Well, not copied per se; this is my original write-up of the Zizzo !DitL, from which I cut-n-pasted to post on the Forum. All I've done is fix the occasional glaringly obvious mistake and translated the markup from phpBB to Wiki. [The hardest part of that last, BTW, was the smileys, as there is substantial non-overlap of smiley coverage between the two domains; if any or all of the smileys seem inappropriate for their context… well, that's why. We Apologize for the Confusion.™] -- ZizzoTheInfinite

[Oh, and for reference, the final character sheet for this character.]

As promised (threatened? prophesied? Seen On TV?), I give you…

The (Comparatively Brief) Adventures of Zizzo, the Yeek Hermit Sorceror

In Stereo Where Available
In Bottles Everywhere Else

Introduction

Everyone seems to be having such fun with these !DitL stories, and I thought, hey, I could do this. So I settled down and waited to see which of my menagerie of characters would be the first to die and need restarting, so that I could chronicle their adventures from the beginning. I'm sure you're all shocked that it turned out to be my Yeek Hermit Sorceror. ("A Yeek Hermit Sorceror? Dying frequently? Go on." No, really… ;) ) So I settled down with the game window in one corner and a text editor in the other and set off… and promptly died within half an hour. :o Being the stubborn type, though, I immediately tried again, and this time I got through the Downs, enough to qualify for a first chapter.

And so I give you Zizzo LVIII, latest incarnation of my eponymous Yeek Hermit Sorceror, the second !ToME character I ever played. Say hello to the nice people, Zizzo.

"Ah, greetings, Gentle Reader. I am Zizzo, the dashing protagonist of the epic adventure on which you are about to embark. Herein you will experience thrilling feats of derring-do, harrowing hairs-breadth escapes against impossible odds–"

Okay, Zizzo, I think they get the point.

"Hmph. You have no sense of drama, my boy. (zizz)"

Okay, the technical details: maximize mode off and point-based stat allocation, thereby achieving stats 5/16/5/6/7/6; preserve mode on, no non-main monsters, 33 quests (yeah, I know, what a wuss am I; I should've cranked it up to at least 49, but I was annoyed by his immediate predecessor's death and hit quick-start without thinking). Worshipping Eru, a fairly recent strategy for this lineage—strictly for the mana boost, of course, since AFAICT all of Eru's god spells are eventually duplicated by school spells. Most of the rest of my character creation decisions are covered below.

CHAPTER 1: And So, It Begins...

As has become my standard strategy with all characters, we proceed immediately to:

Thieves Quest

Rather than attempt a blow-by-blow of the quest, which was unexceptional (except as noted below), I'll offer this cmovie of the quest as completed by another of Zizzo's predecessors who aspired to stardom. This also covers some of my character creation decisions. [You'll also see that I use the "Center view on the player" option with my Yeek Hermit Sorcerors (but not with my other characters), to reduce the chances of getting one-shotted by off-screen spellcasters.]

I finish the quest at clvl 7, with 14hp; the 30 skill points netted so far go 15 to Sorcery, 10 to Spell-power and 5 to Magic. And as the first sign that this is going to be an interesting game, the net from the quest was a Spectral Dagger (+5,+5) /!\ This has to be an omen; for good or ill I haven't decided yet. :\ This also leads to my first dilemma: the Bree weapon store has a 10Kgp cap, and I could probably get more for the Dagger in Gondolin; but the Bree book store has a Spellbook of Identify, which would undoubtedly be gone by the time I got back from Gondolin. Enh, what's a few thousand gold this early? ;) With the rest of my money, I do my usual startup shopping, buying 3!oCCW and 2?oWoR (I'd like to carry more, but not with my current STR), and since I have money to spare, I also pick up an Amulet of Slow Digestion and a Wand of Dig. I had already bought a lantern and 3 flasks of oil before doing the quest. Thus equipped, I proceed to:

BDw 1

"This level can't be all bad…" Sense Monsters reveals nothing nearby but a White worm mass, which turns out to be typical of the whole rather boring level. It was nice, though, being able to identify stuff in the dungeon, rather than having to cart back one (and only one) of each potion/scroll/wand/what-have-you to sell off. So, onward to:

BDw 2: Princess quest for 6 Disenchanter molds

"You have a very good feeling…" Indeed, I do; Disenchanter molds have a very high experience-to-risk ratio. Six monsters means the reduced "X" form of the quest room with the corner alcoves filled. I entered near the southwest corner of the level; Sense Monsters reveals nothing.

Further in, though, a White harpy surprises me out of the trees. I Phase-door away to get some distance—and land right next a Novice rogue <!> who fortunately doesnn't wake up before I Manathrust him. :) A White jelly in the same room takes me to clvl 8 and 15hp; skill points go 1 to Sorcery and 4 to Spell-power. Hmm, it just occurred to me that I haven't gotten a relic quest yet. Odd; most of my theist characters get a quest during the Thieves quest. Oh well.

Further searching finds the quest room in the northeast corner. Sense Monsters reveals a Crow lurking in the trees, though; better take care of him first. I lure him out to the edge of the corridor, and he gets in a hit, taking me to 13/15hp. Phase Door takes me further west down the corridor; fortunately, this section of the corridor is mountains and walls on both sides, so the Crow has no choice but to move into my line of fire.

That taken care of, I rest up and proceed to the quest room. This was a cakewalk; the worst they could do to me was drain my mana, after all. All told, the molds take me to clvl 11 and 20hp; the 15 total skill points go 4 to Sorcery and 11 to Spell-power. Still no relic quest… Quest reward choices are a Lance, a Mouse Fur and Gauntlets. Hmm, the Gauntlets could be Free Action or Agility, or maybe even one of the Paurs–

"Take the Lance. (zizz)"

Oh, c'mon, those Gauntlets could be really useful.

"I don't like the odds, lad. This is only the first quest, after all."

Ah, I feel lucky. And the Gauntlets turn out to be… Gauntlets of Slaying (+3,+4) [+1].

"Heh. (zizz) Don't say I didn't warn you, my boy."

