest that each ToME player receives at the start of each game:

This quest remains far too difficult for Agrelaa. I will not approach Dol Goldur, but I could still go to Mirkwood. The Adventurer's Guide to Middle-earth recommends so.

I delay this recommendation for now. I know that the Adventurer's Guide is not reliable concerning all matters. For example, it states wrongly the normally scaled full map and the wilderness map.

In fact, the wilderness map does make travelling safer and faster, except during ambushes, but the character can enter dungeons from the wilderness map. This is how one of my previous characters accidentally entered the Old Forest. I later had Forewyth, that ancestor of Agrelaa, enter the Old Forest briefly, staying near the entrance.

Now, I prefer to send Agrelaa into the Old Forest, though later I may switch to the Orc Cave or to Mirkwood.

I equip Agrelaa's Ring of Levitation, so that I may cross the water that I expect to find in the Old Forest. That ring replaces the Indestructible Ring of Invisibility, which I now carry as a swap. I press < to enter the wilderness map and proceed to the Old Forest.

Old Forest 13

You have an excellent feeling... This is 1st Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 6:52 AM. Morning has broken.

Agrelaa enters level 13 of the Old Forest, made by Random Number God. As level 13 is the top of this dungeon, and level 10 was the bottom of the last dungeon, so Agrelaa skips levels 11 and 12.

Agrelaa finds a few new enemies here, such as the ogres, the mongbats, the war bears, the wolves, the giant fluit flies, the eagle, the illusionist, the gelitanous cube. One corner of one room has also a group of undead masses 'j' and gibbering mouthers 'j'. Agrelaa uses the Symbiosis power of Charm Never-Moving to tame some of them. The masses and gibbering mouthers proceed to touch themselves or crawl on themselves. However, the undead masses manage to reduce Agrelaa's constitution from 15 to 13. Agrelaa notices that the undead masses are breeding. In another room, Agrelaa finds a second group of undead masses, and the gelitanous cube 'j'. Damage from the cube destroys one of Agrelaa's arrows and reduces his Boots of Speed from [3,+6] to [3,+5]. Agrelaa eventually shoots enough arrows to kill the cube. Agrelaa then summons from his partial totem of a large kobold, and a few of these poison-resisting large kobolds defeat the undead masses.

The most difficult feature of OFr 13, for players who can levitate over water, is the large number of unique monsters that tend to appear here. Agrelaa senses Boldor, King of the Yeeks in one unknown part of the map; and Wormtongue, Agent of Saruman in another unknown part. Agrelaa slays a few yeeks and uses arrows to fell an energy hound of level 18. Then he engages Boldor, but it is an unwinnable fight. Boldor can heal himself, and he can summon more monsters than Agrelaa; yet Agrelaa almost kills Boldor, but Boldor teleports away. Agrelaa defeats the remainder of Boldor's summoned monsters, the other nearby monsters, and Bloodfang, the Wolf.

More of your prophecy has been unearthed! You should see a soothsayer quickly. But Agrelaa is exploring OFr 13 further, and he begins to slay the orcs escorting Wormtongue. Wormtongue, Agent of Saruman says: 'Hey, not too rough!' Wormtongue, Agent of Saruman dies.

As I sort through the loot, I gain an understanding of limits of my strategy. Agrelaa culls the loot by carrying it around, shoveling unneeded tunnels through the trees, and waiting for the loot to pseudoidentify. Then Agrelaa destroys the loot that failed to pseudoidentify. Agrelaa may destroy those {good} items that require too long to pseudoidentify. You cannot destroy a Cleaver (2d4). I mistook that weapon as (+0,+0), but it is {special}! Maybe pseudoidentification does not work with {special} objects, but I will must switch to having Agrelaa carry a stack of identify scrolls.

Agrelaa grabs the loot (except for the gelitanous cube's two parchments of Monstrous Compendium 3) and takes a staircase up and out of the Old Forest, leaving Boldor, King of the Yeeks, with his life. Then I use the wilderness map to move Agrelaa back to Bree.

Bree

This is 2nd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 12:09 AM. It's the witching hour!

Agrelaa approaches the shopkeeper at the alchemy shop. "I need some identify scrolls!"

"I have a lack of supply of identify scrolls," answered Mauser, the shopkeeper. "I cannot be sure, but it might be possible that Agrelaa the High-Elf is actually not the only shopper who comes here!" Then Mauser added, "I could give you a good price for each of 14 *identify* scrolls."

Agrelaa buys not anything, but sells two {average} scrolls to Mauser. They are Scrolls of Trap Detection.

To Arndal, Agrelaa sells one of 27 Iron Shots (exploding) (1d4) {good}. That identifies the stack, which I sell for 2756 gold. (However, they would cost 17442 gold if I bought back the 27 shots, which suggest to me that I should have had Agrelaa use an *identify* scroll and determine the type of the explosion!) That frees two inventory slots so that I can grab the harp and the amulet of charisma from Agrelaa's home, and again boost his charisma from 20 to 22 for this round of shopping.

Agrelaa needs to restore intelligence and constitution, but Mauser does not sell potions for either. Agrelaa has 13 consitution, down from 15, because of rot jellies; and 16 intelligence, down from 17, for some reason.

I send Agrelaa to the inn until morning. At 6:03 AM, Agrelaa buys the entire stack of 35 identify scrolls from Mauser. The whole stack costs only 2065 gold. Now Agrelaa reveals the purposes and the enchantments of the loot.

This leaves 23 identify scrolls in the stack. Then I lead Agrelaa to Decado the Handsome(Dunadan), who runs the Armoury; Arndal Beast-Slayer(Half-Elf), who holds the Weaponsmith; and to Luthien Starshine(High-Elf) of the Magic shop. At those places does Agrelaa sell most of the loot. However, the cursed amulets does Agrelaa destroy; the cleaver does require an *identify* scroll from Mauser. Of the 14 *identify* scrolls that Mauser held soon after midnight, only one does Mauser stock now, but that is enough for Agrelaa.

This particular cleaver already reaches Arndal's policy cap of 10000 gold, but though it classes as a random artifact, it is worse than Agrelaa's currently wielded Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin, of the lesser class of ego item.

Agrelaa still needs to restore intelligence and constitution, but Mauser lacks the relevant potions; so I attempt to scum the equivalent mushrooms from Farmer Maggot's field, west of Bree. I take any harvested mushrooms to Lyar-el the Comely(Elf) at the General Store in Bree, just as I did during Agrelaa's first attempts at Mushroom Identification. The yield is one Mushroom of Restore Consitution, so Agrelaa chomps that; it restores constitution from 13 to 15 and boosts max hp from 171 to 180.

Agrelaa has a few remaining chores in Bree. He buys supplies. He learns his fate. Merana(Human) is the Soothsayer of Bree. Agrelaa pays 500 gold to learn, "You are fated to meet a Shambling mound on level 30."

Agrelaa is ready to return to the Old Forest, but Bree feels too small. I decide to take Agrelaa to Lothlorien, to approach Mirkwood. I want to compare dungeons, examine quests and buy more identify scrolls.

The first quest is here in Bree. Agrelaa visits Uldrik(Human) to receive the quest that I neglected to receive when Agrelaa completed the thieves' quest. Uldrik gives the wight grave quest. "The Barrow-Downs hides many mysteries and dangers. Lately many people, both men and hobbits, have disappeared there. Please put an end to this threat!"

Then came dismay to Agrelaa. "My accomplishments are great; my weapons slew both leaders of the kobolds, Mughash and Vort; and that should have put an end to the troubles in the Barrow-downs!"

So Uldrik explained, "The Barrow-downs were the creation of previous, expired kingdoms that raised mounds above their dead. The Barrow-downs attracted many monsters, including the kobolds. However, these monsters stay away from the largest barrows, those situated to the west of the main dungeon. Perhaps you should look there" Then Uldrik gave Agrelaa new directions. The danger level is 30.

