My computer troubles may hold back news reports, but news doesn't stop happening! And boy if there isn't a lot of news going around lately. So, without further ado, I present the first reports from the depths of the Sanctuary! (Do be warned, there are spoilers ahead regarding this new dungeon. If you wish to be surprised and most likely die within, read no further)
Wednesday, February 12, 2008
Sanctuary No More
a dungeon crawl by Zodart and Fuzz
Having been unable to visit the realm for some time due to a variety of issues, imagine my surprise upon return to hear of new evils spreading through the land. Fell beasts near Umbra, dangerous new dungeons, and monsters that can only be described as "Peerless". I'm no stranger to such monsters, having battled the Dread Horn and Travesty on many occasions, so itching for adventure after my absence, I decided it was time to challenge these new threats. Meeting with a fellow warrior Fuzz, after cleaning up a particularly nasty balron, we decided to investigate the so-called Sanctuary. (Editor's Note: Unfortunately, Fuzz himself is not pictured below. During the battle with the beasts, my magical paints and portaits were damaged, rendered useless. The depictions you see are from a follow-up investigation deeper into the bowels of the dungeon).
Firstly, having heard reports of great rewards in battling the Peerless, we first stopped by Excelsior Halls to claim a Collector, in which to place our spoils to turn in for a greater reward. If you seek a collector for yourself, come before this woman, and speak the name of the area you wish to hunt in. She made for me collectors for the Sanctuary, Palace of Paroxysmus, Prism of Light, and Bedlam. Though I knew of other areas plagued by twisted beasts, those collectors were not yet ready for production. No matter because there was more than enough challenge in facing even the first dungeon.
Bearing our golden item Collectors, Fuzz and I made way to Felucca's Shame Mountains to find the Sanctuary, so named as a refuge for the more evil races of Britannia: orcs, gargoyles, ratmen and the like. Not far north of Skara Brae, cut into the mountain we found this makeshift fort (with an obvious sign outside no less...) and steeled ourselves for entry.
A Sanctuary for monsters indeed! Dozens, perhaps hundreds of the denizens of this hideaway greeted us most warmly. By which I refer to flamestrikes and oil bombs. Stumbling over all manner of refuse and livestock to fight back the defenders, we made our way deep into the hovel these creatures called home. Remembering that certain special creatures in the Peerless areas held key items for our collectors, we sought out unusual beasts or great power, and no sooner found a blue imp named Skrat lingering in a graveyard (no doubt containing the unwary adventurers that came before us).
In other Peerless areas such as the Twisted Weald, those special monsters such as Malefic or Sabrix are indeed more powerful than others of their kind, but in this small imp lay even greater strength than that, almost a mini-peerless itself just by virtue of its incredible stamina. However, with teamwork we made short work of the little devil and searched him for any special items, unfortunately coming up short. However, seeing this display of power set the tone for the rest of our adventure.
Delving even further into the melee provided by the Sanctuary's inhabitants, we found ourselves at a dead end. Perplexed as I was, Fuzz knew from experience the path to go in deeper: a flaming well not far away. Perhaps not our wisest maneuver jumping in headlong, as we found ourselves entirely surrounded on the other side by an entire horde of ogres, ettins, orcs, and gargoyles. Hard fought as it was we survived to continue our search and found this fellow, the Cyclopian Warrior!
This time, instead of magical strength, we were met with physical strength. But no matter, Fuzz and I weren't about to let a titanic brute stop us after making it this far. Receiving no key item from this one either, from the other side of the wall we spied one Netopir, a large black gargoyle, menacing in appearance, although oddly his room was much cleaner and more attractive than any other in the Sanctuary. Clearly, this was the leader of the monsters here, the Peerless monster we sought after. But how to reach him with the path thoroughly barricaded?
A short search later I found what would appear to be a hole in the ground, but which contained a long, dark, and somewhat cramped tunnel. There are actually several of these within the Sanctuary, leading to various areas, but this led to the inner sanctum of Netopir.
A Peerless being a Peerless, we knew to expect a difficult fight out of our adversary, but we didn't even know the half of it. As usual we brought out our finest war beasts to absorb the no-doubt incredible damage he could deal, but we quickly found a flaw in the plan: Netopir can drain the life out of anything near him, not unlike the succubi that can also be found in the Sanctuary! This is a severe problem in tossing large numbers of pets at him, as the more creatures nearby, the more life he can drain. And so of our 10 pets between us, we called back all but two to stave off this effect. Three might have done well enough, but we had our hands full enough keeping the two pets alive.