Yeah, rub it in, why don'tcha… :o Oh well, time to head back to:

Bree

The Gauntlets of Slaying sold for 509gp. Bleh. No useful books in the shops, and nothing of note in the Black Market; restock and head back down to:

BDw 2, take 2

"What a boring place…" Sense Monster seems to confirm this. Events of note:

Proceeding to:

BDw 3

"What a boring place…" Indeed it was. The only battles of note were two groups of Cave spiders, and both stayed asleep long enough for me to Globe them. The second group took me to clvl 12 and 21hp; skill points went 1 to Sorcery and 4 to Spell-power, which brings all my main skills up to the level cap. Still no relic quest…

BDw 4

"What a boring place…" Yeah, I'm getting a lot of those. Not looking so boring at first, though; Sense Monsters picked up a Novice mindcrafter nearby. [In retrospect, I wasn't in as much danger here as I thought; it turns out from the monster spoilers that Novice mindcrafters don't have a cause-wounds spell, as I thought they did. They do have blindness and confusion spells, though, which would still have been threatening, just not as much. -ed] Not far into the corridor, I find my path blocked by a trap. Annoyingly, the stores haven't had a Disarm spellbook in stock, and I'm not about to try disarming it manually, so I Phase-door around it—and land right next to the Novice mindcrafter. <!> Fortunately, I get in my Manathrust before he moves.

Further in, I find another pack of Cave spiders, apparently lined up in a corridor just beyond the east exit of the room I'm in. I'm not interested in opening that door and having them all dump in on me, so I take the north exit, hoping to find a back approach. The corridor loops around east and south, meeting the corridor with the Cave spiders right in the middle of the pack. I open the door and—oops, that one was awake. Globe of Light takes out him and the two nearest, leaving a gap in the middle of the pack. The rest are apparently asleep, so I step into the corridor and take them all out with another Globe.

Further east, and Sense Monsters picks up an unpleasant sight: another Novice mindcrafter, right next to a Shrieker mushroom patch. They're off to the northeast, in unmapped territory; from their positions, it looks like they're in a north-south corridor and the Novice mindcrafter is blocked behind the Shrieker to his south. Unfortunately, my current approach vector will bring me in from the south, which means I'll face the Shrieker first—and the last thing I need is a hasted Novice mindcrafter. Okay, let's try looping around him… ah, good, he was awake, and now that I'm to his north, he's headed back up the corridor for me. I lure him into a room and Manathrust him as he comes around the corner. Then I go pick off the Shrieker, just on principle.

"More of your prophecy has been unearthed! You should see a Soothsayer quickly!"

*blink* Who said that?

"Tsk tsk. (zizz) It's just dramatic effect, my boy. As I said, no sense of drama…"

Not much interesting after that; found a Slime mold that didn't give me the grow-mold power, and a Staff of Disarm that would be handy but too heavy. Onward to:

BDw 5: Princess quest for Brodda, the Easterling

"You feel your luck is turning…" I'm reserving judgment on that point. One monster means the small 5x3 quest room with the Princess in the corner ringed by glass and deep lava. [I died in that room the first time I saw it, because it wasn't lit inside and I didn't know the deep lava was there. I respectfully submit that deep lava squares should really be flagged as lit… |) ] Coming in off the north edge, near the northeast corner. Sense Monsters detects nothing nearby; move in…

I enter a room and cast Sense Hidden, and a white G appears. I pop off a Manathrust by reflex.

"Wait, that's a–"

A Child spirit. Poop. Oh well, so much for my piety… There's a Dagger in the same room, which turns out to be (+2,+5). That'll sell for a bit.

Moving further west, I come to a fairly narrow room, maybe 15x4, with a Giant white louse near the west end that just woke up and started breeding. I'm at the east exit, so they're out of range of Globe of Light, and I doubt I could Manathrust them fast enough. Worse, there's an exit on the west side of the room; if they get out into the trees, I'm in deep hoo-ha.

"(zizz) Nothing else for it, lad; we'll have to charge them, and hope we can get them all before they make it out of the room."

I agree; let's do it. I rush in and pick off the leading edge of the growing swarm with a Globe of Light. Pushing further and Globe'ing as I go, I finally catch the last of them just as it was headed out the west exit. That took most of my mana; I rest a bit.

A Rot jelly in the next room takes me to clvl 13 and 22hp; skill points go 2 to Sorcery, 1 to Spell-power and 1 to Magic, with 1 spare. And I finally get a relic quest, northwest of Bree and northwest of Minas Anor. So the temple will be dlev 9 thru dlev 13, and the monsters will be leveled between 4 and 18 at the top, and between 6 and 26 at the bottom. Yeurgh. Not before the Downs are done, at the very least.

Further west… and there's the quest room, straight down an east-west corridor. And look, Brodda's broken out of the room and is coming straight down the corridor toward me. He even painted a target on his chest… ;)

"Ah, yes, fish in a barrel, eh?"

As you say. Two Manathrusts finish him. Quest rewards choices are Hard Leather Armor, Hard Leather Armor (from the Dept. of Redundancy Dept.), and a Pike. Bleh. None of them are likely to be useful, and the Pike will probably sell for the most.

"Good lad, you're catching on. (zizz)"

It turns out to be a Pike of Slay Troll (+4,+6). Enh. Brodda's drop was a Bastard Sword (+4,+5). Well, my work here is done; back up to:

Bree

The Pike sells for 3061gp; between that, the Dagger, and Brodda's sword, I'm up to 11Kgp. And to my delight, the book store has a Noxious Cloud spellbook in stock; I've been wanting one of those for a while.

On a lark, I take a quick shopping trip to Gondolin; their Black Market has a Mage Staff (+4,+8) that I can't nearly afford. Feh. Back to Bree.

Oh, yeah, I had a fate, didn't I? A quick trip to the Soothsayer, and I learn I'm fated to find Pauraegen on dlev 1. /!\ <SPAN VOICE="Neo">Whoa…</SPAN> I'm all over that. In short order, I'm the proud owner of:

I copy Identify onto it. This is another one of those omen things, I think…

Hmm, now that I just freed up 3lb of carrying capacity, I could probably stand to acquire a Spellbook of Charm, to deal with good monsters without nuking my piety. I forget, did the stores have any? [checks] Nope. I ditch the Cloak for weight reasons, stow the Potion of Cure Light Insanity, restock on oil and ?oWoR, and head back down to:

BDw 5, take 2

"What a boring place…" And so it was. Only battle of interest was my first pack of orcs: 6 Snotlings, including an Archer and a Shaman, all asleep near the east edge of a rather large room that I was entering from the west. One Noxious Cloud, no muss, no fuss, no Snotlings. A boring place, indeed. On to:

BDw 6

"This level can't be all bad…" Indeed it can't; there's a good monster right nearby, a Novice paladin. Um, no, wait, you don't wanna go there, I just Clouded a pack of Snotlings there, wait–! *winces*

"Nothing to be done for it, lad. Some people just won't listen. (zizz)"

Yeah. At least it wasn't too much of a piety hit. Nothing much of further interest on this level, beyond a Novice priest that I again had to take a piety hit for, and a Large kobold that takes me to clvl 14 and 23hp, with skill points going 1 to Sorcery and 2 to Spell-power, with 3 spare. This brings Identify up to level 17, picking up the id-pack effect. :)

BDw 7

"This level can't be all bad…" Sense Monsters reveals nothing nearby; I push in toward the center of the level and find a pack of Wood spiders in a room. Ouch, fast and poison-resistant, so Noxious cloud won't help; I'll have to move in and Globe them. I approach from the west; two of them meet me in the corridor just outside the room, and I Globe them down. I move into the door and stop for a moment. Hmm, no good, can't catch them all from this angle, and if I step into the room, the nearest spider will be close enough to get a hit on me. I fire off a Globe to catch the nearby spiders and step into the room. There are three more spiders left, two asleep to my south and one to my north that wakes up and gets next to me. I go for another Globe—and fail! The spider hits, taking me down to 16/23hp and poisoning me. Better Phase-door out–

"No. One more try."