I instructed Agrelaa to not soon attempt this quest, because the danger level exceeds 13. Meanwhile, that which causes the local blubbering idiots and singing, happy drunks to disappear is not urgent to solve. I press < for the wilderness map and Agrelaa moves toward Lothlorien.

Wilderness

Agrelaa moves southeast from Bree, passing near a maze entrance before approaching a river. I switch to the full map before crossing the river. This grassy area has many trees, so Agrelaa shovels eastward through the trees before reaching the grassy part of the grassy area. At about 9 AM, Agrelaa enters the shallow water area and engages some lizard men of level 16. During the fight, I ask for the time. This is 2nd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 9:10 AM. You feel there is something special about this level. Agrelaa continues to the fight, and I wonder what is so special. When the lizard men are dead, I use the identify scrolls with the loot.

Agrelaa hunts the other monsters; they are 2-headed hydras, nagas and some crebain. Other than one crebain who evades me, I notice nothing, so Agrelaa departs to the east. The next area of shallow water has far more grass and dirt among it. It seems that the water level has declined, but some pools remain. There are fewer fights here, but Agrelaa reaches experience level 19. He reaches the grass area to the east, and I return to the wilderness map. He passes near the entrance to Moria before approaching another river. I drop to the full map again, and travel southward to the shallow water area where I encounter Agrelaa's first 3-headed hydra. After Agrelaa summons some lizard men from a partial totem and shoots the arrows, the 3-headed hydra dies, but I knew that 3-headed hydras make tougher kills than 2-headed hydras.

Then Agrelaa saw mountains to the east, and to the south, so Agrelaa exits to the west. He briefly enters another shallow water area before moving south to a grass area. Then I return to the wilderness map. The map shows that Agrelaa is now near the entrance to the Illusory Castle. Even farther to south, as Agrelaa moves diagonally to avoid more water, I sight the entrance to the Paths of the Dead. Agrelaa moves south around it and turn east. Eventually he sights a town, but it is not Lothlorien that he sought; it is Minas Anor, the great town of Gondor.

Minas Anor

This is 2nd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 7:24 PM. It is early night.

My attempt to reach Lothlorien from Bree has led Agrelaa too far south, to the city of Minas Anor. It is night, and little appears on my map except for building entrances. Agrelaa first enters the general store to buy four food rations from Raistlin the Chicken(Human). Then Agrelaa browses the other shops. I do not think highly of a town that contains a casino.

Then Agrelaa wanders into the library of Minas Anor, where sits Mirimbar(High-Elf). "I am Agrelaa of Bree, who comes new to this town." Agrelaa looks with interest, because Mirimbar has duplicates of the posters that Uldrik maintains in Bree. The posters are empty, save for the list of The Greatest of all the High-Elf, which lists Agrelaa's ancestors Forewyth (Level 14) and Bendatram (Level 2).

"I am Mirimbar, who watches the library of Minas Anor. This is a place of knowledge. Ask me if there is something that you want to know."

So Agrelaa asks what he could do in this town.

"So you are an adventurer. You may start with this library," and Mirimbar tells of his situation. "I need get some stock from my main library, but it is infested with monsters! Please use the side entrance and vanquish the intruders for me." Thus Agrelaa received the old mage's quest of danger level 35.

"This library has monsters!" gasps Agrelaa, as if he does not believe. "So until I find a way to drive away your intruders, there is not any knowledge here?"

"I may readily access these shelves here, and they tell much of the history of Middle-earth. You are an adventurer who may have recovered strange things; these shelves may yield knowledge of your loot."

Agrelaa pays a fee of 1200 gold, and shows his Boots of Speed to Mirimbar. "That is an exceptional find," explains Mirimbar, "a Pair of Boots of Hard Leather Boots of Speed [3,+5] (+8). It increases your speed by 8. That is all it does, though few other magical things could do so much."

In another part of town, Midas the Greedy(Gnome) staffs an alchemy shop. The gnome has no identify scrolls, and his prices are greater than those of Mauser in Bree, but he vends a Potion of Restore Intelligence for 369 gold. Agrelaa soon quaffs the healthy beverage. You feel less stupid.

Sharra(Human) staffs a building called a Beastmaster Shanty. "I am Agrelaa of Bree," says the High-Elf who now walks in. "What sort of place do you have here."

"I have knowledge of the beasts of Middle-earth. If you want to know more. You must bring me back an Air hound corpse." So says Sharra.

Finally Agrelaa approaches the entrance to the Castle. Within sits Aragorn(Dunadan), and upon one wall is another set of Uldrik's posters. "I am Agrelaa of Bree."

"One has come," announces an excited Aragorn. "I converse with Mirimbar, the local librarian, and he has friends in Bree who knew the greatest adventurers of recent days. They were Forewyth and Bendatram, and you seem like them, but they never sought this south-kingdom of Gondor."

Agrelaa tells his tale. "I only recently moved to Bree, and acquired the house there, and began my adventures. I have surpassed my ancestor Forewyth, so now I travel farther seeking quests. I hope to achieve what Forewyth failed, to defeat the Necromancer of Dol Goldur in Mirkwood." Then Agrelaa continued, "I met your Mirimbar moments ago, but he needs someone to remove the monsters from his main library."

Aragorn: "I have another quest for anyone who will take it. There are undead pestering my people!"

Agrelaa: "Monsters find your library, and now undead find your people? That may explain why your streets seem void, though I suppose that it is a good idea to remain inside at night."

Aragorn: "The undead bother us, day or night. They gather in a hut on the edge of town and menance everyone nearby. Your task is to go into the building and clear out the beasts." The danger level of the haunted house quest is 45.

Agrelaa: "I have not prepared myself for such a quest, but perhaps before I go face the Necromancer, I will solve this problem." Agrelaa departs the castle, and I open the wilderness map and send Agrelaa away northward, leaving the challenges of Gondor to the future. I am not as confident as Agrelaa is, and fear that Agrelaa will not survive to that future. Though some of my previous ToME characters saw Minas Anor, none before Agrelaa survived the Barrow-downs just outside Bree.

Wilderness

Then Agrelaa follows a river northward. Four to five squares north of Minas Anor, Agrelaa makes a diagonal crossing to the east bank. Much farther to the north, Agrelaa sights the forest of Mirkwood. I see the entrance to Dol Goldur, and past midnight, 3rd Enderi, I encounter the main entrance to Mirkwood Forest. Agrelaa could enter Mirkwood now, but first I want the location of Lothlorien.

Just beyond the Mirkwood entrance, there are no more grass areas to the north, only mountains and water and forest. I enter the full map and move Agrelaa westward across two areas of shallow water. In the second area (toward the west bank), Agrelaa enters a scary duel with a lizard king who seems to move at the same speed as Agrelaa, +12 when Agrelaa uses running tactics. They fight, and Agrelaa summons lizard men as allies.

Once I reach the grass area of the west bank, I return to the wilderness map, and view how Agrelaa is north-east-east of Bree, but east of the mountains. Agrelaa walks south, following the mountain range. In this way, I approach Lothlorien, the land of Galadriel, from the north.

Lothlorien

This is 3rd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 4:42 AM. It is a strange time.

Agrelaa browses the shops. I discover that Ludwig the Humble(Dwarf), whom Agrelaa met at the temple in Bree, now staffs the temple in Lothlorien. It is possibly that the dwarf guesses that Lothlorien has fewer shoplifters than Bree.

But through whatever magic, at least one person can staff two locations. As Agrelaa enters the Beastmaster Shanty of Lothlorien, so Sharra(Human) appears to say, "You still must bring me back an Air hound corpse."

Gary Gygaz(Half-Troll) presides over the Black Market of Lothlorien. The half-troll pays only 18 per totem, but Agrelaa does not want to carry his few extra totems. Agrelaa retains only one partial totem of a lizard man.

