Contents

  1. Trilogy, the Half-Elf Geomancer, Part 2
    1. Intermission, part 1
      1. OFr 13 thru OFr 25
        1. Chatter (1.1)
    2. Intermission, part 2
      1. SwL 22 thru SwL 29
        1. Chatter (2.1)
    3. Chapter 3
      1. Wolves quest
      2. Mkw 11 thru Mkw 14
      3. Mkw 14 (take 2) thru Mkw 19
      4. Mkw 19 (take 2) thru Mkw 26
        1. Chatter (3.4)
      5. Mkw 26 (take 2) thru Mkw 29
      6. Mkw 29 (take 2) thru Mkw 31 (take 3)
      7. Mkw 31 (take 4) thru Mkw 33
    4. Intermission
      1. Third relic quest
      2. LoR 26 thru LoR 40
        1. Chatter (4.2)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
Latest segment (in Part 6)
Latest character sheet (after this segment in Part 6)

Trilogy, the Half-Elf Geomancer, Part 2

Intermission, part 1

With the Orc Cave done, it's time to move on. And unless you have any requests, Trilogy…?

"Nah, you indulged me with the wand, you can have the next one."

Well, since there weren't any dungeon towns in the Orc Cave, I'd like to do a quick dive through the Old Forest looking for some.

"Dungeon towns, huh? What's wrong with Bree?"

Bree's library doesn't stock Tomes. I'd like to get you fully stocked with Tomes from all the elemental schools.

"*groan* More spellbooks. I should've known."

These will replace some of the ones you're carrying, and most of the ones we've got stowed in the house.

"Oh." (shrug) "Okay, I'm game."

That's the spirit. ;) As before when I did this with Bjorn, I'll be diving quickly, staying just long enough to see if there's a market on the level and to find the stairs down, and I'll only make note of levels where something interesting happens. And so, after a quick restock, we're off to:

OFr 13 thru OFr 25

OFr 13; "What a boring place…"

"Okay, so what interesting happened on this level?"

We arrived.

[slaps forehead] "Never mind…"

No market, though, and the down stairs are a quick find, so we fast forward to:

OFr 14; "You feel that you will meet your fate here. Looks like any other level."

"Fate? What fate?"

Remember? The fate to maybe find a Bolt that we didn't trigger in the Orc Cave?"

"You're kidding. This had better be one impressive crossbow bolt…"

It turns out to be a Bolt of Slay Animal (+2,+2). Impressive enough?"

"*groan* Just go…"

*ahem* The level is an arena level, and thus the down stairs are easy to find. Moving right along, then:

OFr 18; "This level can't be all bad…"

Mildly interesting only in that I found my first Potion of *Healing* here, dropped by a group of Dark elven warlocks. We resume:

OFr 21; "You hear the sound of a market."

Finally; I was beginning to get worried. The market includes a Sword Smith, a Potion Store, a Soothsayer, an Expensive Black Market, a Polearm Smith, a Footwear Shop, a Scribe and a Recaller. Darn, no Library. That reminds me, though, I did pick up another fate back at the bottom of the Orc Cave—which, according to the ever-reliable Soothsayer, is that I may meet a Giant silver ant on dlvl 10. Actually, I think she's wrong; I'm most likely never going back to dlvl 10.

"That's why she said ‘may’. Gotta have that weasel word in there."

Ah, of course. On a brighter note, the Potion Store is well stocked for Potions of Speed; I pick up seven for future use. All in all, though, not what I was hoping for. And to seal the negative verdict, as I'm headed out of the store area, an Aquatic hound hits me with a water bolt, leaving me at 82/151hp and confused.

"Uh… help?"

Right. I toss back one of those !oSpd's just in case, followed by a !oCCW, followed by a wave of Noxious Clouds to gas the blighters back to oblivion. X-( Moving right along:

OFr 25; "Looks like any other level."

Oh well, no luck with dungeon towns. Old Man Willow's here, though, and he might drop something useful.

"A tree."

An evil tree with magic powers. Surely you heard the stories in Bree.

"Oh, I heard stories in Bree. I didn't realize you believed them…"

Bear with me here. Not far in, we do find Old Man Willow. He's positioned in the ring of small trees on the edge of a room, blocking his line of sight and giving me a safe approach along the edge of the room to a knight's-hop position away from him, whence I can Manathrust him to death with impunity.

"We killed a tree. Let me know when they write the heroic ballads about this epic battle."

It could have been worse; he can do decent melee damage, plus he's got teleport-to and paralyze spells that could have left us stuck being pummeled to death by him.

"Riiiight."

No respect, I tells ya… Old Man Willow drops a Light Crossbow (+3,+7), a Small Metal Boomerang (+3,+5) and The Wooden Boomerang 'Agundo' (+7,+1), which I've got my eye on for some potential resists. In fact, there's nothing more to do here, so let's go back to:

Bree

and *ID*:

Well, that didn't pan out. It sells for a nice sum in the Gondolin weapon store, though. Back in Bree, the black market once again mocks us with a useless (to us) Tome of the Mind. :\ Oh well. I stow some of the Potions of Speed to save weight and settle in to decide where to go next…

Chatter (1.1)

ZizzoTheInfinite: I keep forgetting to save a character sheet… :o I've got one now for the end of the next segment. We Apologize for the Delay™.

Intermission, part 2

"So, have you decided where we're going next?"

I think I'd like to do a quick run through the Sandworm Lair; there's a chance of picking up some Tomes there, plus some stat potions that might help you with your load.

"So, we've graduated from killing trees to killing worms. Quite the step up."

You haven't run into dragon worms before; they breathe back.

"Uh-huh."

(shrug) Okay, you'll see for yourself. As with the Old Forest, I probably won't be reporting on every level; I'm counting on Noxious Cloud and Trilogy's exceptional stealth to get us through quickly and quietly. I probably won't try to take on the Sandworm Queen either, unless I can find a Spellbook of Poison Blood to get resist poison.