Are you crazy–?

"Do it!"

I try the Globe again, and it works, taking out the near spider, but waking up the other two; one last Globe finishes them. I'm now down to 14/23hp, but a CCW fixes me up.

"*whew* There, you see? Don't doubt me, lad."

That was pure stupid, you know. We could've been killed.

"Nonsense. I am the hero of this adventure, after all. (zizz)"

[slaps forehead] Any-way… The spiders got me close to the next level, and sure enough, a Radiation eye in the next room takes me over the top to clev 15 and 25hp, with skill points going 2 to Sorcery and 2 to Spell-power, leaving 4 spare. Sense Monsters picks up a pack of Snagas nearby to the south, who drop an Everburning Torch. Further west…

Uh-oh, Sense Monsters picks up 5 Crypt creeps to the south of the room I'm in. Not good; they're poison-resistant, so Noxious Cloud is out, and they have a cause-wounds spell, so I can't take them head on. I'll have to lure them in one at a time and pick them off with Manathrust. An exit at the southwest corner of the room provides an ideal arrangement for this, allowing me to face them at a knight's jump as they come around the corner. This gives me one failsafe turn if I flub the Manathrust—as happens three times with the first four Creeps. :o The fifth one seems to be stuck in the room immediately south of mine, so I have to go out into the corridor and lure him out of the room.

Further south, I encounter a pack of humans. You've seen these, right? A group of various monsters that normally appear alone and are unrelated beyond all having the same symbol? Well, these are all p's; the toughest is a Swordmaster, but there are also some Novice mages to worry about. They all happily dove headfirst into my Noxious Cloud, though… ;)

A pack of Snagas in the next room takes me to clvl 16 and 26hp, with skill points going 1 to Sorcery, 1 to Spell-power and 1 to Magic, leaving 6 spare. And that pretty much finishes the level; we proceed to:

BDw 8: Princess quests for 10 Lizard men

"You have an excellent feeling…" No, I don't really. Ten means the trap-filled quest room with a two-deep door on the east and deep lava north and south. Lizard men are normal speed and don't have any spells, but they do a fair amount of damage, so a slip-up could be costly.

My entry point is at the south edge of the level, near the southeast corner. Sense Monsters reveals a pack of Novice priests off screen to the north. Hmm, from that position, they might have line of sight on me, which would be Very Bad™. I advance with trepidation, and enter a rather large room, the type with the "jaggies" along the walls; the Novice priests are in a corridor just beyond the room to the north. *whew* From this angle, I can lure them into the room and a Noxious Cloud; it's a piety hit, but what can I do?

Further west, Sense Monsters picks up a pack of Crypt creeps to my north. Worse, it looks like there's a streamer of small trees leading straight from them to the room I'm in. That would definitely complicate my strategy. They seem to be asleep for now, so I leave them be and continue west.

The next room over has another small tree streamer looping around its east and south walls, and Sense Monsters detects Blue worm masses multiplying in the trees. Not good. Fortunately, they're slow enough that they don't get away from me, but with my Globe restricted by the trees, I have to hunt them down and pick them off one at a time, which takes most of my mana.

I rest up and proceed north and east, approaching those Crypt creeps. From this angle, I have a clear line to them, and fortunately they don't wake up, allowing me to Manathrust them one at a time as I get them into line of sight. Two rooms to the west, I do exactly the same thing with another pack of Crypt creeps.

Further down toward the southwest corner of the level, and I find the Lizard men, off in unmapped territory to my west. The approach looks clear… nope, this corridor goes south past the quest room to the west edge. Back up and try again. Ah, here's a room I haven't explored yet.

"Hmm, (zizz), dark. Better light it up."

Wait, there's a–

"Oh dear—ow!"

The Globe of Light wakes up a Stegocentipede near the entrance, and it gets in two hits, taking me down to 18/26hp. This time I play it safe and Phase door back out into the corridor, giving me room to Manathrust him from a safe distance. *whew* Better rest up after that.

It takes a bit more wandering around to find a path to the quest room. The Lizard men have broken out of the room by now and are headed my way. My approach is down a long straight east-west corridor, giving me ample room to pick them off. The first five go down with one Manathrust each; the second one takes me to clvl 17 and 27hp, with skill points going 1 to Sorcery and 2 to Spell-power, leaving 8 spare. The other five appear to have left the quest room by another exit, and are stuck in a corridor to the southwest of me. I take the opportunity to back up to a nearby lit room and rest up, then move in.

The east-west corridor dog-legs near the quest room, which leaves me less lead room to work with. Three of the Lizard men make it back into the quest room and around to the corridor I'm in; they fall quickly. For the last two, I have to go all the way into the quest room, nearly missing one of them as he comes around the corner and back into the room. They fall just as quickly.

Quest reward choices are a Fur Cloak, an Iron Helm, and a Guisarme. Hmm, the helm could be Holhenneth, or a few useful ego helms; it could also be Gorlim, though, and it'd be too heavy anyway. There aren't many ego cloaks that would be useful to me at this stage, and no artifact Fur Cloaks or Guisarmes. The Guisarme for cash, then. Turns out to be a Guisarme of Slay Evil (+5,+5). Enh. Home, Jeeves…

Bree

Stow the Everburning Torch for possible future use. Sell the Guisarme and other enchanted bits-‘n-bobs I found, bringing me up to almost 16Kgp. The book store has a Disarm spellbook in stock, but no Charm. Ah well. Restock and return to:

BDw 8, take 2

"What a boring place…" I'll say; Sense Monsters shows nothing nearby. Entry point is on the south edge, near the middle. I proceed north and find a Spear, which turns out to be my first Morgul weapon; the automatizer (praise be its XML rules) makes swift work of it. Next room to the west has two Grey icky things, and in the corridors west of that are a pack of Phantom warriors that take me to clvl 18 and 29hp, with spell points going 2 to Sorcery, 2 to Spell-power and 1 to Magic, leaving 8 spare. This brings Sense Monsters to level 30, picking up temporary telepathy. :)