In one clearing sits Celeborn(High-Elf) upon his seat of ruling. "I am Agrelaa of Bree, and my eyes are glad to see a fair elven town."

Celeborn remarked, "Bree is west of the mountains, so you must have had a long journey."

Agrelaa: "I hear of the troubles of Mirkwood, so I adventure this way."

Celeborn: "Then perhaps you may help in another matter. There are wolves pestering my people! They gather in a hut on the edge of town and menace everyone nearby. Your task is to go in there and clear them out." The danger level is 15. It seems that huts upon the edges of towns are popular spots for monsters!

Agrelaa says to Celeborn, "I plan to look at Mirkwood first, but perhaps I can help you too. Wolves are my enemy! They would devour me, but I stand in my armour and attack them with all the techniques of lore."

Agrelaa next comes upon the weaponsmith of Oglign Dragon-Slayer(Dwarf). There I instruct him to sell the extra weapons that in the wilderness Agrelaa looted. "I know whatever was; whatever is; whatever shall be," Oglign advises Agrelaa.

Decado the Handsome(Dunadan), who I recall from the armoury in Bree, also maintains the armoury in Lothlorien. From a shallow water area did Agrelaa loot a Soft Leather Armour [4,+4], and now he sells it.

Then Agrelaa approaches the alchemy shop, and finds Mauser the Chemist(Half-Elf)! Agrelaa asks, "You are here? How are you also here?"

Mauser only said, "I do not only provide my goods to the men and hobbits of Bree, but also to the elves of Lothlorien."

"I am Agrelaa of Bree, who happens to be in Lothlorien after a long journey. If you know a fast way between Bree and Lothlorien, then tell me now."

Mauser: "I have two shops to worry about, without telling you. Now you depend on me for your supply of teleportation scrolls and identify scrolls, so be careful."

Agrelaa bought 15 identify scrolls from Mauser. By no other way could I identify most of my items. Then I leave Mauser's Lothlorien shop.

Agrelaa approaches the last place of interest, a pond located amid four altars. Here is The Mirror and the residence of Galadriel(High-Elf), the most famous person in Lothlorien. Galadriel provides the "research item" service, like Mirimbar of Minas Anor, and the "view fate" service, like Merana in Bree. Galadriel has nothing that Agrelaa would want now, so I depart. The four altars are more interesting.

I guess that these are, in order, the altars of Manwe Sulimo, of Yavanna Kementari, of Eru Iluvator, and of Tulkas. On one of these altars do I see the next opportunity for Agrelaa.

Altar of Winds

This is 3rd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 5:07 AM. It will be day soon.

I could add Agrelaa to the following either of Manwe Sulimo or of Tulkas. If I gain enough piety, then Tulkas would grant +3 speed and +3 constitution, but Manwe would grant the better reward of +7 speed. Standing upon the Altar of Winds, Agrelaa may become a follower of Manwe.

I have played followers of Manwe before. For example, Bireld the Male High-Elf Runecrafter followed Manwe from the start of the game. When Bireld died at level 3 of the Barrow-downs, his piety was -7024, enough for Manwe to grant -1 speed. The problem was that Bireld played slowly through the Barrow-downs, a dungeon that lacks sources of Manwe piety.

Before Agrelaa converts, I must read g_manwe.txt to review how to build piety with Manwe.

I grep through the source code of ToME 2.3.4, with the intention of producing a spoily version of the above list. I notice that there are many calls to an inc_piety function in gods.c, which in turn calls a set_grace function in xtra2.c; the inc_piety function checks that the piety is for the god that I worship and checks against overflow, while the set_grace function holds piety to the interval from -300000 to 300000.

The file gods.c also contains the wisdom_scale function; read wisdom_scale(x) as your wisdom index times x/37. (From calc_bonuses in xtra1.c, an index seems to be exactly 3 less than the displayed score, for purposes of indexing tables.c arrays.) Agrelaa has a wisdom score of 15 == wisdom index of 12, so wisdom_scale(3) is 36/37 == 0, and wisdom_scale(2) is 24/37 == 0.

Every 30 turns, Agrelaa can expect to lose 4 to 5 piety. If I could boost Agrelaa's wisdom from 15 to 16, then Agrelaa would only lose 3 to 4 piety. I guess that Agrelaa has a suitable supply of evil monsters in OFr 13 and below to raise piety. It also seems that I may escape piety loss while traveling on the surface of Middle-earth (not in the dungeon) or while resting.

So now I make the decision that Agrelaa may not reverse. He is the king of the Valar, most powerful of them after Melkor. Do you want to worship Manwe Sulimo? Agrelaa starts with -200 piety. I immediately switch to the wilderness map and travel toward Mirkwood. (Agrelaa manages to avoid ambush as I cross the river in the wilderness map.)

Mirkwood 11 to 12

You feel your luck is turning... This is 3rd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 6:57 AM. Morning has broken.

After the sun rises, Agrelaa enters the forest and hides from the sun. This is what an adventurer must do. Inside, Mirkwood is a forest, much like the Old Forest but without the water.

Manwe subtracts piety as I kill a novice priest. The workaround is to summon a lizard man to kill the novice priests. Manwe ignores a kill if I use a pet, even a simulacrum pet, to kill; I recall reading of this workaround in some DitL upon the ToME wiki. The remainder of Mkw 11 is very boring, with almost no significant loot. With piety at -377, Agrelaa moves down to Mkw 12.

Mkw 12 has a room full of donuts, but it is actually a room full of orcs. It has multiple kinds of orcs, including stronger types that are new to Agrelaa, up to at least elite uruks. As I reach experience level 20, many messages appear. Welcome to level 20. You can increase 24 more skills. The voice of Manwe Sulimo booms in your head: 'I have a task for thee. Centuries ago an ancient relic of mine was broken apart. The pieces of it have been lost in fallen temples. Thou art to find my lost temple and retrieve a piece of the relic. When thy task is done, thou art to lift it in the air and call upon my name. I shall then come to reclaim what is mine! The temple lies a very long way to the south-east of Bree, and a long way to the north-east of Minas Anor, I can feel it.' I see you are now at least level 20. Nice! If you want to gloat about your character you could press 'C' then 'f' to make a character dump and post it to http://angband.oook.cz where it will end up in the ladder.

Agrelaa has 24 skill points because I neglected to spend them after he reached experience level 17. I throw 12 points into Summoning, and 12 points into Symbiosis. This reaches skill level 20, so that I may reach skill level 50 at experience level 50. 

 - Monster-lore                                              10.460 [1.100]
     . Summoning                                             20.000 [0.500]
     . Symbiosis                                             20.000 [0.500]

The orcs approach Agrelaa in a corridor, and Agrelaa duels each of them, swining his Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin and allowing the Death sword symbiote to do its work. Eventually, after some fighting, shooting, resting, and so on, the orcs are dead. Agrelaa uses his entire stack of identify scrolls with the loot, then switches to a Staff of Identify that he found on this level.

A second, smaller group of orcs drops a Book of Summoning. The name "Summoning" interests me, but the spellbook only contains the spells of Fire Golem (of Fire/Mind schools) and Summon Animal (of Nature school); neither spell has any relevance to summoning with totems. Agrelaa recalls out of the dungeon with his loot. Thanks to the orcs, Agrelaa has raised his piety with Manwe to -75.

The recall scroll yanks Mirkwood to the surface, slightly northwest of the Mirkwood dungeon entrance. I pull out to the wilderness map and return to Lothlorien.

Lothlorien

This is 3rd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 3:19 PM. It is midafternoon.

Agrelaa sells the loot. Among the loot is a Sling of Power (x2) (+5,+14), which yields 2406 gold; a Ring of Protection [+9], which yields 1147 gold; a Ring of Spell, which yields 4914 gold; a Wand of Fireflash[1|16] (10 charges), which yields 1633 gold.