"You mean there's a worm down there that you're actually afraid of."

One that's killed quite a few of my other characters.

"We are so doomed…"

That's quite enough of that, young lady. Anyway, off we go:

SwL 22 thru SwL 29

SwL 22; "What a boring place…"

It is indeed boring, but it confirms my hypothesis that we should be able to sweep this dungeon fairly quickly. And I do get breathed on once, by a Red dragon worm. See, Trilogy?

"Okay, that was annoying. Can we kill it?"

I encourage it. >:> Anyway, onward to:

SwL 24; "What a boring place…"

A 3x1 level, over quickly, but noticeable for my first Potion of Dexterity. Better, Trilogy?

"Dexterity, not really a prerequisite for the job description here…"

*sigh* Maybe we'll have better luck on:

SwL 26; "This level can't be all bad…"

A Potion of Strength, and my first Potion of Wisdom. Better?

"Getting there."

;) Let's move on, then:

SwL 27; "You feel your luck is turning…"

I tend to agree. This level is distinguished by a large, vault-esque room filled with traps. No internal walls, though, allowing me to carpet-bomb the area with Noxious Clouds and take out all the room's inhabitants. Here's what it looked like after that: 

                       ###      
 #####################   ###    
 #.................~.......#    
 #.^^^.^^^^^^^^^^^,,^^-.,^.#    
 #.^^._^..^^^\^,^^^^^^^-^~.#    
##.^^^^^-^^^^^^^^^^^^$!^$^.##   
  .*^?--^^-^\..$^?^^^^^!??.     
##.^.^^^,^^.^..-^!.^^^^*^..##   
 #.^^$^^^^|.~*.^.-.^^^^,^?.#    
 #.$^^^^^$^^$$!^^^.^?^^!$^.#    
 #.*\^^^^^^^.~......^^^^?..##   
 #..?^^^^~?^^...^.^$^^?^,?.     
 #.^^^^^^^....^^^?.^?^^^^$.##   
 #.^^_$|^^^^^.^.^..^^^^^^^.#    
##.^-^?^^^$^^.-^^^^-^^^-^..#    
  ..!.^^^^~^^^.^^!-^^^?*^!.##   
# .*^^^^^^!!^^^$^^^-^-.^!*.     
# .?^?[^^^^^^.^^^^^^^~!-.^.##   
# .^^^-^*^^^^^^^^.^^?^^$^^.#    
# .^^?^^.^^^^!^^.^!^.^$^^^.#    
# ..................+.h...-#    
#:    ############.....#####

The assorted denizens push me over the top to clvl 29—and now, of all times, I receive the third relic quest, southeast of Bree and northeast of Minas Anor. [quick calculations] So the monsters will be leveled to between level 9 and level 38 at the top.

"‘Nightmarish,’ I believe, was how you described it earlier."

Yes, obviously we won't be taking that one for a while. I allocate skill points 2 to Geomancy, 2 to Spell-power, and 1 to Fire. After punching laboriously through all the traps with my Disarm spell, I net Potions of Dexterity, Charisma and Healing, plus two Potions of Speed.

"So, I gather you were hoping for one of those Tome things in that vault."

Yes; alas, it didn't pan out. Ah well, maybe we'll have better luck on:

SwL 29; "What a boring place…"

No, I disagree; an arena level in the Sandworm Lair is very unlikely to be boring… although this level, surprisingly, manages to do it. No loot of note beyond a Potion of Restore Mana and another Potion of Healing. Back up, then, to:

BreH^H^HWilderness

*ahem* Back from there, then, to:

Bree

"So, that was the part where we run away screaming from the dreaded worm with a crown."

[checks notes] The Sandworm Queen can breathe poison for 200hp damage. You have 154hp and no poison resistance. If you really want to go back down and face her, I'll be happy to take you.

"Ah… nah, we can come back and take care of her later."

Bright girl. ;)

Chatter (2.1)

ZizzoTheInfinite: And finally we have an updated character sheet.

Chapter 3

"So, are we going to try anywhere else for these Tomes you're so keen on?"

Well, I'd like to try a sweep through Rhun looking for dungeon towns, but I don't think you're quite tough enough for that yet. So we're going to do Mirkwood first.

"Mirkwood? You mean Mirkwood Forest?"

Ah, yes, you would have heard of it, wouldn't you?

"Yeah, it's over on the far side of the Misty Mountains, not far from… ah. I don't suppose I could talk you into making a really long commute between Bree and Mirkwood?"

You're going to have to face her eventually.

"Yeah, I know, I was just hoping I could put it off for another few thousand years or so. *sigh* You're right, though, I suppose I should get it over with."

And on that cheery note, we relocate to:

Lothlorien

So, how is she?

"Mad. Mom apparently heard about what I've been doing, and now she's not talking to Dad or me."

Ouch. I'm sorry.

"Enh, ‘not talking’ is better than the alternative, frankly. Why do you think I went to Bree in the first place?"

Ooh, double ouch. :(

"I talked to Galadriel, though, and she agrees with you that this is the right thing for me to be doing, even if I don't go all the way through with it and face Morgoth. And you know, I think she's right; I mean, look at all the stuff I can do now that I couldn't before."

That 'grass through the floor' thing isn't just a parlor trick anymore.

"Yeah. Oh, Galadriel also said she could set me up in a small house on the edge of town. There's just one small problem with it…"

Yes, I know:

Wolves quest

With Noxious Cloud in tow, the quest is over in short order.

"That… was disgusting." [scratches]

What, the fleas? Yeah, Bjorn complained about those, too.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, them too, but I was talking about the bodies."

