Flipz

Its not a gem inside, the wearer becomes literally immune to those types of enemies.

Well, all that body hair does trap pheromones...

Hmm...maybe Shaman? Naim has definitely been one of the more interesting characters of the second most recent "generation". For my money, the Red Angel business wasn't too out of place at all, and added some interesting depth to his attitude. Definitely a PC I'll be keeping an eye on, for sure.

While waiting for an answer from Zeus, a thought crosses Arthur's mind. "By the way, how much would it cost for a Nondescript Cape (SP:3, immunity to Cursed, backwear)? Or better yet, is there such a thing as a Scroll of Cursing? Asking for a friend."

Arthur is about to respond to Matthias, when Zeus responds to the gnome but not him. "I suppose that's your answer right there," Arthur says with a chuckle. Miirym coughs to get Zeus' attention, a cloud of thick smoke arising around her as she does.

You know, I never really noticed before, but mechanically Torald and Ezeran make a really good pair. Torald can Weaken enemies so Ezeran takes less damage from them or make them Fragile so his spells hit harder, while Ezeran makes sure that any enemy's Free Hit against him is the last they'll ever deal, so he and Torald can eventually focus down the enemies one at a time. With even just a tiny bit more SP, Ezeran would make a killer tank.

Not the first, but the first who's still present; Grumpkins were actually a player-created race (one of the Heroes Arthur Quested with on Quest 17 was a Grumpkin), but the player in question soon left, and various QMs have picked up and used the race a little bit since then. Regardless, welcome everyone! Hopefully we can get another Quest on the board for you guys soon.

See, it's interesting because Hoke's suspicion towards Chauncey and Guffington sort of mirrors Arthur's distrust of Heroica. To his mind, the idea of Chauncey having a hidden agenda is no different than the many, many Heroes carrying around hidden agendas, and unlike Hoke Arthur had no prior knowledge of the events of 102 (at least not that I remember ), so to his mind here's Hoke being this brooding loner sitting on the outskirts of the party plotting against an ally for unclear reasons and clearly having ulterior motives towards the employer, so he sees his past self in Hoke and immediately goes on alert. It's this great role-reversal from Quest 53, except it's not, except it is. Hoke has definitely become a lot more of a "kill 'em all" sort of character over time, especially since Torc came along. He's definitely gotten a lot more vengeful, and I feel like we haven't gotten to see him choose any approach other than intimidation and violence in a long time. I honestly thought that was the intended direction you were going with him, so I'm actually surprised to hear I've misread your intentions. Man, I can't even begin to remember how many Ace Assassin Quest concepts I've drawn up, partially outlined, and then thrown out because something else in-game made the concept non-viable. Kudos for actually sticking to your overall arc plans, even if we need a textbook to keep track. (Though I do hear we have a wiki to help with some of that... )

Miirym observes Matthias' outburst with an impassive gaze. Without a hint of judgment, she watches as the two immortals trade barbs of mutual disrespect. These were the people with whom she and Arthur would ultimately share the world. And these were the standards of conduct between such great, ageless beings. It was funny really, how indifferent they were to how long their relationships would linger. But perhaps when the ages stretch out both before and behind, such indifference was inevitable. She would not know. She was still young. With a nonchalant sniff, Miirym follows Matthias with her eyes as the gnome approaches Zeus, and by extension Arthur. Arthur glances down upon hearing Matthias' order from Zeus, an order not dissimilar to his own. "Sounds like you and I both had the same idea. Great minds, I suppose. You know, I'm glad we got to meet, even if we shared so little of the journey--or even ideals." "<It is a shame we could not fight together in battle.>" "Indeed. But perhaps one day our paths will cross again." Arthur offers his hand to Matthias, kneeling down so the two may shake as equals.

Seeing Zeus present, Arthur heads over to the merchant. "Hello again, Zeus! I don't suppose there's any chance I could buy an Agni Bomb off of you? Would 150 gold be an acceptable price?" OOC: Gaah, shoot, meant to edit that in, sorry!

"That seems more than fair, thank you," Arthur says, handing over the Gold. "You have an excellent setup here, I'll be sure to tell my brother and cousins about this place. Perhaps they will be able to make a pilgrimage to Etheria some day." With one final bow, Arthur and Miirym call Melquiades to take them back to the rest of the party.