I take the staff of identify to the Wizards Spire in Lothlorien and ask Valceronwe(Elf) to charge it several times; but Wild magic consumes your Staff of Identify!

I have one new junkart.

Agrelaa's loot also contains a Paper Armour of Resist Fire [4,+8]; I do not sell it. Instead I mull whether it is an upgrade from Agrelaa's current armour.

I would lose the sustenance and the acid resistance, but gain fire resistance and net +2 AC by equipping the Paper Armour. Agrelaa equips it. Now I just need to carry 'Dregon' and the Bag of Tricks to Agrelaa's home in Bree.

In the grass area north of Bree, I try activating the Bag of Tricks. It takes numerous attempts to activate, but it destroys the light in a radius 12, and scatters some new granite wall, quartz vein, and magma vein squares over the area of destruction. I have a screenshot of the destruction.

Wilderness

In the wilderness map, I make a detour east to search for Manwe's temple. The temple lies a very long way to the south-east of Bree, and a long way to the north-east of Minas Anor. I find the entrance to the Land of Rhun, and later that to the Sacred Land of Mountains, but not Manwe's temple. The search consumes 8 food rations, so Agrelaa stops in Minas Anor to resupply.

This is 1st Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 9:19 PM. It is late night. Agrelaa buys 19 identify scrolls from the alchemy shop in Minas Anor.

Agrelaa returns to search, wandering the wide grasslands of eastern Middle-earth. I find the entrance into the Lonely Mountain. Agrelaa wanders far enough east, even to see Ekkaia, the Encircling Sea. Only then do I see that the entrance to the lost temple is in the far east, adjacent to the Ekkaia. I lead Agrelaa back to the west. It has become the 3rd Quelle.

Agrelaa journeys west, across grassland and river, locating the break in the mountains south of Bree and Lothlorien but north of Minas Anor. After he crosses the break, More of your prophecy has been unearthed! You should see a soothsayer quickly. Agrelaa travels north, and finally reaches the village of Bree.

Bree

This is 3rd Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 1:51 PM. It is early afternoon.

Agrelaa's home is full. I need to make more space. First I take the Ring of Fire Resistance from the home and sell it to Luthien Starshine(High-Elf). That does not help, because I buy an Amulet of Slow Digestion to stock instead.

Then I take two weapons that I want to sell, a Blessed Club (1d4) (+4,+3) (+3) and a Spectral Lucerne Hammer (2d5) (+4,+5). Arndal Beast-Slayer(Half-Elf), the Bree weaponsmith, would only pay the policy cap of 10000 gold for each of them, but I can carry both weapons to another town.

Then I take two armours that I want Agrelaa to wear, a Large Leather Shield [4,+8] and a Steel Helm [6,+7]. I find that Agrelaa may now wear them with no penalty to mana, perhaps because the Paper Armour of Resist Fire is lighter than 'Dregon'.

Agrelaa sells his previous Small Metal Shield [3,+4] and Metal Cap [3,+5] to Decado the Handsome(Dunadan) in Bree. Decado is like Mauser; Decado simultaneously sits in the shops in Bree and in Lothlorien, and Agrelaa can only guess at the magic that allows them to do this.

Mauser sells 57 scrolls to Agrelaa, who now carries a stack of 81 scrolls. The stack weighs too much, so Agrelaa drops 41 scrolls at home. Then I return Agrelaa to the wilderness map and instruct him to walk northeast, toward a town that is very easy to find if you have an Adventurer's Guide.

Gondolin

This is 3rd Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 4:50 PM. It is late afternoon.

In Gondolin, the owner of the weaponsmith is Arndal Beast-Slayer(Half-Elf). Arndal asks Agrelaa, "I thought that I saw you in Bree today?"

Agrelaa repeats, "I thought that I saw you in Bree today? If you know a fast way between Bree and Gondolin, would you open the path to me?"

"Behold the Rod of Arndal!" and the Half-Elf shows forth a rod that is of much greater power than Agrelaa's Wooden Rod of Trap Location. "When I sense that someone is at my other shop, I activate this. Alas, it moves only the person who holds it, so I cannot use it to send you to Bree. I assembled this rod decades ago, after adventuring in a wild part of the area and saving a community from a group of terrible carnivores." Then would Arndal tell Agrelaa the entire Tale of Arndal Beast-Slayer, but Agrelaa wants to be away and adventuring, so Arndal defers the tale.

But then Agrelaa recognized Mauser the Chemist(Half-Elf) in the alchemy shop, and Mauser would not tell how one shopkeeper might simultaneously operate three shops in Bree, Lothlorien and Gondolin.

Yet Gondolin had many other persons, especially among them Turgon(High-Elf) in the Tower of the King. Turgon has a quest for Agrelaa, too. "There are dragons pestering my people! They gather in a building on the edge of town and menace everyone nearby. Your task is to go into the building and clear them out." The danger level of the dragons' quest is 25.

But Agrelaa came before Merana(Human), the Soothsayer of Gondolin. Now the pattern of shopkeepers-in-multiple-places seems to repeat too often, because Merana exists in both Bree and Gondolin. "You may find a Staff of Sense Monsters on level 9," Merana tells Agrelaa.

Then Agrelaa left Gondolin, and went toward Minas Anor.

Minas Anor

This is 4th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 2:55 AM. It is a strange time.

Agrelaa wanders through Minas Anor, only by the light of his Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin. Agrelaa recalled that it has been days since he last adventured in the dungeons. He finally comes upon Arnold the Beastly(Barbarian), weaponsmith of Minas Anor. However, Arnold's policy cap is only 5000 gold. Agrelaa does buy 41 identify scrolls from the local (non-Mauser) alchemy shop.

Perhaps I better sell the weapons in Lothlorien.

Lothlorien

This is 4th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 7:16 AM. It is early morning.

The weaponsmith in Lothlorien Oglign Dragon-Slayer(Dwarf), who has a policy cap of 30000 gold. Finally Agrelaa may complete this quest to sell the two weapons to make more space in his home.

The Club yields 16605 gold; the Lucerne Hammer yields 12732 gold.

Mauser of Lothlorien has 15 more identify scrolls, so I buy those and carry them back to Bree. Once I have 99 identify scrolls at home, and I drop the Harp and the Amulet that I use to boost charisma while shopping, Agrelaa's home is full again, but it now holds everything that I want it to hold. Agrelaa may return to the dungeon.

To review what just happened, Agrelaa recalled from Mirkwood to the surface, went to Lothlorien, explored the east, purchased food in Minas Anor, found Manwe's temple in the very east, went to Bree, then (while finding a place to sell two weapons) went to Gondolin and Minas Anor and Lothlorien, then returned to Bree! I decide to instruct Agrelaa to go the Orc Cave. Back to adventure!

Orc Cave 10 to 13

You have a superb feeling about this level. This is 4th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 3:31 PM. It is midafternoon.

Agrelaa immediately sees or senses several evil creatures. This will please Manwe. I quickly learn that the Orc Cave is muchh different from the dungeons that Agrelaa has seen before. The Orc Cave has a more irregular design; rooms are not rectangular, and staircases appear in rooms and amid corridors, rather than only at the edges of a level. The level is stone and granite, without trees to tunnel through.

Agrelaa reaches a piety of 46 as he takes a shaft down from Orc 10 to Orc 13. You feel your luck is turning...

This is a darker, deeper part of the cave. Agrelaa reaches experience level 21, and after the usual 2 points each to Summoning and Symbiosis, I assign 2 skill points to Magic-Device. Up to now, I had been assigning points to Archery or Magic or Corpse-preservation, but now I believe that it is not urgent to have greater points in those skills.

I would like Agrelaa to take the next shaft down from Orc 13, but my supply of identify scrolls is low, so I recall Agrelaa (with 48 piety) to the wilderness.

Bree

Tipo the Fair(Human) has a Potion of Charisma for 3256 gold. Agrelaa buys and drinks it. Wow! You feel very cute! It boosts his charisma from 20 to 22.