Oops, a Raven just came out of the trees to my east. Fortunately, it gave me room to Manathrust it…

In the next room over, Sense Hidden reveals another Child spirit. Man, these things annoy me when I don't have permanent see invisible; once my temporary see invisible wears off, I'll inevitably blunder into it and anger it and it'll kill me. I hate to kill it, it'll be another piety hit, but I–

"You can just dismiss it, you know. (zizz)"

Oh, that's right, I can, can't I? :o With that done, I cast Sense Monsters again and find my first Death sword, off in unmapped territory to my northeast. I hate those things; far too many of my early characters died to them. I approach with extreme caution. Fortunately, he's in a rather large room, and the corridor brings me in several squares away from him. I proceed to plug him full of happy fun pain-filled Manathrusty revenge for all of my ancestors that he's killed. >:>

Further east and south, Sense Monsters detects a pack of Snagas in a nearby north-south corridor, with an Archer at the north end and a Captain at the south end. My approach is from the north, so the Archer has to die first. ;) The Captain drops Hard Leather Armor [+5]. Enh, not worth enough for its weight to bother carrying out.

Near the east edge of the level, I encounter Bullroarer. He's approaching me from the west down a straight east-west corridor; I've got maybe 5 or 6 squares of room to work with. Not that it matters, though; one Manathrust finishes the job. He drops a Metal Cap [+5], a Light Crossbow (+5,+2), and 21 Arrows (+3,+3), none of which is really worth hauling out. That finishes this level; on to:

BDw 9

"This level can't be all bad…" I'm briefly spooked by a Fruit bat that's right next to me as I enter the level. It takes me two tries to get off a Globe of Light to kill it, but luckily it seems to have been asleep. Sense Monsters reveals… uh-oh, that's Vort's gang. Maybe we'd better head back out–

"Nonsense, my boy. (zizz) We'll make our stand here."

Um, your Noxious Cloud is only at level 29, you know, which means it's still doing poison damage—and kobolds resist poison.

"Tut tut. A minor detail."

You're sure about this.

"It's the principle of the matter, lad. I can't allow myself to be intimidated by a slobbering pack of flea-bitten mongrel bullies. (zizz) Besides, I'm the hero; I have a dramatic obligation to take a stand against the Forces of Evil™."

*groan* Suit yourself. Okay, since this will be the first Epic Battle™ of our story, let me give you the lay of the land: Two squares south of the entry stairs on the north edge is a fairly large room, maybe 13x7. There are exits to the east, west and southeast (and north, through which I just entered). Vort's group is to the east of the room, centered roughly on the east exit; mostly Large kobolds in the front, with some plain Kobolds and assorteds on the lower fringe. There is (I later learn) a streamer of small trees cutting through the group, which will limit the effectiveness of my ranged attacks.

Okay, here we go. There's a lone Giant red ant near the southeast exit; I Manathrust him and rest. Restart Sense Monsters for the telepathy. Ah, first victim: a Kobold wakes up and approaches the southeast entrance. It's early and I want to conserve mana, so I let him come all the way into the room and Globe him down. Rest; here comes another Kobold from the southeast.

…Okay, this is a bit overcautious even for a Yeek; time to liven things up. I lob a Noxious Cloud out the east exit to wake up the lead row of Large kobolds, then back off toward the west entrance. More bogeys approaching from the southeast, including an Archer and a Captain; I drop a Cloud at the southeast entrance to catch them as they come in. The Large kobolds from the east entrance have made it through the cloud badly damaged, but still alive, so I drop another Cloud in their path. The Kobold Archer at the southeast entrance dies as soon as he enters the room; the Kobold Captain behind him makes it a step further before giving up the ghost. The last of the first wave of Large kobolds dies off at about the same time, which gives me a moment to take a breather.

Uh-oh, a Kobold Shaman just poked his head in at the southeast entrance. The Cloud there must have worn off; I drop another one on his head and he dies. That Cloud catches two more Kobolds while I rest before it wears off; I have to drop another one to catch the third Kobold, and then manage to rest up to full mana.

Another Sense Monsters reveals the small tree streamer, which is vaguely annoying. I fire off another Cloud out the east exit to wake up the rest of the kobolds on this side of the trees. Uh-oh, Vort just moved. As this wave of Large kobolds enters the room, I drop another Cloud in their path, following the same strategy as before. Vort is behind one Large kobold, and I'm eagerly awaiting his death so I can get a clear shot at her. Apparently, Vort got a bit of a random speeed boost, since as soon as the Large kobold in front of her has stepped into the room, she moves around him to the north. Poor choice. >:> "You shall die, fool! Don't you know who I am? I am Vort, Queen of all Kobolds!"

"(zizz) Hmph. Madam, I am singularly unimpressed. Ka… me… ha… me… HA!" [cue Akira Toriyama big-honkin'-energy-blast F/X]

/!\ *blink* O-kaaaay… one overly hammy Manathrust and Vort is down; her "front" kobold (derelict in his duties, apparently, as he failed to take the bullet for her) dies the next turn, giving me a moment to rest—only a moment, though, until "The Large kobold recovers his courage." Yeah, I remember him, he ran like a scared puppy from one of the earlier Clouds; now he pokes his head in at the east exit just as the Clouds wear off. Great timing, but poor strategy, as I drop another one on his head and he dies. Another Large kobold comes in behind him, and I have to use the second-Cloud long-gauntlet strategy again to finish him. Finally, a chance to top off my mana.

Sense Monsters now reveals that the rest of the kobolds are asleep behind the small tree streamer, where my Noxious Cloud can't reach them; I'll have to take the fight to them. I don't want to approach by the east passage, though, as I'll be flying blind through the trees and they'll be able to gang up on me as I come out. Let's try the southeast passage, then. Oop, Large kobold just moved; I Manathrust him as soon as he clears the trees, then proceed. Unfortunately, the streamer crosses this corridor, too. Worse, now that I've moved closer, I'm picking up Novice mindcrafters behind the Kobolds. Not good; I definitely don't want to get spelled to bits by them the minute I step clear of the trees. I wait for a moment to see if any of them will come through the trees for me—and, not paying attention, I almost miss the Large kobold that does. <!> Manathrust takes care of him. Ah, here comes one of the Novice mindcrafters. I drop a Cloud at the exit from the trees to catch him.