Dunno if we'll ever see another Minstrel, it seems like faction rep has gone out of fashion recently. That said, I do have two Quests in the works offering rep, if I can ever get the sets finished... I...highly suggest Kid stay out of the Hovels.

"Thank you again, Forge Master. Now, what do I owe you for the Sapphire and for helping me convert my Garnet before?" OOC: Thanks for running the Rounds, Endgame!

Arthur attacks the final sprite from the Front Row. Miirym does nothing. Battle Order: Arthur >Miirym

OOC: Link. OOC 2: Also, Arthur's damage calculations are all wrong; it should be (10+42+2=54*2*2*2=432 damage), since he gets an x2 for vs. Flying, an x2 Lightning vs. Flying, and an x2 Wind vs. Flying. He only has a +2 Power bonus from his gloves. Miirym should be dealing 84 damage for her Breath, since it's 42*2=84 for Encouraged. Arthur uses a Grand Potion on Miirym, while Miirym repeats her attack. Battle Order: Arthur >Miirym

OOC: The Round counter and hp loss should carry on from the Garnet battle; additionally, since Miirym and I are Slowed, the next Round should be automatic. Also, what is the Windy type--do you mean Flying? Sorry, just a little confused.

OOC: Miirym and I should be Slowed, and only Miirym should be Encouraged. Arthur should no longer be Lucky or Blessed, nor under the effect of Fenghuang Incense, but he and Miirym should be healed from Matthias' full-party heal. Also, shouldn't the sprites be of a different type? They were Rock for the Garnet, Icy for Opal, and Aquatic for Aquamarine. As long as the sprites are not immune or resistant to the weapon, Arthur attacks Wind Sprite B with his Spider Leg Spear from the Front Row (otherwise he uses Zoot's Rebel), while Miirym uses her Breath on Wind Sprite C from the Back Row.

I still want to see Mystic Warden happen, even if only as an NPC class.