My loot is boring, and consists mainly of weapons with to-hit and to-damage bonuses. These weapons, Agrelaa sells them to Arndal; each yields hundreds of gold pieces. Arndal stocks a Short Bow (x2) (+5,+5), which I buy as an upgrade to Agrelaa's Short Bow (x2) (+5,+4).

Mauser sells a Potion of Restore Strength, which Agrelaa needs now. You feel less weak. It restores Agrelaa's strength from 17 to 18.

I decide to take the Amulet of Charisma (+1) and the Harp (+1), and sell them to Luthien and Tipo. These items would boost my charisma while shopping, but now that Agrelaa has more charisma from that potion, and Agrelaa has 68724 gold, I decide to end my use of this technique.

I use a recall scroll to yank Agrelaa from Bree. Agrelaa arrives at Orc 13, but wait, my goal for Agrelaa is to clear the Old Forest. For now, I will continue the Orc Cave because Agrelaa's recall scrolls point that way.

Orc Cave 13 to 17

This is 4th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 8:13 PM. It is early night.

After gathering some loot, I do not bother to check if there are any paths into the empty areas of this loot, but Agrelaa takes the shaft from Orc 13 to Orc 16.

The first exceptional item that Agrelaa finds is a Long Sword of Morgul (2d5) (-13,-8) [-6] (-8) {cursed}, which seems very bad, so I leave it on the floor of Orc 16.

The level has another shaft down, but I become worried; so far Agrelaa has skipped Orc 11, Orc 12, Orc 14, Orc 15. I take a normal staircase to Orc 17. This level features Ufthak of Cirith Ungol, a green 'o' upon my screen. Ufthak of Cirith Ungol wonders aloud how many experience points you're worth. Then I notice that Boldor, King of the Yeeks, whom I encountered in OFr 13, is also here at Orc 17. Ufthak of Cirith Ungol says: 'Hey guys, where are you?' Ufthak of Cirith Ungol dies.

Boldor, King of the Yeeks says, 'I'll teach you to respect yeeks!' But this time, I fight Boldor in melee, and my Death sword symbiote hacks until, Boldor, King of the Yeeks says: 'Bodies fill the fields I see, the slaughter never ends.' Boldor, King of the Yeeks dies. A few turns later, Orfax, Son of Boldor attacks! He's just like his daddy! He knows mighty spells, but fortunately he is a yeek. The death sword hacks, and Orfax also dies. Now I notice what I have done; Agrelaa slew three unique monsters at Orc 17 without much effort! Agrelaa's Boots of Speed do help.

Only after some more fighting do I encounter the result, Your Death sword dies from protecting you, you feel very sad... Agrelaa must begin to eye potential new symbiotes. Meanwhile, Agrelaa reaches experience level 22 and I assign 2 points to Magic, because I want more mana.

Eventually, I encounter a group of ogrillons and forest trolls upon Orc 17. They are new. Without the death sword symbiote, Agrelaa fights them by shooting arrows. I notice that with running tactics, Agrelaa may also hack-and-back some of these enemies. The battle becomes more difficult as Agrelaa exhausts his supply of arrows. With no symbiote and no arrows, I become glad that Agrelaa continues to wield the Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin, not the Lucerne Hammer (*Defender*) that I considered at the end of part 3 of this document.

Agrelaa has also exhausted his supply of identify scrolls, without identifying some of the loot or exploring some of level. I guess which of the identified loot might be most valuable and recall Agrelaa to Bree.

Bree

Luthie Starshine(High-Elf) will pay 900 gold for an unidentified Amulet of Spell, or 5400 gold for an Amulet of Spell known to contain no spell. I manage to identify both of my Amulets of Spell before selling them. Over in Arndal's shop, I sell 22 Rounded Pebbles (exploding) at a bad price, because I again forgot to *identify* the explosion; though I cannot spare Mauser's only *identify* scroll because I use it to identify a junkart.

I clear some more space in Agrelaa's house by selling two of my three spare Wooden Rods of Nothing (These rods do not stack.), a Ring of Cold Resistance and an Amulet of Slow Digestion to Luthien. I had purchased and held the Ring of Cold Resistance in case I needed that resistance. I had purchased and held the Amulet of Slow Digestion in case I wanted to wield Agrelaa's Lucerne Hammer (*Defender*) and retain slow digestion, which Agrelaa receives from wielding his Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin. Now I believe that these cases will not occur soon, thus I may sell the ring and the amulet.

My supply of inventory scrolls is decreasing. As I recall Agrelaa to the Orc Cave, he carries 40 identify scrolls, and there only 42 more scrolls left in his home in Bree.

Orc Cave 17

Agrelaa returns to Orc 17 with no symbiote and a small supply of arrows. I manage that Agrelaa does melee with berserker/running tactics instead of resortig to summoning lizard men. This is good for Agrelaa's experience and his piety (except for the piety penalty from killing a priest).

At Orc 17, Agrelaa discovers and wears a grape jelly; his symbiote slot is useful again. The grape jelly lacks the attacks of a death sword, and many creatures in the Orc Cave dodge or resist the grape jelly's attack; but the grape jelly has 229 hp, many greater hp than a death sword.

I forgot to use the Rod of Trap Detection again, so I lead Agrelaa into a Wasting Trap, decreasing his constitution from 15 to 14. The number 14 appears in red, not yellow, indicating that this damage will eventually heal without the help of an item of restoration. There is this one group of forest trolls that lost itself in the cave; Agrelaa defeats them, and as he rests, his constitution returns to 15.

Agrelaa reaches experience level 23, but after upgrading Summoning and Symbiosis, I leave 2 unassigned skill points. After this I finally encounter a fight that is too difficult for Agrelaa. It is versus a group of mongbats and dark hounds. Darkness is one of my five resistances, so the dark hounds are easy, but the mongbats are difficult to hit in melee. During the fight, I use Potions of Cure Critical Wounds, which I need for the first time. Agrelaa resorts to tossing oil flasks to kill one of the mongbats.

I abandon the fight and recall Agrelaa to Bree. I consumed 23 identify scrolls on that one level, Orc 17. I must worry about finding a better way to identify things.

Bree

This is 5th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 6:37 AM. Morning has broken.

Agrelaa's home now contains a large collection of runes:

Agrelaa does not know Runecrafting, so I cannot use any of them. I decide to free eight slots at home by transferring all runes to the mathom-house. Meanwhile, a discounted *identify* scroll reveals of Raal's Black Candle, It can be activated for cure stun every 100 turns. Now I know the activations of all six junkarts in Agrelaa's home.

I try to solve my shortage of identify scrolls by purchasing three staffs of identify, each with 8 charges, from Luthien. I try to solve my arrow shortage by purchasing 40 arrows (+0,+0) and by allocating the two unassigned skill points to Archery. With Agrelaa so configured, I recall him to Orc 17. 

 - Combat                                                    05.200 [0.700]
     . Archery                                               14.000 [0.700]
 - Monster-lore                                              11.780 [1.100]
     . Summoning                                             23.000 [0.500]
     . Symbiosis                                             23.000 [0.500]

Orc Cave 17 to 16

This is 5th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 7:01 AM. It is early morning.

With a grape jelly instead of a death sword, and with unenchanted arrows, the game is more difficult! Agrelaa once cleared a room of orcs at Mkw 12, but now he struggles to hit them. My best strategy seems to be to use normal tactics and shoot the orc next to Agrelaa.