Another Sense Monsters reveals that some of the Large kobolds from the main group have woken up and are headed for me. I retreat back to the room to catch them there. A Large Kobold Shaman pokes his head in at the east exit just as I'm entering the room at the southeast exit; I Manathrust him to be safe, then drop a Cloud at the east exit to catch the rest of them. Urk, I'm down to 76/184 mana; I move back to my holding point by the west exit, Manathrusting the only Large kobold that made it through the Cloud. I try to rest, but a Novice mindcrafter pops up at the southeast entrance. I drop a Cloud on him in case any of his friends are following; but Sense Monsters reveals that none were. Crap, waste of mana, and now I'm down to 33/184. I rest up, picking off a few stragglers as they enter the room.

I'm getting close; Sense Monsters shows only two Kobolds and the Novice mindcrafters left. I think I can get them better by approaching on the east passage. Or maybe not; one of them casts a fear spell on me the minute I clear the small trees. Better back up–

"N-n-nonsense, my boy, I'm *gulp* perfectly safe. I'll just cast Noxious Cloud on them from a very, very long way away…"

Heh. Fortunately, the Novice mindcrafters were pinned behind a sleeping Kobold, so not many of them had line of sight on me as I emerged; all of them, though, are in range of the Cloud I drop on them. One of them, alas, was a Skeleton, whom I had to Manathrust. The rest of them appear to be in a room east and a little south of me. I approach with caution. Some of them wake up as I get near the room; I back up around the corner and drop a Cloud to catch them. Two left. I round the corner and Cloud one, and the other wakes up and obligingly dives into the Cloud for me. How considerate… >:> One last Kobold left, and a panicky one, too; I chase him down and Globe him.

*whew* That was a bit verbose, methinks. Let's go see what Vort dropped: a Cutlass (+1,+4) and a Lead-Filled Mace (+2,+4). Enh. Neither are really worth carrying out.

Further exploration around the Novice mindcrafters' room reveals that this is in fact a small level, a 3x1 (that is, with screens ranging from [0,0] to [0,2]). I came in on the [0,1] screen, and I'm on the [0,2] screen now; let's go see what's on the [0,0] screen. Well, there's some Novice paladins; there goes some more piety, but they do take me to clvl 19 and 30hp, with skill points going 1 to Sorcery and 1 to Spell-power, leaving 11 spare. And of course, now Noxious Cloud is level 30 and upgrades to doing unbreath damage. Great timing… Moving on–

A blast of poison gas hits you!

@#$%!!! X-( That's right, I never did cast Sense Hidden after I detected Vort and company, did I? I'm down to 5/30hp and poisoned. A CCW fixes it, of course, but still…

"Well, we've… *huff* we've learned a valuable lesson, haven't we, my boy? Diligence must be our watchword!"

|) That pretty much finishes the level. Proceed to:

BDw 10

"You like the look of this place…" If you say so; I'm still riding the adrenaline spike from that @#$%ing trap. Sense Monsters shows nothing nearby, so I wander a bit further in. Ah, now I'm picking up Smeagol off to the west in unmapped territory; I head in that general direction, and he obligingly wanders into the room where I'm resting. Two Manathrusts takes him down; he drops his ring and a Small Metal Shield of Resist Acid [+4].

Sense Monsters detects a swarm of Killer bees further north. This could be bad; I don't exactly have much strength to spare, after all… Fortunately, they remain asleep, and the Globe of Light I cast to light up the room they're in kills them all. A bit anticlimactic.

Further east, a Tengu surprises me out of the trees and gets a hit on me, taking me down to 28/30hp. I try to Manathrust him and flub it, and he gets in another hit, taking me to 26/30hp. I get him the next time.

Not much else of interest; recall back to:

Bree

I sell off the loot and restock, leaving me at 17330gp. Hmm, it's 8:20am game time; now that I have Smeagol's ring, I can go do the Mushroom quest.

"One wonders why the poor fellow doesn't acquire a Ring of Invisibility and recover his own mushrooms."

(shrugs) The Black Market probably didn't have any in stock.

"Mm, yes, that must be it. (zizz)"

The Mushroom quest nets the usual mushrooms and:

I'll wield this for the infravision boost and stow the Mushrooms. Ah, the book store finally has a Spellbook of Charm in stock. The Black Market has a Drum of Power (+2) that would be really handy, but it's 42449gp.

Next time:

And that's the Downs done. Normally I'd do the Orc Cave next, but I'm tempted to try the Sandworm Lair first, hoping for stat potions. And there's that relic quest, too, which I'm probably just about tough enough to take on now. I'm gun-shy on that front, though; Zizzo's immediate predecessor died in an early relic quest, one-shotted by a Kobold Archer. Decisions, decisions…

Intermission

Previously:

As you may or may not recall, ;) at the end of the last chapter I was debating which dungeon to take on next: the Orc Cave, the Sandworm Lair, or the relic quest temple. Since then, I've decided not to do any relic quests this game: Prayer skill doesn't do me any good, and doing the quests won't improve my piety. It does rankle a bit leaving unfinished business behind like that, but I've convinced myself I can live with it. ;)

So, that leaves Orc Cave or Sandworm Lair. At first I was leaning toward the Sandworm Lair, as I wasn't sure how useful the Orc Cave's standard loot would be: Maedhros is a non-starter for an Eru worshipper, Thalkettoth would be second choice after the Sandworm Queen's armor, and swapping out Pauraegen for Cammithrim would mean I'd have to start carrying my Identify spellbook again, and I'm already at 85% of my carrying capacity as is.

After some research through my old character journals, though, I've found that only twice have any of my characters attempted the Sandworm Lair before completing the Orc Cave or the Old Forest (and only once before starting either, and that was an earlier Zizzo)—and both times ended with death therein. And so we begin:

CHAPTER 2: A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

A quick recheck of my kit, and a last pass through the stores… hmm, the book store has a Spell of Poison Blood in stock; that might be handy against the Sandworm Queen later. I buy it and stow it, and then off to:

Orc 11

I enter in a short strech of corridor near the middle of the north edge. Sense Monsters detects a Brown Firebird to my southwest; dismiss it (and something else, apparently) for safety.

"That was rather brusque. (zizz) He could have been helpful, you know."

Yeah, and he could have blundered into a Noxious Cloud, gotten angry and killed us. Enough of your predecessors have died that way that I prefer not to take the risk. Anyway, the rest of the monsters in detection range are off to the northeast, most notably including a pack of Snotlings and a Baby black dragon; I head off to take them. They're in a mid-sized cavern, one of the annoying "busy" ones with lots of little alcoves; it takes me a while to find them and get an angle on them, by which time a few have woken up. None of them get a hit on me, though,as one Cloud takes out the lot. Hmm, these early levels could be anticlimactic… Further into the cavern, I find Gauntlets [+2]. Useless.