Let's get something clear: I really, really enjoyed this Quest; the vast majority of my complaints with it are going to fall under "too much of a good thing". That said, I do have a few critiques, so please bear in mind that despite them I really did enjoy this adventure. First of all, just to get it out of the way: pacing. Incredibly frustrating? Yes, but it was totally out of Zeph's control, so let's move on. ...okay, I guess I can do better than that. This isn't just an issue we had on 139, it's an issue we've been having game-wide: updates in Heroica have been incredibly slow across ALL Quests, and it is definitely causing a major hit to game quality. Battles taking 24 hours per Round? That's cool, it gives plenty of time for players to respond and strategize (IF they respond and strategize--more on that later), and gives QMs plenty of time to manage the game's increasingly tough and complicated battles. What's not cool is regular conversations lasting weeks and months at a time. One thing that's incredibly frustrating for me as a player is when I can't maintain a solid grasp on my own character's thoughts and emotional state, resulting in my character behaving even more inconsistently than usual (i.e. changing moods and tones and viewpoints incredibly quickly mid-conversation). A lot of this comes from delays in conversation, making it a lot easier to lose track of what's already happened and what has and hasn't been said amidst the business of real life Even one extra roleplaying update in a day would have helped a lot in both overall pacing and in helping us keep things fresh in our minds, and this criticism applies to pretty much every single Quest in the game from 130 onward, with the sole exception of Endgame's Quests. That said, I'm also really disappointed in the playerbase not picking up the slack when it comes to roleplaying and interaction. One post per 24 hours is a bare minimum, and a good QM can keep a Quest rolling all right with once-a-day updates so long as they play their cards right; not so much for PCs. PCs live and die on activity and interaction, and not being active and invested in the Quest and your fellow players is doing an active disservice to everyone present. At the very least, if you know you're going to be inactive, warn everyone, but at least try to take some initiative. This is a roleplaying game, and yet there's precious little roleplaying going on anymore; during the week it often feels like we have four copies of the Fields of Glory running, and that's incredibly disappointing to me. I guess while I'm on the subject of roleplaying, three minor nitpicks with 139: we lost the Guffington NPCs pretty much completely, aside from Chauncey and maybe Daneeka pre-reunion. Other than that, they were technically there but sort of just went totally silent a couple of months into the Quest. I would have liked to have seen more of their opinions on and reactions to the events happening around them, but I do understand how difficult juggling that massive number of NPCs can be. Second nitpick: there were a TON of times where we got a recap of the plot up to that point, only we weren't the ones getting the recap, we were the ones giving it. It got a bit repetitive and tiring, especially towards the end in Etheria, and I think Arthur pretty much expressed my thoughts directly at the end when he tried to do the long-winded recap he's known for and just utterly failed out of exhaustion. I'm still don't recall 100% how things happened over the past 9(!) months, and unless someone wants to give me a recap it'll probably be another month or two before I'm recovered enough to go back and re-read everything. The third minor nitpick isn't really a nitpick so much as a "yeah, I get why this was done this way, but imagine what could have been!" I was pretty sad in the beginning when I discovered I wouldn't be able to go to Duplovia and Baltarok as well as Xu and Dastan; that said, I completely get why it had to happen this way, and I think that in the end the Matthias-Dyric-Guts combination worked incredibly well (well...at least from a roleplaying standpoint, not so much in terms of balance, unfortunately ). The biggest downside of the split is that Arthur got to spend so little time overall with Dyric, which is a legitimate shame, since Dyric is one of the few characters who plays consistently well with Arthur every single time. ...aaand I guess that's going to bring me into my other huge rant, so again, disclaimer: I actually really liked this Quest, even though I'm doing a whole terrible lot of complaining about it. I promise I'll gush about what I did like after this. I hated this party. Not the players or their characters, mind you (with one exception), but the combination, at least on the East side. I mentioned how well I think the West party worked; the East party was, in my opinion, a train wreck. Hybros and Arthur should have played off of each other wonderfully, they've always got on well in the Hall, but this time around something was missing from our interactions, and I could never quite put my finger on it. I'll chalk it up to tiredness, both of us got pretty exhausted on this Quest it seems. I was actually rather enthused about spending time with Hoke and Torc, since it's the first time since 103 they've been together and they're both Dragoons now, but then the rivalry popped up with Hoke seemingly randomly deciding "Chauncey Must Die" and Purpearl joining him. The rivalry led to some great moments (our conflict on the airship after Dastan was fantastic), but antagonistic relationships are always pretty draining, and I feel like we just didn't have enough space away from each other to really let us relax, at least until Etheria where we had both more space and more characters to act as a conversational buffer. It was a remarkably similar experience to having a huge argument with a friend the day before you go on a cross-country road trip together; it leaves everyone feeling awkward while you're trapped in a small, confined space with them for hours and hours and hours on end. And finally, Purpearl. All I can say is: what the hell? You barely participated, ignored all kinds of attempts I made to interact with you, posted late when you managed to post at all, and then basically stood with Hoke in fighting us on actually completing the darn thing. For every other PC on this Quest I can remember at least one memorable moment in which they left an impact on the plot, a moment in which the Quest would have been totally different if that character had been replaced by someone else; with Purpearl, I saw nothing. Maybe your PM side-Quest in Dastan was rich and deep and wonderful, but by its nature I saw exactly none of it and you certainly never brought it up around Arthur. It's a real shame, prior to this Quest I'd say that Arthur and Purpearl had a really positive in-character relationship, but I think our differing out-of-character attitudes towards the game and respectful conduct within it have soured any chance of that in-character relationship ever being explored; I don't think I'd ever want to Quest with you again, and after watching the disaster that is 136 I know I don't ever want to Quest under you. While I'm here, some self-criticism: People complain a lot about how inconsistent and Mary Sue-ish Arthur is; 139 has been by far his worst Quest in terms of that, especially in trying to manage his relationship with Miirym. I think I like the place they're in now, but boy howdy has it been difficult to develop them. In a lot of ways I used Arthur way more than I wanted to, simply because Arthur had pre-existing relationships to a lot of these characters, but that's not what I really want; I want to shift focus to Miirym, to explore some of her potential without Arthur's past baggage weighing everything down. I had to go back and research Arthur's past interactions so many times this Quest it wasn't even funny, and it was exhausting. I'm also a irritated with myself at how spotlight-grabby I've been this Quest. MDM complained in our group strategy PM about Arthur stealing the spotlight with Sven, and in retrospect he was 100% right; it was in-character for Arthur, and mechanically the best decision (seriously, MDM, Hoke needs to get his SP-to-Level ratio over 1 and he needs to do it yesterday), but roleplaying-wise I as a player robbed him of a great moment and I regret that. Sorry, MDM. Okay, enough complaining, time to start gushing praise! I loved the concept from the word go--to the point where I'd already come up with a similar one (sharing two locations, even!) for one of my own Quests. Dastan, Xu, Baltarok, Duplovia--four of my favorite