Ah, yes, Galadriel did say others had tried to clear the house before and failed. Well, you can always grow grass on the floor to cover the bloodstains, yes?

"Ha ha. Come on, you wanted to do Mirkwood, right?"

First we need to visit Galadriel again; we've got an unchecked fate—to meet a Vampiric ixitxachitl on dlvl 19.

"Uh… gesundheit?"

I'm not sure I pronounced it correctly. [checks notes] And as I suspected, it's aquatic, and with no water streamers in Mirkwood, I doubt we'll actually encounter it anyway. Oh, one more thing before we go: since you won't carry the Spellbook of Dig, we need to stop by the Wizards Spire and charge up Thrain's wand. [several charges later] Okay, 49 charges should be enough for now. And finally, we're off to:

Mkw 11 thru Mkw 14

Mkw 11; "You like the look of this place…"

An overall boring level—with one small exception.

"These big swords we found… they feel weird, like they've got some kind of evil energy in them."

Yep, they're Demonblades.

"And this one with all the gaudy decorations and inscriptions feels even stronger."

That's because it's The Demonblade of Gothmog. Not the sort of thing you'd expect to find lying around at the top of Mirkwood…

*shudder* "You're gonna keep it, aren't you?"

Not with us; it's much too heavy. We return to:

Lothlorien

and stow:

Remind me next time we go to Bree and I'll give it to the Mathom-house.

"No problem. I don't want that thing in my house any longer than necessary."

Indeed. A bit of restocking and we return to:

Mkw 11, take 2; "This level can't be all bad…"

Another overall boring level, though it does get passing mention in the Oddball Finds department for coughing up a Broken Dagger of Westernesse (+6,+6) (+1) from a pack of Novice rogues in a four-subroom pit. Let's move on, though:

Mkw 12, Princess quest for 10 2-headed hydras

"Ah, I was wondering where she'd gotten herself to. You think she got bored of sitting around in her castle and went off to get captured again?"

Now, be nice…

;) "Hey, does this mean we'll be seeing the guy with the sword again too? You wanted to get some Magic training from him, yes?"

Right, to offset the three points I reallocated from Magic to Prayer to give you Listen to the Music. Yeah, we'll run into him eventually. In the meantime, we should go find the princess.

"Lead on."

We find the quest room not too far into the level. The fight turns out to be almost depressingly easy; ten monsters, as always, means the lots-of-traps quest room with the double east door, and the hydras oblige us by breaking through both locked doors and charging out of the room, directly into our Noxious Clouds. The reward choices are Whip, Great Axe and Broad Sword; I take the whip for weight reasons, and it turns out to be a Whip of Slay Evil (+5,+1). Enh.

As a matter of completeness, I do a quick sweep of the rest of the level, netting nothing interesting. Onward, then, to:

Mkw 13; "You have a superb feeling about this level."

"That means I should be scared, doesn't it?"

Not necessarily; sense-orc from our Elven armor is picking up what looks like an orc pit not far to our south, which is probably the source of the superb feeling. And an orc pit shouldn't be any trouble for us.

"Unless, of course, they leak through the walls and charge us en masse…"

Yes, that's one of the downfalls of Mirkwood's signature small-tree wall type. I don't think it's as bad as it looks, though; the orc pit appears to be just south of the room we're in, and it looks like the orcs can only approach through a pair of connecting corridors—and we can cover those with Noxious Cloud.

"I hope you're right…"

Fortunately, I am. ;) Net from the slaughter includes a Main Gauche of Extra Attacks (+6,+4) (+2), which should sell for quite a bit. And after that excitement, the rest of the level is entirely boring. Let's move on, then:

Mkw 14, Fumblefingers quest for 16 Mindcrafters; "This level can't be all bad…"

"Good call. That's your Magic points, then, right?"

Only if he offers Magic as a reward choice. [checks notes] Hmm, Mindcrafters have confusion and blindness spells, which I don't resist, plus a mind-blast spell, which I think is a sanity hit. We'll need to be careful, Trilogy.

"Aren't I always?"

Actually, other than casting Sense Monsters a bit more often than usual to keep the Mindcrafters from sneaking up on me, the level is about as boring as the last few.

"So, not much of a training ground, then."

(shrug) The early levels of Mirkwood won't be as hard as the bottom levels of the Orc Cave were. It'll get better as we push further on.

"Yeah, and watch out for Hellhounds at the bottom."

*groan* You are never gonna let me live that down, are you, Gathraka?

"Hey, you didn't let me live through it, what are you complaining about?"

Yeah, okay, now shoo, Mr. F. Fingers just showed up for his sword. He offers us Disarming, Combat, Monster-lore and Thaumaturgy. Well, that's an utterly useless slate of choices… :\

"You're not kidding. I don't even recognize half of them."

Indeed. I'd go with Monster-lore if I expected to use Summoning or Charm extensively; as it is, I go with Thaumaturgy as the least useless. And on that cheery note, I think it's time to head back home:

Lothlorien

Annoyingly, Lothlorien's weapon store has a 10Kgp cap. Looks like we're gonna be visiting Gondolin a lot to sell off weapons.

"Don't forget the evil sword."

Right, we stick The Demonblade of Gothmog in the Mathom-house on the way to Gondolin. As an added bonus, Gondolin's black market has Potions of Intelligence and Charisma in stock; my INT is now up to 18/78. I also splurge and buy a Spellbook of Identify from the Gondolin magic shop, in hopes of eventually being able to cast it. On a lark, I pass through Bree again on the way back, and their black market has another Potion of Charisma. :)

[examines face critically in mirror] "I still don't think it's doing me any good."

You sell yourself short, milady. We need to check in with Galadriel, though, as we acquired a fate on the way back home: we may find a Scroll of Light on dlvl 1. :\ Remind me to pick that off next time we're near Bree. And I think we'll leave it here for now.