That strategy causes that I exhaust Agrelaa's supply of arrows. I try to wield the arrows on the ground below Agrelaa, but there are no arrows there. Agrelaa wields a {cursed} Long Sword, oops! Agrelaa flees up the stairs to Orc 16. Looks like any other level. I manage to rest Agrelaa before orcs approach, and I instruct Agrelaa to summon a few lizard men to defeat the orcs. Agrelaa is wielding a Long Sword of Nothingness (2d5) (-58,-90), which happens to be far worse than most of the cursed items that I have identified, but at least it is not that Long Sword of Morgul (2d5) (-13,-8) [-6] (-8) {cursed} that I once saw on the floor of Orc 13. In fact, one of the items here at Orc 16 is a Sabre of Morgul (1d7) (-20,-15) [-4] (-9) {cursed}; that last (-9) must be bad although I do not have a way to *identify* its meaning. Most of the other stuff here is also cursed. After I exhaust my supply of mana, Agrelaa retreats.

I find Agrelaa in a corridor between two monsters, with a cursed weapon that cannot attack, a bow with no arrows, almost no mana, and a grape jelly symbiote that does little damage. I instruct Agrelaa to read a Scroll of Word of Recall, and hope that I can survive long enough for the scroll to activate. I opt to reset the recall death from Orc 17 to Orc 16. You feel yourself yanked upwards!

Bree

This is 5th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 7:01 AM. It is early morning.

The first Scroll of Remove Curse from the temple removes curses from some of my other equipment, but after the second scroll, Agrelaa's Long Sword of Nothingness remains cursed. I grab an *identify* scroll from Mauser to check what I am dealing with:

Because of the heavy curse, I should try the temple's Scroll of *Remove Curse*, then unwield this weapon quickly. This works, and Agrelaa drops the worthless weapon in the mathom-house. Agrelaa again wields his Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin (1d5) (+7,+6) (+3).

I dare not recall Agrelaa into Orc 16 without any arrows. One of my alternatives is to go the Old Forest; this fits with my current goal (stated at the top of part 4 of this document) to clear the Old Forest. I check Agrelaa's recall depths. 

        Mirkwood: Level 12 (600')
        Barrow-Downs: Level 10 (500')
       *Orc Cave: Level 16 (800')
        The Old Forest: Level 13 (650')

Agrelaa's recall scrolls point to the Orc Cave. My best option to reach OFr 13 is to take Agrelaa across the wilderness to the dungeon entrance, because OFr 13 is the top level.

Meanwhile, I should check my overall strategy for Agrelaa, which I last stated in part 2 of this document.

Old Forest 13 to 15

This is 5th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 9:05 AM. It is midmorning.

Agrelaa levitates over a stream in the forest. He comes upon a room, but there is something in the water! It appears as a light blue '~' on my screen, to distinguish from the medium-blue and dark-blue stream. It is an ixitxachitl.

Agrelaa zaps a staff of identify and it reveals an exceptional Broken Sword.

Another underwater monster suprises Agrelaa, it is a green '~' being a tiger shark. Later, Agrelaa bumps into a flounder that blends completely with the water. Everything at OFr 13 so far seems to be easy enough to kill in melee; Agrelaa continues to lack arrows. The most difficult fight is versus a group of white wolves that reduce Agrelaa's charisma from 22 to 21.

Agrelaa encounters a hairy mold on the dungeon floor. The appearance of this creature does not make one want to wear it, but I instruct Agrelaa to try it anyway. The grape jelly has 217 hp; this hairy mold has only 68 hp but I hope that it has better attacks. I try it versus a nearby killer brown beetle. The hairy mold releases poisonous spores. The hairy mold sees some use against a group of phantom warriors that do not resist poison. Later it helps me against a pseudo dragon. The hairy mold's attacks are weak but useful against some monsters. Maybe I should look for mushroom patches.

In OFr 14, Agrelaa finds an elf skeleton. Maybe the skeleton was from a dark elf; it is too old to tell. Agrelaa slices the bones into 15 arrows. I now have ammo, but these arrows explode, so the ammo will not last. A test blast against a copperhead snake reveals a nether explosion and kills some trees. My next target is a baby green dragon, which unfortunately resists both nether and poison.

OFr 14 has a level 20 Sabre-tooth tiger, from whom I must teleport away. I encounter it again and shoot a exploding-nether arrow at it, but the arrow fails do to must damage, even as it knocks the leaves from twelve squares of trees. I shoot a second arrow, and the sabre-tooth tiger now has 9 of 10 stars. I run Agrelaa away and shoot more arrows, and Agrelaa has 6 stars. Now Agrelaa commences the summoning of lizard men. At a cost of 2 mana, these lizard men defeat the sabre-tooth tiger.

The most interesting find on OFr 14 is a Spectral Sickle (2d3) (+7,+5); I find little else except a few additions to my supplies, such as a teleportation scroll to replace the one that I used, before Agrelaa takes the stairs to OFr 15.

OFr 15 has a group of livingstones, those never-moving monsters that breed and look like walls. Eventually I kill most of them but manage to tame one. I try this livingstone as a symbiote; it has only 33 hp, but monsters do not resist its attacks.

Agrelaa triggers a Bowel Cramps Trap at OFr 15, because I forgot to detect traps again. I reverse its effects by reading one of the Scrolls of Satisfy Hunger from my loot.

As Agrelaa explores the last parts of OFr 15, he discovers a pound in the southwest. This pond hosts a breeding group giant black louse. The group manages to produce a few neekerbreekers. Agrelaa can kill each black 'I', either giant black louse or neekerbreeker, with one hit. Agrelaa slays the giant black louses to encourage the neekerbreekers. (The neekerbreeker can make a high pitched shreik which I would confuse with the noise of a shrieker patch, but Agrelaa hears these neekerbreekers shriek so many times that he learns well the difference.) Soon I have a large group of neekerbreekers. This is what I want; up to now, Agrelaa's trip into the Old Forest had reduced his piety, from 338 in Bree to around zero now; but neekerbreekers are evil! What I have, in effect, is a farm of Manwe piety. Manwe wants Manwe's followers to fell evil monsters; Manwe rewards Agrelaa with piety for attacking these evil breeding neekerbreekers.

I discover a Broken Skull amid this farm of Manwe piety. I order Agrelaa to slice it into arrows. This must be a very enchanted pond that Agrelaa pulled the Broken Skull from, because the resulting arrows are by far the very best that I have seen in my games of ToME! Agrelaa inspects his new arrows; they are wet and appear dark in appearance, and within them does Agrelaa sense an everburning reaction. Then Agrelaa raised the 22 arrows into the air. "Evil monsters of Middle-earth, hear Agrelaa the High-Elf of Bree! Behold this set of unbreakable arrows that I bring forth from this pond! I name them the Arrows 'Onumor', the Arrows of Water-Darkness."

This farm builds Agrelaa's piety above 1000, and it also causes him to gain experience level 24; I assign 2 points to Magic. I start to wonder how much piety Agrelaa will gain before I become bored, Agrelaa exhausts his food, or some other interruption occurs.

points

prize

2000

levitation

5000

net +1 speed

7000

free action while praying

10000

net +2 speed

15000

flight while praying; net +3 speed

On the farm, Agrelaa manages to reach 2000 piety, then 5000 piety, then 7000 piety. Giant black louses stop appearing. Manwe watches while Agrelaa persistently hunts the neekerbreekers; the god grants 9 piety for each kill. The neekerbreekers breed the occasional hummerhorn; when Agrelaa sees a hummerhorn, he quickly kills it to prevent hummerhorns from breeding and displacing the neekerbreekers.

Agrelaa's Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin allows Agrelaa to sense evil monsters, but the detection of those neekerbreekers who hide in the trees, the dectection is only partly reliable. It is rarely detected by telepathy. Agrelaa sees enough neekerbreekers to know he will not kill all of them.

After Agrelaa has 10000 piety, he encounters a level 24 giant firefly, a red 'I'. It begins to breed, but giant fireflies are not evil, thus Agrelaa halts their breeding by killing them. Later Agrelaa kills a pair of level 14 giant fleas. The vast majority of the insects continue to be neekerbreekers; the only other insects that occasionally appear are hummerhorns.