It gets a bit samey here; pack of Cave orcs near the southeast corner drop nothing of note. Backtracking and proceeding west, I suddenly see a Dark elven mage down the corridor. Not good; he's fast and has enough spells to kill me in a turn. I don't think he's awake, but I don't want to take the chance; I lob a Noxious Cloud at him (in case he's outside Manathrust range), and he wakes up, at 3 stars, but still alive. Very not good. Luckily, he doesn't cast anything, so I Manathrust him to finish him off. Sense Monsters reveals nothing else particularly scary near him.

Also on Sense Monsters, I'm picking up Mughash and company not far off to the southwest. I'm not as worried this time, with my high-powered Noxious Cloud, and he's only got three Archers and a Shaman that can threaten me from a distance. The approach is clean, and all fall to a mere three Clouds (except one Zombie Small kobold that I had to Manathrust), taking me to clvl 20 and 31hp, with skill points going 2 to Sorcery and 2 to Spell-power, leaving 12 spare. Mughash dropped a Pike (+1,+1) (and his corpse; too bad I don't have any Summoning skill… >:> ); not worth carrying out. One of his crew did have a Horn (+1), but the +1 CON therefrom doesn't help my hit points (that's why I went with a starting CON of 7, recall).

Not much else of note. Found a Pick of Digging (+4,+7) (+3) further in; might sell for a bit, but much too heavy to carry out. Onward, then, to:

Orc 11

I enter in the middle of a large cavern, with monsters scattered around me. The only immediately dangerous ones are two packs of orcs to my southeast: Snotlings, with a Shaman that's got a line on me, and Cave orcs, with an Archer that hasn't. Everyone goes down with a round of Clouds, except one Zombified kobold that needs a Manathrust. Rest up, detect, ID all the drops (nothing of note), and proceed out the—oops. I blunder into a Zombified orc at the exit, who gets in a hit, taking me down to 27/31hp. Idiot, always Sense Monsters before leaving a room.

"Diligence, my boy, diligence."

Yeah, yeah. I Phase-door back into the room and Manathrust him and the Baby white dragon behind him, which takes me to clvl 21 and 33hp, with skill points going 1 to Sorcery, 2 to Spell-power and 1 to Magic, leaving 13 spare. Identify's up to level 28, gaining floor ID; Charm is level 35, gaining line-of-sight effects; and Phase Door, I just noticed, is level 35, gaining the void-jumpgate effect.

I cast Sense Monsters this time, <!> revealing some Wolves and a Novice paladin to my southwest. Hmm, first chance to try my Charm spell. Fortunately, the group was lined up in the corridor so that only the Novice paladin was in line of sight; I do want the exp from those Wolves, after all… The newly friendly Novice paladin kills two of the Wolves and then dies himself, after which I can use Noxious Cloud on the rest.

"(zizz) Poor chap. We should send condolences to his family."

You can if you want; I've got badguys to kill. Sense Monsters picks up Orfax and an unusually small entourage of yeeks in the entry room. Hmm, you think you're up for this?

"What, Orfax? He'll be a challenge, certainly, but I've no doubt I can prevail."

No, I meant killing your own people.

"Oh, that. (zizz) Well, it won't be easy or pleasant, to be sure, but there's nothing to be done for it, is there? They've thrown in with Morgoth, and that leaves me no choice."

Okay, I just wanted to be sure you were all right with it.

"All right? I wouldn't go that far, lad. (zizz) Come on, let's get it overwith."

Orfax and crew wake up and advance on us as we get closer. Fortunately their approach vector brings them around a conveniently placed intersection, whereat I drop a Noxious Cloud to pick them off. Orfax survives a turn and manages to blink back up the corridor, but the second approach finishes him, and he drops nothing. Short and to the point. You okay?

"*sniff* Fine, my boy; just something in my eye. Let's go."

Nothing else of note on the level, except for a pack of Novice priests which gave me another chance to exercise my Charm spell. Onward to:

Orc 12

Enter at the west entrance of a small cavern, which just a few easily handled monsters. Looks like some interesting action off to my south, though. The corridor goes strictly west, however, taking me through a few more caverns. The advance scout of a pack of Black orcs pushes me over the top to clvl 22, with skill points going 2 to Sorcery and 1 to Spell-power, leaving 15 spare. I go finish off the Black orcs, then backtrack to the original entry room and try the east exit.

Ah, this one goes south—and headlong into a pack of Snagas, who die in short order. The corridor dead-ends, though, in a cavern with some Novice mindcrafters in it…which still doesn't get me to the big pack of monsters I'm detecting to my south (well, west from here). Backtrack again and try the north exit.

Nope, that dead-ends in another cavern with Snagas and Wolves. Let's try one of these two void jumpgates back in the Novice mindcrafter room…no, they just connect to each other. Oh yeah, that's right, I think I made those with Phase Door. Hmm, now I am at a loss. I go back and search for secret doors in a few likely places…ah, here it is, in the west corridor.

I immediately arrive at rubble with some monsters behind it, including two Novice mages and a Snaga Shaman. Hmm, this could hurt. I buff up on Ent's potion just in case, then shoot down the rubble and Cloud them before they know what hit them. Hmm, that was the last charge on my Wand of Dig.

The rest is a large mass of Hill orcs, Snagas and Novice mages, with some War bears and a Novice rogue thrown in for good measure. Judicious use of Noxious Cloud takes care of them, but one Hill orc Archer did get off an arrow at me before dying, taking me down to 20/33hp. Well, I was concerned that I was carrying a few too many CCWs for my weight cap…

I do need to replace this Wand of Dig, though. I sweep the level to pick up all the too-heavy enchanted weapons I'd left lying around the level, and then recall back to:

Bre^H^H^HWilderness

Oh, that's right, I did come in from the top, didn't I? Proceed south to:

Bree

The weapons take me up to 19322gp, enough that I could probably afford a Mage Staff from the Black Market. Bree's doesn't have one; let's see if Gondolin's does. Nope, darn, back to Bree…and there's one! (+3,+5), can store a spell—and 19822gp, just out of my price range. Drat.

"Go sell that Everburning Torch, lad. (zizz) We've been practically tripping over them since we found that first one; I'm sure we can find another if need be."

Just what I was thinking. The Torch goes for 1643gp, netting me the Mage Staff with 1201gp to spare. I copy Noxious Cloud onto it, and stow the spellbook. Down to 78% of carrying capacity; better, but still not great. With the rest of the money, I buy another Wand of Dig, restock, and return to:

Orc 12, take 2

"You like the look of this place…" I enter into a smallish, empty cavern. Sense Monsters detects Wormtongue not far off to the south. [checks notes] Urk, he's got a 6d8+3 frost bolt and a 12d2 poison ball, either of which could be bad news.