Mkw 14 (take 2) thru Mkw 19

And back to:

Mkw 14, take 2; "What a boring place…"

Agreed. The only event of note is the acquisition of my first Amulet of Doom.

"Um… it won't let go of me."

Yeah, we'll have to go back up and get it uncursed before you can drop it.

"Terrific…"

In fact, since the rest of the level seems not to have panned out, let's go ahead and get that fixed:

Lothlorien

where the temple, just to be annoying, doesn't have any ?oRC or ?o*RC*. A quick side trip to Minas Anor takes care of that, though, and in short order we're back to:

Mkw 14, take 3; "This level can't be all bad…"

As you probably don't recall, the last time I encountered a pack of Crypt creeps, back in the Orc Cave, I forgot I had Fireflash on a Ring of Spell and laboriously Manathrusted them one by one, at not inconsiderable risk to my (and Trilogy's) person. This time, I don't make that mistake. ;)

"And he's congratulating himself over not screwing up again. We are so doomed…"

I tell ya, I get no respect… The only small annoyance is the shallow lava squares left behind blocking the corridor; since neither the Dig spell nor Thrain's wand will cut through trees, we use Geolysis to cut a detour around them.

Geolysis gets more workout further in, poking into what looks like it might be a vault (turns out to be just one of those tiny 1x1 cut-off rooms with nothing in it), and in the process, I discover a much more convenient way of getting rid of annoying terrain squares blocking my path—the Elemental Minion spell, which converts the square to floor in the process of making your minion. This works not only on lava, but also on chasms (which is how I found it in the first place). Kinda expensive in mana for large-scale terraforming, but for one-offs it works great. And at my current spell effect level for Elemental Minion, the minions are leveled to level 91, which should make them substantially more effective than they were in my second relic quest.

"Oh, great, he's getting ideas up there…"

I heard that. At any rate, apart from all these exciting discoveries, the high point of the level is killing Bloodfang, the Wolf, who, as usual, drops nothing. And so we move on to:

Mkw 15; "What a boring place…"

Well, not as boring as all that; I do run into Boldor and crew about halfway through the level. Of course, they all remain blissfully asleep as I Noxious-Cloud them into oblivion, which does tend to lean back toward boring… Boldor's drop is an Awl-Pike (+5,+5), a Small Wooden Boomerang (+3,+5), and a Wooden Boomerang (+2,+4). And I just noticed that I'm still carrying that Spellbook of Identify I bought last time I was in Gondolin. Why didn't you say something, Trilogy?

(shrug) "You always complain about how I don't respect you when I point out things like that."

[slaps forehead] Never mind… Well, it's not a terrible burden for the near term, so we'll push on for now:

Mkw 16, Princess quest for 12 Giant red scorpions; "You feel your luck is turning…"

(shrug) I was hoping for Mr. F. Fingers again, but this will do. The quest room turns up fairly quickly, along with a pack of Black ogres. Nothing that a few well-aimed Noxious Clouds can't take care of, though. The quest reward choices are a Sabre, an Arrow Trap Set (!), and a Fur Cloak. Hmm, I'm not likely to get a better cloak than Holcolleth, and the weapon will probably sell for more, so we go that route—and I am now the proud owner of a Sabre of Westernesse (+9,+7) (+1). :) And I don't want to risk losing this to some acid attack, so let's head back to:

Lothlorien

and immediately drop off the Spellbook of Identify :\ and identify:

Feh. The black market, on the other hand, has a Tome of the Everrunning Wave and a Fireproof Holy Tome of Eru Iluvatar. And I can only afford one. Decisions, decisions… enh, I don't cast Water spells terribly often, and I wouldn't really want to risk carting it around before getting it fireproofed anyway. See, Trilogy, this covers both See the Music and Listen to the Music—two spells for the weight of one book.

"Yeah, okay, I see the appeal of Tomes now. Why didn't you pick the other one, then? It had five spells in it."

Yeah, but they weren't spells I cast frequently, and as I mentioned, with it not fireproofed, I wouldn't want to risk carrying it around and losing it to a lava square or something.

"Mm. Fair enough. So, we were gonna go sell the sabre, yes?"

Yes, a quick trip to Gondolin nets a neat 30Kgp for the Sabre of Westernesse. Not enough to replace what I spent on the Tome, but still good. Back to Lothlorien, then, to restock and return to:

Mkw 16, take 2; "You have a good feeling…"

Actually, after a string of all boring levels, I'm a bit concerned here.

"Always the optimist, I see."

That's quite enough of that, young lady. Actually, on an up note, a Large kobold about halfway into the level drops Thengel. I don't think that's it, though, as I'm pretty sure monster drops don't affect level feelings. This Staff of Probability Travel might be it; it's pretty far out of depth, I imagine. In fact, that pretty much has to be it, since a sweep through the rest of the level reveals nothing else obvious that it could have been. Ah well, maybe will have a better "good" level on:

Mkw 17; "This level can't be all bad…"

"There, feel safer now?"

Not saying a word… An entirely boring level; fast-forward to:

Mkw 18, Princess quest for Gorbag, the Orc Captain; "You like the look of this place…"

"Wait, didn't we kill him already? Back in that orc barracks where we found these gloves?"

No, that was Golfimbul.

"Ah, right. I get those mixed up sometimes."

Indeed. Before we find Gorbag, though, we run into Ulfast, who falls in three Manathrusts and drops a Tulwar (+2,+6). Not much further in is Orfax and company, who falls as fast as his daddy did and drops a Trident (+4,+5).

"Hmm, looks like his guard were holding out on him."

Indeed, one of his Brown yeeks drops a Vampiric Rapier (+8,+2)(-20%). The quest room is near the very end of the level; before we reach it, though, Gorbag breaks and charges us. He doesn't survive my reflexively cast Noxious Cloud, though, and in short order the distant princess is offering me a choice of a Rapier, a Broad Spear or a Lucerne Hammer. Enh, six of one; I take the rapier as the lightest.