locations in the game, and all of them well overdue for a revisit. Additionally we got to see a lot of new lore behind these locations, and it was all slotted in in a way that both made sense and respected the established work of the other QMs who created and worked in the areas, so all in all, VERY well done. The "foreign" NPCs were great, too; it was fantastic to get to catch up with Phil and Vipera and Ella and Tarn, they all felt like the same people they'd been back when we last saw them, but at the same time developed and grown with time. At the same time, the new NPCs introduced in each region were great as well; Sven made for a great new villain, and Natasha and the Golden Crusade were introduced beautifully, even if the stupid Crescent Union nonsense has sort of stolen their thunder. :anrgy: As a QM I was tickled pink to see U'Daras and Tarban pop up again (even if the latter was only a brief, posthumous reference), especially considering how badass U'Daras was in battle. The Dragons were really cool as well, even if I completely botched Miirym's interactions with them (). Bellerai was the only somewhat shallow NPC we got in the Dastan section, but even then she served excellently as a looming threat, which suits her just fine. The Xu NPCs didn't stand out as much, but Chauncey shone once we got him, and I think their subdued presence matched the overall tone of the section, even if the whole concept of that section of the Quest seemed to confuse and irritate everyone but Hybros and Arthur. Maybe it's just because I've spent so much time in Japan, but I really enjoyed that section of the Quest, even though I was suffering from overall game burnout. It's rare to see an Eastern mindset handled so smoothly in an otherwise very Western game setup, but to my mind other than pacing it went seamlessly, so well done. Etheria was probably the weakest section of the Quest, but the concept and setup was brilliant. I really think the overall fatigue has sapped some of the strength from Etheria, so I really hope you get a chance to revisit it at some point; the concept of this magical, multidimensional place with intrigues wandering and weaving backwards and forwards in time is very unique, and there's a TON of potential for the place even after we finish sweeping up the crumbs of the side-Quests. I think the strongest part of 139 overall was the West half of the Quest. Haddon was sadly skipped, and Duplovia a little sparse, but Baltarok MORE than made up for it. Those interactions in the desert MADE this Quest, and that segment alone would have justified the whole thing just by itself. The search for the Fountain of Youth stands firmly as one of the stronger bits in Heroica history, and it demonstrates beautifully both your unique style of storytelling and the utterly brilliant world-building that you, Pie, and WBD did in Baltarok. There's a lot of potential in that region, and you certainly made the absolute most out of it. Speaking of the West side: the West party! Dyric - I've been waiting so long to Quest with you again, and I was heartbroken when we had to separate so soon. Dyric is one of the few characters I can consistently trust to work well with Arthur; even when we disagree, there's no malice, it's just two really close friends debating their opposing ideals without a trace of venom. That's really rare these days (even IRL), so it's always especially refreshing to spend time with you. Matthias - Matthias is simultaneously obnoxious and amazing. He manages to be a bit of a cranky contrarian, skirting dangerously close to the edge of his stubbornness and mistrust getting in the way, but then you always manage to know exactly when to have him back down. There is so much depth beneath the surface of this character, and I really look forward to getting to see you develop him now that he's immortal; I think a Quest alongside Arthur and Dyric at some point would be just the ticket. Guts - It's kind of surreal Questing with Guts at this point; I've known for a while that we were both members of the "hideously broken PCs" club, but this is the first time I've gotten to see the steamroller effect firsthand; yes, we had Alchemist Guts with us back in 103, but frankly that was not a very strong build compared to the classic Guts McRaider With Cheese or the new-and-improved Guts "The Lawnmower" Marauder. (Side note: Guts would make an amazing luchador or WWE wrestler, let's make it happen, people. ) Unfortunately, complex battles and busy lives have prevented Guts and Arthur from talking much thus far, but what interactions we've had has been really great; a bit of butting heads, but nowhere near as viciously as with Arthur and Hoke. My only word of advice for you: be careful about trying to Kool-Aid Man through everything in your way. Guts and Hoke both have developed this attitude of "I don't like it, so I'm gonna kill it", and that can be very dangerous in terms of not being respectful towards the QM. Even though you and I can both take on pretty much any enemy thrown at us, it's important to be sporting and have respect for the effort the QM has put into their plots and NPCs, even if we think the NPCs themselves aren't worthy of respect as people. This is a game, after all; it's important that we make the effort to play along to a certain extent. Okay, back to 139 in general. Battles: boy howdy did you front-load, Zeph. I can't speak to the battles on the West side since I neither fought them nor watched them being fought, but the East-side battles were great, if on the hard side. Two "mob attacks the party" battles in a row were a little bit repetitive, but the mobs were well-designed and you did a great job of tweaking things in the second fight to make it more even. Bellerai was hellishly difficult, and I was cursing so hard that you made Bellerai's wings immune to the weapon I specifically designed for fighting Flying enemies. I think the best battle, however, was the final fight with Arthur and Dyric against the roaming spirits. While the "immune to instant kill and negative effects" was irritating in leaving Dyric trying to be a damage-dealer, it gets a pass since for the most part you were just recycling other QMs' bosses. Other than that, all the different mechanics involved just played off each other beautifully, it was a work of art; the blessings, Chauncey, the passives, the NPCs, for the most part it just meshed to create this really fun fight where I got to feel super powerful and invulnerable but there was still risk in the form of protecting the NPCs and winning before the other party died entirely--and on top of that, I was FINALLY getting to fight alongside Dyric again, which I don't think has happened since the final battle of QUEST 53. I've literally been waiting YEARS for a fight like that, and it just went perfectly, so thank you so, so much for that. The loot was...interesting. Up until Etheria, I was going to complain that the loot up to that point had been generous but bland; once you gave us Zeus, though, my assessment did a complete one-eighty. Zeus is literally the best shop in the entire game, and he will never be beaten; equaled, perhaps, but never beaten. And somehow you still managed to make it fair; I knew I'd want to carry a lot of cash on me this Quest for unique shopping opportunities, I just didn't expect that opportunity to be in Etheria rather than on the way there. The Ethereal gems were a fantastic addition as well, and I hope they pop up again from time to time, particularly as Quest rewards or something of the like. (I did also like the unique loot you gave West, it very much continues the Zepher tradition of "not flashy, but definitely solid"; you won't necessarily base a build around it like you tend to do with Sandy drops, but it will support said Sandy drops quite nicely. The Cabin Boy's Rags are my personal favorite drop on the Quest; I'm actively rooting for Dyric to hit Level 40 so he can wear them regularly. ) The story was pretty good. I'm reserving in-depth analysis on it for now simply because there was so much of it spread out over such a long run time, but my initial impression is that you've had this in the works for a very, very long time, and you've done an admirable job of drawing all the loose threads together. You can be sure I'll be signing up for the final conclusion, just...maybe not for a little while, okay? So yeah, like I said at the start, I really enjoyed Quest 139, there was just a LOT of it. Now, like a little kid who's gorged himself on cookies and cranberry sauce the day after a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, I just need a little time to sit back, relax, and recover my bearings.