"Still, best to take care of him now rather than later, I'd say. (zizz)"

I agree. The cavern's only exit is to the north, but the corridor loops right around to the south—and then goes east straight past the room he's in. |) Not much further on, though, it turns south again and forms a three-way intersection with an east-west corridor which will presumably lead back west to Wormtongue. Hmm, I'm not so sure I like this; from this position, he could have line of sight down the corridor to me. There's a Priest off to my east down the corridor; charm him (also catching a Hippogryph off to the west), dismiss them, and double back.

Another branch off the north-south corridor I originally came down heads west, and I take it. A Giant red ant takes me to clvl 23 and 34hp, with skill points going 1 Sorcery, 2 Spell-power and 1 Magic, leaving 16 spare. Another intersection takes me south to a cavern with some Killer bees and an east exit leading in the direction I want—but Sense Monsters is picking up a Shrieker mushroom patch straight down the corridor, with a Skeleton kobold stuck behind it. Crap, that's all I don't need is Wormtongue hasted. An experimental Manathrust down the corridor doesn't hit it; maybe there's rubble blocking the path. I creep forward cautiously–

It makes a high pitched shriek. You feel a sudden stirring nearby!

@#$%. I pick off the Shrieker and the Skeleton kobold. Wormtongue isn't in range of Sense Monsters; maybe he wasn't affected. I back up to the cavern to my west to rest, and then head back in.

There he is, a straight shot east. He isn't moving as I creep cautiously east… wait. From here, I can see that he isn't lined up on the east-west corridor I was in earlier, where I charmed the Priest—and he is lined up on the corridor I'm in. All in all, I think it'll be safer to go back and approach from the east.

A bit of back-tracking later I'm in the east-west corridor again, moving west toward Wormtongue's location and casting Sense Monsters every few steps. Aha, I can just see the first bit of light from the room he's in. He's just come into telepathy range now, and is still a few squares north and west of the entrance to the room, so I should be able to pick him off as soon as he steps into the corridor. I step forward cautiously… he just moved. Fine; let him come to me. I wait for him to step into the doorway and–

"That's far enough, varlet! Azerath metrion ZINTHOS!"

:-? Uh, are you trying to get me in trouble for trademark infringement?

"No, not trying at all, lad. It's a natural talent. (zizz)"

[slaps forehead] Wormtongue falls to a single Manathrust, dropping a Lucerne Hammer of *Slay Animal* (+3,+8) (+2). Hmm, that's got me at 108% of carrying capacity; I'd better go sell this off. On the assumption that there's probably not much else of interest on the level, I return immediately to:

Bree

The Lucerne hammer sold for 19194gp (and I had to go to Gondolin to get that; the Bree weapon store, recall is capped at 10Kgp). Nothing of interest in the Gondolin stores; the Bree Black Market has a Harp of Power (+2) that's way out of my price range. Ah well, I restock and return to:

Orc 12, take 3

From my entry point I can see a pack of Novice rangers to my west and a Baby red dragon to my northwest. Unfortunately the room is dark, and since it was daylight topside, my Lantern is unwielded—which means I can't cast spells. :-? I wield the lantern veeery quietly… *whew* nothing woke up.

"That's Yeek stealth for you, my boy. (zizz)"

Yeah, and believe me, I miss it when I'm playing my Maia Hermit Sorceror… I proceed to dispatch all the monsters in the fairly small entry cavern. Hmm, this turns out to be a 1x3 small level (screens from [0,0] to [2,0]). Sense Monsters detects Undead masses in another cavern to the northeast. I don't think Noxious Cloud works on them; let's go find out… nope. Globe of Light it is then, just pausing to Cloud a Dark elven priest behind them. Ah, another Everburning Torch; I snag that to replace the one I sold earlier.

And that's the whole level, just two small caverns and one corridor between them. Onward, then, to:

Orc 13

I enter the level near the north edge of a small cavern; there's a Green jelly right next to me to the north, a pack of Snotlings to the south with a Shaman and an Archer near the back, and a Baby white dragon to the southeast. Hmm, the jelly can't do too much damage; I'll risk staying next to him while I pick off the more dangerous monsters. And again, thanks to Yeek stealth, the jelly doesn't wake up.

That done, I take a step south away from the jelly… oops, a pack of Black orcs to the west around the corner; I Cloud them, then pick off the jelly. Hmm, there's also a Priest in a corridor a few steps out the west exit; he could wake up at any moment and blunder into the Cloud I just dropped. I charm and dismiss him, and pick off a Creeping gold coins I hadn't noticed before. Another step south and I see a pack of Snagas lined up down the west corridor just beyond where the Priest was; they're gone in short order.

I rest up and ID all the drops—well, some of them, at least; there are Cave orcs further down the west corridor for me to dispatch. Okay, now I think I've got everything in the immediate vicinity.

Interestingly, this is also a small level, a 3x3. I head back east, idly picking off some Hill orcs–

The Dark elf casts a magic missile.

Ouch. Diligence, indeed. That took me down to 24/34hp; the Dark elf, though, didn't survive the turn… >:> Back west, I clear some Snagas and Cave orcs. A Baby gold dragon takes me to clvl 24 and 34hp, with skill points going 1 to Sorcery and 2 to Spell-power, leaving 18 spare… wait, didn't I have 34hp last level? [scrolls back] Yes, I did. And now that I think back, I recall that this level and last level, I had 35hp before allocating skill points to Sorcery.

"Yes, comes with the territory, I'm afraid. (zizz) This Sorcery just takes it right out of you, you know."

Mm-hmm. Again, the level seems sparsely laid out: four small caverns arranged in a row east to west, with a few corridors connecting them. I finish up quickly and proceed to:

Orc 14

"You feel your luck is turning…" There's a pack of Snagas to the northeast… briefly. >:> That taken care of, I light up my entry area, a mid-sized cavern with a Flesh golem near the north side that falls quickly. To the south is a four-subroom pit crawling with orcs, including my first Uruks. Looks like fun.

The Uruks are in the northeast subroom, nearest to where I'm entering the room, so they're the first to approach, and the first to fall. Uh-oh, some Novice priests are coming up around the east side. I charm the first one, and he quickly falls to the Skeleton novice priest behind him. I Manathrust the Skeleton and charm the next priest, who kills the one behind him. This is getting expensive in mana; I dismiss the Novice priest and duck into the now empty northeast subroom to rest. A quick floor-ID of some of the nearby loot reveals a Sabre of Westernesse (+9,+11) (+2) /!\ Hmm, between that and the Everburning Torch, I'm back up to 108% of carrying capacity; I can probably finish out the level, but I'll probably want to head back after that.