"Awfully loud voice that princess has, to shout her thanks from all the way over in the next room."

(shrug) Quirk of game mechanics. The quest reward turns out to be a Rapier of Slay Animal (+5,+10); Gorbag's drop is Ring Mail [+5] and a Pike (+3,+2). Hmm, I think we can afford to go a couple more levels this run, so after a quick sweep through the last few unexplored rooms on the level, we continue to:

Mkw 19; "You feel that you will meet your fate here. You like the look of this place…"

"Fate?"

Checking… right, to meet a Mangy-looking leper and a Vampiric ixitxachitl.

"Well, there's the leper; where's the ixyzptlk?"

As I expected, the level-generating routine was apparently unable to place it, since there's no water on the level. An overall boring level, notable solely for the discovery of a Venomous Beaked Axe (+7,+6) on the floor of an otherwise empty room. That makes my pack pretty heavy, though; I think I'll go ahead and head up now:

Lothlorien

The Staff of Probability Travel sells for a measly 3223gp; I prob'ly should've junked it where I found it. The weapons go for substantially more in Gondolin. Back on Lothlorien, we settle in for more exploring next time.

Mkw 19 (take 2) thru Mkw 26

Before I return to the dungeon, I *ID* a junkart I forgot to catch last time:

[checks code] "Curing" in this case means clearing blindness, poison, confusion, stunning, wounds and hallucination. Enh, !oCCW's already do most of that. The black market also has a Potion of Healing for my stockpile. And on that mixed note, we return to:

Mkw 19, take 2; "You feel your luck is turning…"

And speaking of mixed notes, the corridor leading away west from my arrival stairs is lined with Novice priests, with a full-grown Priest at the end. I Charm my way through them and let them fight each other off, and they net between them Elven Hard Studded Leather [+12]. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll have resist poison.

"Awfully heavy, though."

Not much more so than your Elven Cord Armor. We'll see how it works out. The rest of the level is entirely uninteresting, so we proceed to:

Mkw 20, Princess quest for 14 Ice skeletons; "You have a good feeling…"

An arena level, with a small cluster of Livingstones not far from the entry stairs. Haven't had a chance to cut loose with Fireflash in a while… >:>

*groan* "Boys and their toys…"

What, would you rather I had forgotten I had that spell on a Ring of Spell?

"Not now, I think I saw something move over there."

Indeed, Sense Monsters picks up a flock of Crebain (Crebains? Crebeen?) hovering outside our range of vision to our southwest. A few well-aimed Noxious Clouds take care of most of them; the rest drift into a nearby room, where I can pick them off with ease.

The quest room is in the middle of the level, and what with all the permeable walls, the Ice skeletons start approaching before I'm even half through the level. Ah well, if they're gonna bring the fight to us, might as well take it back to them, eh? >:>

"Well, that figure of speech has now been well and truly mangled…"

No respect, I tells ya. The Ice skeletons fall rapidly, and the Princess offers us a Quarterstaff, a Long Sword or a Ring Mail. I go with the sword on a lark, and it turns out to be… wait for it… Durandil. :\

"It sings. How delightful…"

Mm. The rest of the level, as usual, proceeds without event, and we continue to:

Mkw 21; "This level can't be all bad…"

It can be all boring, however.

"Tell me about it…"

*ahem* Fast-forward, then, to:

Mkw 22, Fumblefingers quest for 20 Killer white beetles; "This level can't be all bad…"

"Ah, the sword guy again. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll give you Magic this time."

We can only hope… Killer white beetles can fly, so most of them find me before I'm even halfway through the level. As usual, though, the last one is at the very end of the level. Our itinerant swordsman offers us a choice of Archery, Magic (yes!), Combat and Conveyance. And that's that gamble paid off, and a nice chunk of extra mana.

"A truly nail-biting conclusion."

Hey, don't mock; if we can get Magic from this guy again, we can reallocate even more points to Prayer.

"Mm. Better than the ‘nightmarish’ relic quests, I suppose."

True, but we will have to go back and do those eventually.

"Figures."

Anyway, let's move on:

Mkw 23; "What a boring place…"

More annoying than boring; while I'm working my way through a pack of Hill trolls, a Quylthulg behind them summons up a swarm of Vampiric mists, which knock me down about 7000xp.

"Ow. Well, that's annoying. Can we kill it?"

I encourage it. X-( We'll probably want to go back to Lothlorien and get this patched up after we finish up the level.

"‘Boring level’, you said? Shouldn't take long."

Indeed, the level is quickly over, and we return to:

Lothlorien

The Elven Hard Studded Leather has resist base plus resist shards. Enh, not really any better than the resist nether my Elven Cord Armor has; I think I'll sell this one.

"*whew*"

I need to get you some Potions of Strength so you won't be so wussy about carrying a load. ;) I also *ID*:

and for completeness:

Enh. I think I'll go Mathom this one.

"Good. Let it annoy old Will Whitfoot instead of us."

;) From there we head to Gondolin to actually sell the Elven armor. The black market there also has another Tome of the Everrunning Wave, which I think I'll splurge on this time for future use. Back home at Lothlorien, Thrain's wand could use a bit of topping off before we return to:

Mkw 23, take 2; "You like the look of this place…"

Actually, I'm not impressed. Nothing of note happens, so we move on to:

Mkw 24, Princess quest for Lokkak, the Ogre Chieftain; "You have a very good feeling…"

An arena level. I enter on the north edge, and the quest room is a few screens to my west.

"Good. Let's get this over with."

Careful, Lokkak's no pushover.

"He's an ogre. We've dealt with ogres before. Hmm, none that fast, admittedly. Still, he needs air just like any other ogre. Azarath metrion ZINTHOS!"