To make this task a bit shorter, we equipped our bows and attacked from a distance, but it quickly became apparent this battle would be long-fought in this state. Indeed for nearly an hour we whittled away his health, not knowing any better way to fight him for lack of experience, but we were making headway. However, pure brute strength and life draining weren't the only suprises this beast had for us. As his life force dwindled, suddenly hundreds, literally, hundreds of mice began to spawn in the area, covering the floor entirely, straining our ability to concentrate (ed. note: lag!), but we perservered. A few times I attempted to remove the little pests from the area with a well-timed Volcanic Eruption, but I quickly found that not only did this not keep them gone for long, but I lost much karma in doing so! And once my karma was negative, every last one of them came at me! Weak though they were, en masse they prevented my spells from completion, and racked up considerable damage. Thankfully, Fuzz was well on the ball and kept me alive as best he could.
The battle continued on from there as we chased an ailing Netopir around the room, stepping on dead mice all over, when as he neared death, a strange portal opened in the room. Sensing it may be important, I called for Fuzz to use it to see if some treasure awaited within. Now, my intuition is far from perfect, proven here as it simply led Fuzz to the exit of the Sanctuary, leaving me to deal the finishing blow to the Peerless. No trouble though, as he was only a couple arrows from death at this point. Pierced through the heart, Netopir finally drew his last breath, and I finally rid the area of his little minions. Anticipating great rewards for our epic, or dare I say peerless, battle, I investigated the corpse of our fallen foe...to find disappointment!
Fellow adventurers may know from fighting Dread Horn or Travesty, other Peerless monsters, that they often leave behind treasure maps, reagents, powerful weapons, armor, and accessories, gemstones and baubels, all manner of wonderful treasures including rare items, some guaranteed, once they are slain...but upon the corpse of Netopir, some 500 gold, a couple scrolls, and some corruption, blight, and such. Nothing more, not even the Dead Mouse he's supposed to drop for our Collectors! Weary from the battle, and little to show for it in wealth, we retired from the area to collect our thoughts.
Though true that our collectors remained empty of special items I believe we had the distinct honor of being the first adventurers in the land to not only challenge, but defeat this Peerless monster, and peerless he was, like no other. In time we may face him again to receive the true extent of his reward, but for now, we rested.
However, having read the preliminary reports of the new dungeons, I knew that there were two other special beasts in the Sanctuary with items for my collector, and so I sought them out. By jumping down a hole we'd not seen in our first investigation, I found myself in a ratman hideaway. This is perhaps the safest area in the Sanctuary, relatively, as only ratmen and their kind are within. However, their sheer number is nothing short of reminiscent of the battle with Barracoon the Piper, Champion of the Vermin Horde. But among these rats, I found a sickly green one, my target for the hunt, Katchaki!
After a bit of a chase, I found upon his cold body a Spanish Doubloon, one of the items I needed for my Sanctuary Collector! Oddly, I couldn't place it within, some strange magic preventing me from adding it to my collection. For the time I pocketed it, remembering not to spend it on ale.
Climbing a rope ladder to escape the rat's den, I went after our old friend the Cyclopian Warrior. After a few skirmishes, I found a Cyclopian Axe, yet another key item. While I was not strong enough to wield it myself, I was able to add it to the collector...curious. I searched for a time for the final unique beast of the dungeon, the fire ruby dragon, but was unable to find any discernable way into its personal hideout. Though I heard its roars from deep within the cave, I was unable to even catch sight of it, so for the time I left this place for the safety of Britain. However, in time I shall return to plumb the depths of the Sanctuary once again, in the hopes of claiming that special gem, a reward for finding the five special items of the dungeon.
Though longwinded, I hope this account will be useful to my fellow adventurers in seeking to stave off the corruption of the Peerless. This battle will be long fought and frought with danger, but it is my sincere hope that this report will better prepare you all for the battles ahead. Do keep in mind, mere words cannot describe the horrors that await within these new dungeons, go with great strength, go with a party of your peers for protection, and beware the Peerless!