I come back out and proceed to the northwest subroom. Oops, a Flesh golem that my telepathy had missed meets me at the door; I flub Manathrust and he hits me, taking me down to 26/34hp and 5/6 CHA (ooh, big loss there…). I pick him off next turn, then the Skeleton orc behind him; the rest (Novice rogues and my first Ogrillon) fall to a Cloud. Uh-oh, I'm bleeding; that Flesh golem hit me harder than I thought. It stops at 21/34hp, and I move into the now empty northwest subroom to rest again.

The last two (I think) of the Novice priests round the corner to my west as I step out; duly charmed, they quickly fall to the orcs behind them. I proceed around the corner to the southwest and southeast subrooms, which fall much more quickly. A quick ID pass of the loot scattered about the room nets my first Ring of Spell. I put it on to keep it safe for now; I think I'll save it to copy Identify onto if I decide to swap out Pauraegen for Cammithrim.

The rest of the level passes relatively uneventfully. I find (and exact further revenge on) my first Cloaker, another bane of my early characters. A pack of Cave orcs near the northwest corner of the level nets my first Amulet of Spell. A bit further south, Ufthak of Cirith Ungol and company obligingly charge lemming-like into my Noxious Clouds, dropping Gauntlets [+4] and taking me to clvl 25 and 35hp, with skill points going 2 to Sorcery and 1 to Spell-power, leaving 20 spare. Hmm, I just noticed Ufthak also dropped his corpse; another memento opportunity lost… >:>

And that finishes the level; I pick up the rest of Ufthak's gang's loot and recall back to:

Bree

I sell off the minor loot, stow the Everburning Torch and the spell-bearing trinkets, and get my CHA fixed (for all the good it'll do…). Off to Gondolin from there, where I find that the Sabre of Westernesse exceeds even the 25Kgp cap of their weapon store. A quick inter-city shopping tour, alas, reveals that the weapon stores in both Lothlorien and Minas Anor also have 10Kgp caps. [And to highlight the uselessness of the venture, I pick up another fate on the way to Lothlorien: to find a Rod Tip of Nothing on level 16. |) ] Oh well, then; I sell it for 25000gp at Gondolin, taking me up to 51166gp. Naturally, none of the Black Markets are stocking anything interesting (the instruments of Power, of course, are long since gone). Back in Bree, then, I restock and copy Disarm onto the Amulet of Spell. After stowing the spellbook, I'm down to 70% of carrying capacity. (shrug) Every little bit helps, I guess…

And that's it for now. Back to Orc 14 next time.

We return to:

Orc 14, take 2

"You have a superb feeling about this level…" /!\ I enter into a short corridor; Sense Hidden reveals the distinctive trap pattern of a lesser vault (Karnak, part II) onscreen to my east, almost within spitting distance. I think we'll come back for that… or maybe not; a brief exploratory pass reveals that of the three available corridors, one dead-ends in a small, empty cavern and the other two butt into the vault, one to the west wall and one at the northwest corner. So much for that plan…

Okay, Sense Monsters reveals that I'll be facing a pack of Crypt creeps first; I take the west approach, which limits their ability to gang up on me. I cast Ent's Potion to give me a bit more of a buffer zone, then bring down the wall. A Globe catches the first wave of Creeps, and a Cloud takes out a nearby Forest troll and Cave orc Captain. Now I have to wait for the rest of the Creeps to trickle in, Clouding some other itinerants that come into range.

Okay, the last two Creeps are stuck inside—and there's a Light hound north of me that'll have line of sight on me the minute I step in the vault. Here goes nothing… *whew* it wasted its turn stepping out of line of sight—but not out of range of a Cloud… >:> which also catches a nearby Dark hound. Oops, there's another Dark hound to the south; Cloud him off.

The rest of the vault falls without incident; notable among the loot is an Amulet of Spell, a Trident of Slay Evil (+8,+4), a Dagger of *Slay Evil* (+3,+9), and junkart Raistlin's Ready Ranger. Sense Monsters detects a pack of War bears lined up at the north wall, which tells me where to go next.

The level passes relatively uneventfully for a while. A pack of Snagas takes me to clvl 26 and 37hp, with skill points going 1 to Sorcery, 2 to Spell-power and 1 to Magic, leaving 21 spare. A pack of Black orcs drops a Spectral Broad Sword (+6,+6), which I'll have to come back for. I blunder into a Lurker, who takes me down to 26/37hp before I figure out what's going on and paste it.

Hmm, the level seems surprisingly sparse for a full-sized level; the entire southern half seems empty. Ah well. All this loot is kinda heavy; I pick up the Spectral sword and head back to:

Bree

Raistlin's Ready Ranger activates for genocide every 500 turns. Decent. I stow that and the Amulet of Spell for future use and head to Gondolin to sell off the weapons, bringing me up to 98386gp. Oh goody, the Gondolin Black Market has a Drum of Power (+1); mine! ;) It has +1 STR and CHA, resist base plus blindness, and see invisible. I also buy a Potion of Charisma, just for giggles, which takes me from 6 CHA to 7. Ooh, now I'll get the ladies… |)

"Looks aren't everything, lad. (zizz)"

Uh-huh. On the way back to Bree, I pick up a fate to meet a Battle-scarred veteran on level 1. When I come back from picking that off, the Black Market has a Potion of Constitution taking me from 7 CON to 8. Not that it does me any good; the next threshold is at 15. Maggot's sling I donate to the Mathom-house. A quick restock, and I return to:

Orc 14, take 3

"You have a good feeling…" I recall into a small empty cavern; Sense Monsters picks up some possible action off to the east. A bit of uneventful dungeon cleaning later, and I pick up my first orc pit to my north. :) Orc pits are almost too easy with Noxious Cloud—unless, of course, you're not paying attention and don't notice the Cloud expiring until an Uruk has you down to 16/37hp… :o

"What's the word, my boy?"

Diligence, yes. The pit nets nothing of note, and the rest of the level passes without major incident. Moving on, then, to:

Orc 15

"What a boring place…" I enter into a small cavern; Sense Monsters picks up some orcs nearby, but nothing of note.

…Notice I forgot to check for traps in the preceding? I did, when the Poison Seeker Bolt Trap a few steps down the corridor did 44 points of damage in one hit. /!\ X-( Diligence, he said… :o Ya know, I remember thinking a few minutes ago, "I should probably call it a night here." You'd think I'd learn to listen to that instinct eventually. <:(

Ah well, this is The End, for now. Maybe I'll come back later with a character that has a chance of living longer…

Chatter

MayLith: Great to see this here. Please obliviate the "d" word, though! :D

ZizzoTheInfinite: ? Didn't even know I had one of those in there. We Apologize for the Inconvenience.™

MayLith: :)

DayInTheLifeArchive/Zizzo the Yeek Hermit Sorceror (last edited 2004-10-30 03:03:17 by MayLith)