I've got about half a screen's lead on him as he breaks out of the quest room; I lay down a gauntlet of Noxious Clouds along his path and let him walk himself to death. In return the Princess offers me a choice of a Broad Sword, Metal Shod Boots, and a Mouse Fur. Hmm, I doubt the Mouse Fur could beat Holcolleth, the boots would be to heavy in any event, and the sword would sell for the most… the sword it is. Lokkak's drop is mostly junk, but includes a Vampiric Cutlass of Slay Evil (+2,+5)(-20%); the quest reward turns out to be Orcrist.

"Kinda getting weighted down here…"

Yeah, I know; we'll probably head back up after another level or two.

"We were going to do that anyway."

What's your point? ;) Anyway, with Lokkak taken care of, we can go back and actually explore the level. Early on, a pack of Air hounds finally pushes me over the top to clvl 30, with skill points going one each to Geomancy, Spell-power, Fire, Water and Earth. The rest of the level continues the general trend of boringness, so we move on:

Mkw 25; "What a boring place…"

Not sure about that; there's a pack of Snagas lined up in the corridor where I enter.

*foosh* "Nah, still pretty boring."

Well, it's a 1x1 small level, so you can't expect much. I think we'll give it one more try on:

Mkw 26, Princess quest for 14 Black knights; "You have a very good feeling…"

[checks notes] No, not really, I don't; 30d10hp, speed +10, and a 10d15 cause-wounds spell. This could get ugly.

"Man, and I thought I was a pessimist…"

Mm. Just north of my entry stairs is a four-subroom pit sporting Khim, Son of Mim; He drops a Basillard (+3,+2) and a Metal Boomerang of *Slay Troll* (+9,+8) (+2). A Spirit naga in the same subroom drops a Potion of Dexterity.

"Mm. Better class of loot here, at least. Not too bad."

Let's just hope it holds. Most of the level is boring, until:

*whew* That was just a bit too close. The quest room shows up at the north end of the north-south corridor I'm in. Not good, I don't need these guys lining up on me. I drop a Noxious Cloud at the north end of the corridor for cover and Manathrust the first Black knight for cover, but there's already another one coming.

"Don't worry, the Cloud will get him."

Indeed it does. Two more Black knights round the corner and fall to the Cloud. Looks like I'll have to lure the other ten out. That becomes a bit trickier when a pack of Earth hounds emerges from the north side of the quest room.

"We're gonna need a bigger Cloud…"

I think just more of them will suffice. I catch three on the right side, then switch to the left side, where four have broken out. One of them gets me with his cause-wounds spell, taking me down to 80/161hp.

"Ow. Okay, I see your point."

Indeed. Fortunately, he doesn't get off a second shot before dying, and I have a chance to rest. Hmm, now I've got to figure out how to lure out the last three safely… ah, that might work. I go back to the left side and edge forward just far enough to drop a Noxious Cloud at the left exit where the last Black knight on that side will come out, then step further north to lure him out into it. Ducking quickly back south before the last two can get a bead on me through the Princess, I switch to the right side—and find I can't quite duplicate the trick, because the small trees in that corner are dead from the earlier Earth hound breaths.

"Black knight, eleven o'clock."

Right. I drop a Noxious on his head and push forward another step to see him die. That leaves one, who falls to the same trick as before.

"See? That wasn't so bad."

Mm. The quest reward choices are Leather Scale Mail, a Rapier, or a Phial. [checks notes] Ooh, I don't think I've found either yet; should I?

"Fifty-fifty shot. Go for it."

I do, and it turns out to be… [sound F/X: drum roll] The Phial of Undeath.

"Darn. Oh well, we'll have to go back topside to get rid of it, right?"

Yeah, I figured that's what you were hoping for. A quick sweep through the rest of the level and we return to:

Lothlorien

where we *ID*:

Enh. Straight to Bree, then, where I stow Orcrist at home and Mathom the Phial.

"I don't think old Will likes us much anymore. He says that singing sword is driving him batty."

*shrug* Oh well. We sell off our loot in Gondolin, where the black market has a Potion of Charisma. Back home to Lothlorien, then, to settle in for next time.

Chatter (3.4)

Atarlost: Crebain is used as a plural by Legolas, who presumably knows what he's doing. I don't know, but I'm guessing that it follows the saim pluralization pattern as Adan->Edain and the singular would be Creban or Craban. I could be wrong.

Mkw 26 (take 2) thru Mkw 29

Hmm, any restocking needed? Nah, I think we're okay; and 48 charges should be enough for Thrain's wand for now. Let's proceed, then:

Mkw 26, take 2; "Looks like any other level."

Hm? Oh, that's right, last time we were in Bree, we picked off that level-1 fate to find a Scroll of Light.

"Yeah, but consider the source. At the rate we're going, it pretty much does look like any other level."

Ah, a cynic. Good girl. >:>

"Uh-huh…"

Actually, it doesn't look like any other level; it looks like a 1x5 small level. It does manage to net my first Amulet of the Serpents [+2] (+1), though, which should sell for a bit. And a bit of added excitement in the very last room of the level:

And I'm suddenly surrounded by Hill trolls. Fortunately, Phase Door takes me to the other side of the room before any of the trolls can attack, and then it's just a Manathrust for the Mimic (cunningly disguised as a Mushroom of Hallucination) and a Noxious Cloud for the trolls—who, among the usual junk, drop 27 Arrows of Lightning (+7,+5), which should sell for a bit.

Well, okay, so that wasn't the last surprise. On the way to the stairs I get:

and I'm down to 128/161hp. A quick screen shift reveals a Paladin to my south. It take two nerve-wracking turns and two attempts of my Charm spell to finally calm him down. Now, let's get out of here before anything else "interesting" happens.