After Agrelaa has 15000 piety, Manwe lifts Agrelaa into the air, and Agrelaa pursues the neekerbreekers through the trees. Agrelaa earns experience level 25, and I assign 2 points to Magic; Agrelaa now has 51 maximum mana points.

After Agrelaa has 20000 piety, I discover a group of killer bees. Agrelaa summons some lizard men simulacrums to tackle them. Then Agrelaa returns to slaying neekerbreekers.

At 21680 piety, I notice that Agrelaa has no symbiote; perhaps poison damage killed the livingstone symbiote. I instruct Agrelaa to put on the grape jelly symbiote from his inventory. Some flying skulls approach. This far into the breeding process, the neekerbreekers will attack other monsters, but the flying skulls resist the neekerbreeker's poison bites. The flying skulls have immunity to the grape jelly's experience-loss attack, but at least the grape jelly deflects some blows from Agrelaa. Agrelaa destroys two of the flying skulls amid forest, causing some silver and an Amulet of Acid Resistance to disappear. The battle against the flying skulls and a dark naga damages Agrelaa so much that he hides in the forest and rests.

At around 23350 piety, Agrelaa tests his Arrows 'Onumor' for the first time. Two arrows cause the death of another gray naga.

At 40240 piety, Agrelaa counts the number of dead neekerbreekers. You have killed at least 4608 of these creatures. I know that 35000 piety is enough for the maximum speed boost from Manwe, and I believe that 40000 piety is enough to protect against piety decreasing over time. I instruct Agrelaa to stop farming for piety, but to wear his ring of invisibility and to summon lizard men to destroy the neekerbreekers. However, such a summoned force is far too small to vanquish the neekerbreekers, so I recall Agrelaa from the level. Agrelaa drops his spare hairy mold symbiote to the floor and grabs his lantern from the floor. Agrelaa's Main Gauche continues to hack neekerbreekers until the scroll activates and yanks Agrelaa to the wilderness. Then I use the wilderness map to return Agrelaa to Bree.

Bree

This is 6th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 2:47 PM. It is early afternoon.

Agrelaa, as you fought the evil neekerbreekers, time passed midnight and entered the 6th Quelle, then time passed noon! Agrelaa, you should enjoy this deserved break from the dungeons of Middle-earth! Agrelaa has 40555 piety.

I instruct Agrelaa to sell the loot, including his now-redundant Ring of Levitation. I visit Odnar the Sage(High-ELf), who overseees the Book Store of Bree, to perform Agrelaa's first transaction with a book: to sell a looted Book of Beginner Cantrips.

At Agrelaa's home do I grab two items from storage: a Wooden Rod of Nothing (10/10) and a Rod Tip of Door/Stair Location (10 Mana to cast). I assemble them into a Wooden Rod of Door/Stair Location (10/10); it will be useful, because I want to send Agrelaa next to Manwe's lost temple, and this rod might show the way to the missing relic. Agrelaa has much trouble activating this rod, so now I want points in Magic-Device.

Mauser lacks identify scrolls, but I decide to buy a Scroll of Enchant Armor. Then I boost Agrelaa's Set of Leather Gloves from [1,+4] to [1,+5], and Agrelaa's AC from 75 to 76. Then, after I recharge the junkart that restored my strength and charisma, Agrelaa departs for Lothlorien.

Lothlorien

This is 6th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 7:40 PM. It is a strange time.

Lothlorien is the location of the shop of Oglign Dragon-Slayer(Dwarf), who pays more money for my best loot. An Elemental Broken Sword of Slay Animal (1d2) (+5,+3) yields Oglign's policy cap of 30000 gold. A Spectral Sickle (2d3) (+7,+5) yields 12760 gold.

I buy all 49 identify scrolls and all 10 Scrolls of Enchant Armor from Mauser's Lothlorien shop. Agrelaa reads each of the enchantment scrolls, and though some of the enchantments do fail, I manage to boost Agrelaa's AC to 83. I also buy all 8 Scrolls of Magic Mapping, in case Agrelaa becomes stuck needing one in the lost temple. Then Agrelaa departs Lothlorien and journeys toward the lost temple in the east by Ekkaia.

Lost temple 13, attempt 1

This is 7th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 1:38 AM. It is deep night.

The monsters here have level 26; Agrelaa must be careful. The temple is filled with fog and very wet. Fortunately, the second monster that Agrelaa encounters is a level 26, coaligned Young spirit. Thicker clouds gather to the walls of each room; Agrelaa stumbles onto a detected hallucination trap amid the mist. Fortunately Agrelaa may rest until the hallucination dispels itself, while the Young spirit defends Agrelaa against enemies. It seems also that the young spirit is much stronger than any other monster on this level. All the monsters are invisibile level 26 monsters. When Agrelaa wants to kill something, the arrows 'Onumor' become very useful.

The lost temple quest is to search for the piece of some relic of Manwe. The relic does not seem to be on this level; I have Agrelaa use a Scroll of Magic Mapping upon one suspicious empty area, but it reveals not any hidden corridors nor any rooms. I recall Agrelaa to the wilderness and he makes the journey across eastern Middle-earth to Lothlorien. During the journey, Agrelaa felt the need to see a soothsayer.

Lothlorien and Bree

This is 7th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 10:20 AM. You feel there is something special about this level.

Then Agrelaa gave a visit to Galadriel(High-Elf), and paid the 500gp fee. Now Galadriel maintained at this location a small, holy pond called The Mirror, situated between the four altars. Into this pond started Galadriel, who then said, "You may find a Scroll of Summon Monsters on level 1."

Agrelaa had not much loot, but he sold it, and I instructed him to buy all of those scrolls that might be useful: Enchant Weapon To-Dam, Identify, Magic Mapping, Object Dectection. An *Identify* Scroll revealed that the junkart among Agrelaa's temple loot, Valdarbon's Automatic Alchemist, would activate for death. Agrelaa went from Lothlorien to Bree.

In Bree, Agrelaa stashes some items at home and donates the junkart of death to the mathom-house, but Agrelaa acquires more scrolls. Using a Scroll of Word of Recall, I am able to directly return Agrelaa from Bree to the lost temple. 

        Mirkwood: Level 12 (600')
        Barrow-Downs: Level 10 (500')
        Orc Cave: Level 16 (800')
        The Old Forest: Level 15 (750')
       *A lost temple: Level 13 (650')

Lost Temple 13, attempt 2

This is 7th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 3:23 PM. It is midafternoon.

In the first room, Agrelaa detects traps, then reads a Scroll of Object Detection, and then a Scroll of Magic Mapping. The range of Magic Mapping does not extend far the north, where Agrelaa now knows of a trap and an object located beyond the mapped area; but the magically mapped area went further west than the detected trap area. Later I discover that Agrelaa failed to detect objects in certain magically mapped areas. I decide that it is better to have Agrelaa explore each room than to use the scrolls to detect the relic.

Here Agrelaa finds a parchment, Numenorean for Beginners (I). Now Agrelaa may use "ure nimir" to light a room; this provides another way to look for objects.

The level gives not the relic, so I recall Agrelaa to Bree. Agrelaa has not much loot, but an *identify* scroll reveals that Baalzebub's Tormented Skullcap is a junkart of destruction. After gathering more supplies, and using Agrelaa's other junkart to restore dexterity, I recall Agrelaa to the lost temple.

Lost Temple 13, attempt 3

This is 7th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 5:38 PM. The sun is setting.

The first room of this level contains what I guess is the first door that Agrelaa ever sees in this lost temple of Manwe. It is an oddly positioned door, set not in the hard wall but in the wall of mist, where any high-elf could wade around the door instead of opening it. The level has more doors. Most of the rooms of this temple consist of rectangular wall that attracts mist on the inside, but one small room lacks the mist, and doors fill all four entrances in the wall. Another odd feature of this level is that the monsters have not leveled. Instead of having level 23 monsters, the moaning spirit is only level 12, and the poltergeist is only level 3. This explains how Agrelaa may so easily fell the monsters here. Agrelaa continues to receive help from Young spirits, but now they are each at level 10.