OOC: Thanks for the Quest, Zeph, I'll start working on some feedback now even though there's a side-quest or two I'd like to wrap up. Arthur nods solemnly, wearily. "This explains a lot. There are things happening, out in the world...this race will lead to no good, especially if the Sungold Alliance or Crescent Union learn of it. I suggest we exercise discretion in who we tell about what's coming, lest temptation brings six new participants into the race." "For now, though, I have debts to settle with the Forge Master. Melquiades, please take Miirym and me to the Forge Master." Once he has arrived, Arthur equips his Tin Gloves in place of his Tin Greaves and uses a Mead on Miirym, then nods respectfully to the Forge Master. "As I promised, I have returned for your Sapphire. Shall we begin?"

OOC: Sorry, Zeph, I've legitimately forgotten the plot at this point, and I'm a bit too busy this week to go back and re-read the whole Quest again. If you were waiting for me to do my customary full storyline recap, I'm afraid it's not happening this time around; I'm just not sure what exactly happened and what Arthur does and doesn't know in-character.

Perhaps Torald is from the Sheep Tribe?

"Hybros...have you forgotten the killing Darkness that attacked us in the vision of the First Breath?" Arthur turns to explain the situation to Passion, but finds himself struggling for words. "Forgive me, it feels like it has been months upon months since we last had this same conversation, in this same room. I am still a bit disoriented--perhaps in a short while we'll be able to offer a more comprehensive explanation for what we are hoping to prevent by bringing you back."

...Kint, I think you're thinking of the wrong Mage with a name starting in "A".

If any single Hero decides to leave the Fields between battles, the whole party goes back to the Hall; if you want to sign up for this new Quest, now is the time to do it.