"I'm all in favor of that."

Mkw 27; "You feel your luck is turning…"

Bleh. Certainly nothing interesting going on here. One or two mildly interesting points, like being surprised by a Black knight coming out of a four-subroom pit, but nothing worth serious mention. Let's move on, then:

Mkw 28, Princess quest for 10 Young green dragons; "You have a very good feeling…"

No, I don't, not really, what with my lack of poison resistance and all.

"Hmm, aren't these snake-looking amulets supposed to give poison resistance?"

That's what I was thinking. I'd have to swap out the Amulet of Spell with Charm on it, but I doubt you'd be trying to charm the dragons anyway. We can't wear it full-time yet, though, considering the Priest I run into not far into the level. Maybe we could pick up your Spellbook of Charm next time we're topside.

"Ooh, poison resistance at the cost of carting around yet another spellbook… let me think about it."

(shrug) Whatever. Most of the level passes relatively quietly, as usual.

"Okay, I'm curious. Those wall-looking monsters we just cleared out of those last rooms–"

Livingstones.

"Whatever they're called. Why were they affected by Noxious Cloud? You wouldn't think rocks would need to breathe."

(shrug) I have no idea how their biology might work. Ah, that looks like the quest room down to our south. As usual, ten quest monsters means the double-doors, many-traps form of the quest room. We enter from the west, on the far side from the doors, giving us ample opportunity to swap in our Amulet of the Serpents. Not that it was strictly necessary, of course; the dragons obligingly break out through the doors as we round the corner, just as we position ourselves to drop a Noxious Cloud on the exit. >:> One turn in the Cloud doesn't seem to be enough to kill the dragons, though, so we also Manathrust them as they come out to add the extra bit of necessary damage. The quest reward choices are a Small Metal Boomerang, a Small Metal Boomerang (?), and a Small Wooden Boomerang (?!).

"I'm detecting a pattern here…"

Heh. Let's just hope the one we pick is something useful, like a Defender. I go with one of the metal ones. On the way in, I sort through the dragons' loot; nothing of interest, except for a Tulwar of *Slay Undead* (+8,+7) (+2) that should sell for a bit. And the quest reward is… a Frozen Small Metal Boomerang (3d4) (+9,+5). Feh.

"Getting kinda loaded down here."

Yeah, I know. Fortunately, that was pretty much the end of the level; a few more corners to check out, and we're back to:

Lothlorien

where I *ID*:

Enh. Ah, my loot from that run also includes my first Potion of Enlightenment. Good, we'll need some of those for the next relic quest; it'll be a while before See the Music will have the same effect.

"What, will it be any less ‘nightmarish’ with these potions?"

They'll let us search the entire level for the relic without even leaving the stairs.

"Ah. Yeah, I can see the appeal in that."

Indeed. ;) Just to drive the point home, the black market has another !oEnl in stock, along with 4!oSpd's. From there, we go to Gondolin to sell off all these weapons. Oh, did you ever decide whether to wear the Amulet of the Serpents?

"Hmm, poison resistance would be really handy, and the spellbook could always get burnt up in a fire attack… sure, why not?"

O-kaaay… Oh, that reminds me, I've got a few artifacts that I never *ID*'d for the record:

That latter I finally remember to drop off at the Mathom house. And the Bree black market has another !oEnl, plus a Fireproof Tome of Knowledge that I can actually afford after selling off all those weapons.

"Okay, hold on, most of these spells I can't even cast yet, and the only two I can cast I've already got in this beginner's book."

Yes, but you're close to being able to cast Reveal Ways and Identify; another relic quest or two and/or some luck with Mr. F. Fingers is all you need. Oh, and while I'm in Bree, I need to pick up the Spellbook of Charm we left there. Back home in Lothlorien, the black market has a Sprig of Athelas, which I should probably buy to start my emergency stockpile. Then a bit of restocking, and back to:

Mkw 28, take 2; "What a boring place…"

Boring but not unproductive, as I find yet another !oEnl. One more and we'll be able to sweep the relic quest fairly quickly.

"Oh, great, he's obsessing on it now."

Hmph. We also net a Potion of Intelligence from a pack of Dark elven warlocks, taking us up to 18/111 INT and down to 2% spell fail rate. And our fifth !oEnl shows up not much farther in. :)

"We are so doomed…"

Don't worry just yet, Trilogy; for the moment, I plan on finishing Mirkwood before trying the quest.

"*whew* Thank Eru for small favors."

And she calls me a pessimist… :\ A Dark elven druid pushes us over the top to clvl 31, with skill points going one each to Geomancy, Spell-power, Water, Air and Earth. The rest of the level passes without major incident, and we continue to:

Mkw 29; "You feel strangely lucky…"

I can agree with that, considering that the level nets my first Potion of Constitution. We'll be needing a lot more of those, of course, since 11 CON (where I am now) isn't even close to any of the extra-hp cutoffs. The level also nets another Potion of Restore Mana, which is always good, and a surprise cameo.

"Say, you look familiar. You wouldn't by any chance be related to a blond surfer guy named Bjorn, would you?"

"What, you know my grandson? Is that durn fool still tryin' to get hisself killed goin' after Morgoth?"

"Nah, I think he said he was retired."

"Good. I guess he inherited some'a his grandpappy's good sense after all. Next time you see him, tell him I said stay out of trouble."

"Yes sir. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some more exploring to do." [I dismiss Beorn at this point.] "Strange family."

Indeed. A quick sweep of the rest of the level nets a Golden Crown of Telepathy [+2]. Ooh… nah, I don't think I want to swap out Thengel for this. Should sell for a bit, though. Speaking of which, I think it's about time to head back again:

Lothlorien

where I *ID*:

"Wait, didn't we already find one of those?"