Agrelaa walks into a Poison Ball Trap, in a trap detected zone! The trap did not appear as ^ because it was underwater. There must be some way to stop Agrelaa from stepping into known traps. I look in 'options.txt', the help file. There is a disturbance option, "Automatically disarm traps" or easy_disarm. If your disarming ability is particularly low, you should probably not enable this option, because you will often fail to disarm the traps, and sometimes trigger them. I try disabling this option. You stop to avoid triggering the trap.

The exploration fails to reveal the relic. I recall Agrelaa to Bree, where it is night. I sell most of the loot. Two of the items are exceptional.

Agrelaa sells the Metal Cap of Regeneration for 2261 gold, but stashes 'Travak' at home. Travak is Agrelaa's first true artifact, especially because I never caused Agrelaa to complete the mushroom quest and acquire that sling.

This time Agrelaa uses his junkart, The Diamond Prism of Light, to restore his wisdom. The junkart does not recharge if Agrelaa leaves it at home, so I instruct Agrelaa to wander around Bree with it. During the wandering, Agrelaa buys Mauser's scrolls that enchant weapon to-hit and to-dam. The result is a Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin (1d5) (+8,+8) and a Short Bow (+7,+7).

Tipo the Fair(Human), who operates the Black Market, sells a Ring of Slaying (+10,+6) for 8351 gold. I instruct Agrelaa to buy it. I equip it in Agrelaa's spare ring slot; Agrelaa has not always worn his Indestructible Ring of Invisibility since he sold his extra Ring of Levitation. When the junkart recharges, I drop it at home and recall Agrelaa to the lost temple.

Lost Temple 13, attempt 4

This is 7th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 10:04 PM. It is late night.

One inscription "ure nimir", and Agrelaa lights the first room. This level looks more like the first two, with level 26 monsters and a lack of doors. At level 26, my major problem would be those breeding clear worm masses, but that Agrelaa may summon level 26 lizard men to defeat such breeders.

My most exciting discovery is a Quylthulg! It is a strange pulsing mound of flesh. In all my history of playing Angband variants, this is my very first encounter with a Quylthulg; though Agrelaa has no knowledge of these beings, I heard that Quylthulgs are stationary beings that summon monsters. Agrelaa does not see the Quylthulg until Agrelaa moves into a square that is directly diagonally adjacent, because the Quylthulg is in a room that has a checkboard pattern of walls. This enables Agrelaa to immediately use the Symbiosos powers to Charm Never-Moving, then Hypnotise. Then Agrelaa removes his grape jelly (229 hp) and attaches the quylthulg (80 hp). Though the quylthulg has less hp, it grants Agrelaa the minor power of Phase Door; I lacked short-range teleportation until now. I am not able to use the other power, Summon Monster; it might be a major power, but that costs 30 mana and has a 37% failure rate.

Agrelaa's last allied young spirit dies, but this Ring of Slaying causes melee combat to become feasible; but against a group of monsters, the Arrows 'Onumor' continue to have the role of Agrelaa's best weapon.

This level also has no relic, so I recall Agrelaa to Bree again. This time, Agrelaa uses the Diamond Prism of Light to restore dexterity. Two items in Agrelaa's loot require *identification*.

Agrelaa leaves the junkart of confusion at the mathom-house, but stashes the Khopesh of Gorie at home. This khopesh does more damage, but it lacks the useful traits of Agrelaa's Sharp Main Gauche of Gondolin currently wielded, or his Lucerne Hammer (*Defender*) also stashed at home.

Lost Temple 13, attempt 5

This is 8th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 2:46 AM. It is a strange time.

This is another level 13 with monsters of level 26. This is Agrelaa's fifth attempt to find the relic, and by Spoilers/Quests/God Quest, he must find the relic on this level. The monsters in this lost temple never brought Agrelaa near to death, and overrall this temple was easy. The coaligned spirits killed greater enemies than Agrelaa killed.

I have explored most of the level when I return to a room and notice that I missed an object that Agrelaa saw. It is a Piece of the Relic of Manwe {quest}. Although it looks like a piece of junk, it is actually part of an ancient relic belonging to Priests of Manwe. The relic now lies in pieces, hidden from all but his most dedicated followers. This is the object that Agrelaa seeks!

Then Agrelaa lifted the object and said, "I found it!" Two coaligned child spirits and one young spirit stand with Agrelaa.

Manwe Sulimo speaks to you: 'Well done! Thou hast found part of the relic. I shall surely ask thee to find more of it later. I will take it from thee for now' 'As a reward, I shall teach you how to pray better' Then Manwe grants five skill points of prayer to Agrelaa, raising Agrelaa's Prayer skill from 0 to 2.5, but leaving unchanged Agrelaa's Spirituality skill of 11. 

 - Spirituality                                              11.000 [0.700]
     . Prayer                                                02.500 [0.500]

The help file g_manwe.txt tells how I may cast spells of three schools of magic. I do my own calculations.

School @ Level

Level

Level 1 Spell

Prayer

2.500

Manwe's Blessing

Air @2/3*Prayer

1.666

Conveyance @ 1/2*Prayer

1.250

Phase Door

Meta @ 1/3*Prayer

0.833

I will not acquire any spellbook for Agrelaa. There are no Air or Meta spells of level 1. If I could reach level 3, Agrelaa might use the Air spell called Noxious Cloud or the Conveyance spell of Disarm, but that would require at least one more god quest, because I will not otherwise assign skill points to Prayer.

I recall Agrelaa to Bree.

This is 8th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 5:01 AM. It will be day soon.

Agrelaa needs to restore wisdom and dexterity. I take care of this, and now Agrelaa needs more home space. I have two junkarts of destruction at some, so Agrelaa frees a slot by sending one junkart to the mathom-house. I also send a junkart of cure stun to the mathom-house, because I believe that the junkart of cure stun is negligibly useful.

At the black market, Tipo the Fair(Human) shows Agrelaa a Sprig of Athelas.

I have heard tales of those who received the black breath and sought desperately for the cure, the Sprig of Athelas, so I buy this sprig for 1445 gold.

To solve the problem of home space, I send Agrelaa to Lothlorien, to the wolves' quest.

Wolves' quest

Looks like a typical quest level. This is 8th Quelle of the 2890th year of the third age. The time is 10:01 AM. It is late morning.

The quest is very easy. The wolves and wargs wander around as if they were blind, instead of grouping together to attack Agrelaa. Agrelaa senses the evil monsters. Agrelaa slays them in melee. Lothlorien is safer now. My loot consists of 2 wolf totems, 2 warg totems, and 18 Elf Skeletons.

After resurfacing in Lothlorien, Agrelaa tells Celeborn(High-Elf) that the evil is dead, and Celeborn replies, "Thank you for killing the pack of wolves! Lothlorien is now a less troubled town. You can use the hut as your house as a reward."

"I have not made a home in an elven town for some time," Agrelaa tells Celeborn, "but I will make good use of this one." Then Agrelaa walks directly eastward, from Celeborn's Seat of Ruling, to the former quest entrance and his new home; and he stashes the 18 Elf Skeletons while telling himself, "I could refine these bones into arrows, but I do not think that the elves of Lothlorien deserve such a fate."

Now I return my attention to the exploration of the dungeons. My recall scrolls are temporarily useless, because they would return Agrelaa to the lost temple of Manwe in the far east by Ekkaia, and that is not where I want to go. 

        Mirkwood: Level 12 (600')
        Barrow-Downs: Level 10 (500')
        Orc Cave: Level 16 (800')
        The Old Forest: Level 15 (750')
       *A lost temple: Level 13 (650')

I want to clear the Old Forest, but first I intend to challenge the Orc Cave. Agrel