Not one of these, but we did find another junkart that activated for curing; we tossed it, and we'll be tossing this one too. A quick trip to Gondolin to sell the Crown of Telepathy, and then back home. Hmm, it looks like I picked up a fate somewhere… to find a Rod Tip of Light on level 14.

"Ooh, exciting…"

Indeed. A bit of restocking, and next time out we might actually finish Mirkwood.

Mkw 29 (take 2) thru Mkw 31 (take 3)

Hmm, lemme go top off Thrain's wand, and then we'll return to:

Mkw 29, take 2; "You feel your luck is turning…"

Not on a 1x1 small level, I don't. It's packed with two types of hounds (Acid and Earth), plus some Novice paladins just to keep me on my toes. I charm the latter and let them fight each other to death; they finish themselves off just as the hounds start making nuisances of themselves—just in time for me to start throwing Noxious Clouds around… >:>

"You're having far too much fun with this, as usual."

;) The level is, of course, over quickly, netting a Shocking Awl-Pike (+8,+6). Let's move on:

Mkw 30, Princess quest for 10 Stone giants; "You have a good feeling…"

An arena level. At least with ten of them, they'll be trapped in the quest room until we get to them.

"Yeah, but I don't think they're gonna wait for us…"

Indeed; we find the quest halfway through the level, on the west edge, and as we pass it going east, the Stone giants smash through the double doors like they weren't there and charge us. Still, nothing a few Noxious Clouds can't make quick work of. The princess offers us a choice of a Katana, a Whip or a Small Metal Shield; I take the Whip for weight reasons.

"Thanks. Aren't we going to go get it, though?"

We'll come back for it after we've explored the rest of the level. That goes quickly, and we return to the only down stairs on the level to collect our reward, which is… wait for it… The Whip of Gothmog. :\

"Gothmog? As in the Demonblade guy?"

The same. And his Whip, I discover to my annoyance, weighs 12 pounds. X-(

"Figures. Take the whip for weight reasons and we get the heaviest whip there is. We're gonna go up and dump this on Will Whitfoot, yes?"

Yeah, but not just yet; I think we can go another level or two:

Mkw 31; "You have an excellent feeling…"

"This can't be good, can it?"

Actually, the level turns out to be mostly boring. The "excellent" feeling might merely have been this randart a Dark elven warrior dropped, The Glaive 'Brina' (+12,+15). Or it might be this jelly pit near the southwest corner, which we give a wide berth.

"*whew* For a second there I thought you were going to try to take it."

(shrug) The potential reward isn't worth the risk for us. You should've seen my my Symbiant, though; he once charmed his way through a jelly pit.

"Hoom, yes, a trying task, as I recall; some very fractious little ones in that room. There was little left alive by the time I had calmed them all down."

"Is… that a tumor on his trunk, or is he just wearing an undifferentiated blob of flesh for fun?"

"Ah, hoom hm, now, this is little Fred. A delightful little one, he is; brings lots of mighty lizard friends to fight beside us. Hm, I think he needs a bit of damp now, though. Will you excuse us?"

"Um… ew?"

Be glad I didn't take Symbiosis from that early Fumblefingers quest, or that could've been you.

"One word: no."

Which is why I didn't take it… ;) Anyway, not far north of the jelly pit, we have a bad run-in with a Ghoulking and his entourage, who manage to knock back my exp and CHA a bit. To make up for it, though, they do drop a Potion of Cure Serious Insanity, which comes in handy a bit later when a Mind flayer gets a hit on me. I also find a Potion of Wisdom in the same four-subroom pit as the Ghoulking and company, but I don't think they dropped it.

Anyway, between that and the extra weight of the randart Glaive, I really do need to return to:

Lothlorien

where I *ID*:

Enh. A quick trip, then, to Bree (to Mathom the latter) and Gondolin (to sell the former). Bree's black market has a Dwarven Lantern, which I buy to replace my Everburning Torch. The Gondolin black market has a Drum of Power (+1) with resist base plus resist nether…exactly what my current Elven armor currently covers, which means this would let me swap in Thalkettoth for the speed boost.

"And it's lighter, isn't it?"

Only by two pounds, and the Drum weighs three.

(shrug) "Enh, I'll take it anyway."

Okay, I left Thalkettoth in my Bree house; on the way there, I pick up a fate to find a Potion of Slime Mold Juice on level 1. :\ I pick that one off while I'm here, along with another level-1 fate for a Scroll of Light. And as long as I'm on a roll, I duck into the top of Orc Cave to pick off a level-10 fate to find a Giant silver ant. And with all that excitement taken care of, we return home to Lothlorien, restock, and return to:

Mkw 31, take 2; "Looks like any other level."

Not terribly exciting for the first part. I do learn that Fireflash and Noxious Cloud can be an annoying combination, since the cloud effect of the latter obscures the lava left behind by the former, costing me my Spellbook of Disarm. Hmm, I think I know what I'm gonna be copying onto my Mage Staff now…

"We're gonna go take care of that now, right?"

Now, we just got here; let's at least finish the level first. That's over quickly, fortunately, netting a Shocking Small Wooden Boomerang (+4,+13) and a Potion of Charisma that takes me from 18/60 CHR to 18/99. :D And with that done, we return to:

Lothlorien

where, luckily, the magic shop has a Spellbook of Disarm. I sell off my Spellbook of Tidal Wave to make room for it, since I've got Tidal Wave in the Tome of the Everrunning Wave now.

And I think we have time to do another level or two this time out:

Mkw 31, take 3; "You have a superb feeling about this level."

"Oh, great, how many jelly pits does that mean?"

None; this time we have a vault. [sound F/X: casts See the Music] Hmm, no obvious matches in v_info.txt. Notable occupants include a Nether wraith, a Hellhound, and an Ancient blue dragon. And thanks to the small-trees wall type in Mirkwood, some of those occupants have already