Flipz

Fun fact, the only reason I held on to my Lens post-Skirmisher was because I wanted to go on a Pandemonicon quest and give it and all my scrolls to Byblos so he could be overpowered...then Scholar became a player class and destroyed my idea. PM me. Not in the immediate future, but I have Plans...

I know at least Hybros is, thus the Heavy Flail. I think Guts is thinking about it, too.

I wouldn't mind seeing more Wren-ers go Regulator. Doubt it'll happen, though, since almost no one from 53 is all three of a.) active, b.) specced for Regulator, and c.) interested in playing the class.

"Yes, happened while Noel was trying to enchant a rose for his girlfriend. Not sure why he wanted to turn it black in the first place, but whatever. We've got a whole set at this point--he's out chasing down a couple of escapees now." "I'm glad." Arthur checks around to make sure Miirym isn't listening, but it appears the golden dragon has found something to occupy her somewhere else. "I know it's different with Dragons, but between you and me, 'parenting' can be a little hard to grasp, you know? Like, on the one hand, it's an incredible joy to watch your little one learn and grow, but on the other hand, there's always this gnawing fear you could be doing better. Still, I'm lucky Miirym hatched pretty much armed and ready for basic survival--you and Masson must have your hands full with a human child. Not that Miirym herself isn't a handful at times--she's gotten extraordinarily good at wrapping me around her little finger." Arthur looks affectionately upstairs, towards the last place he'd seen Miirym, blissfully unaware he'd said anything wrong.

"Not at all. Noel's out at the moment, and Mom is over at Aunt Merryweather's, so I've got the place to myself today. It's no Ziegfried Manor, but I don't think even I could survive long in that place. Morgan alone would leave me batty--literally!--within just the first week." Arthur chuckles as he leads his friends to the dining room, the best room in the house for hosting company. "My cousins are good kids, though, just a little hard to manage. I'm just glad I've been able to help Nanny Mag Phee out with 'em from time to time. Bluto's been helpful, too, lately." Arthur disappears into the kitchen for a moment, then emerges with a teapot and three cups. He points a stern, warning finger at the former before setting out the latter for him and his guests. "So, I hear Althior's heading to Fellcrest in a few days. The two of you have anything planned? Oh, and before I forget..." Arthur looks to Karie. "How's Masson and the baby? He handling everything okay?"

As soon as Althior had gone, Arthur shoots a look to Miirym. "You want to go." "I wish to go." Arthur sighs. "We're not Heroes anymore. We don't...do this." "You wished me to see the world, did you not? It would be an opportunity." Arthur hesitates. "I...did promise that. I didn't think 'soon' would be 'in a few days', though. Still...Xu...Dastan...Dyric's from Duplovia...and the near-war in Baltarok..." Arthur's will resolves. "All right, Miirym...fetch me a quill. I need to write a letter." "I've got Z-mail," the ex-Mage says, and with that, Arthur had signed up for Quest #139. Not long after finishing his letter, Arthur hears a knock at the door. "That was quick," he murmurs to Miirym, before going to answer it. "Karie! Sorrow! Good to see you both here. I take it Althior passed on my message, then? Please, come in, come in."

Gotta say, that Horror set's pretty nice, WBD. It's nice to see more sets like that in the mix besides just mine.

"Ah, old foes. That I know well. Well, best of luck to you, Althior. I hope your trip is...everything you're hoping for, I guess. Take care of yourself, my friend."

"To the east? You mean to Xu?" "More likely Dastan. As far as I know, we were the only party of Heroes ever to visit the Aoi homeland, and as...beneficially as that turned out, I don't imagine there's a lot of demand for Heroes out there. Most likely the residents of Xu will want to focus their efforts on reconstruction before they open up to foreigners again." "Gerald Guffington will be disappointed. He's asked for Heroes to help him on a trip around the world." "Has he, now?" Arthur strokes his chin. "I once met a friend of his, a Doctor Daneeka. He's very well connected, I hear, I'm surprised our family hasn't been invited to any of his social gatherings--or at least, not that I've heard mentioned. You know anything about him, Althior?"

Arthur raises his eyebrows. "So you've been letting me play Rosetta Goodall all this time for no reason, huh?" He chuckles. "I'd forgotten about that part of Prophet-hood, heh. Certainly wasn't that useful to Princess Ella when she tried to use it, that's for sure." Miirym, meanwhile, seems frustrated as she returns to her Draconic tongue. "<It is a waste. I had wished to practice my technique on one who could not otherwise understand. I desire to judge its merit compared relying on another's translation.>" Arthur appears to be proud, if conflicted. "If it makes you feel better, your skill at maintaining a courteous volume has vastly improved. I still worry about the toll it takes on you, though." "<Thank you. But as Mistress Valentine says, courtesy is the cornerstone of civilization. If I am to use my gifts, I shall use them well, not poorly.>" Miirym seems touched by the concern, but ultimately turns back to Althior. "What is your opinion on the matter?"

Arthur fumbles through his pockets for the gold before Miirym sighs and grabs his coin pouch from his backwards-facing belt. Blushing, Arthur turns around to properly fasten his garments, and once done he counts out and passes over 120 Gold to the Prophet. "Prophet, eh? I thought I'd become a Prophet back in the day. 'Course, that was when I thought it'd be a good idea to be a prophet of Wren. Looking back, that...probably wouldn't have ended so well, even if she had won." Miirym cocks her head at him, but Arthur waves her away. "Another time." He looks back to Althior. "Glad to hear the baby was born just fine. If you could send Karie over, that'd be great--Hel, send Sorrow over too while you're at it, he's more than proved himself to the Ziegfried family, just like you have. Noel'd probably be thrilled to see them again--just don't tell him I said that, he likes to think he's above that sort of thing. Kids." Arthur rolls his eyes slightly, not noticing Miirym roll her eyes at him behind his back. The little dragon nonetheless takes wing and settles on Arthur's shoulder, nibbling her guardian's ear affectionately. "She will be fighting a Dragon?" she broadcasts telepathically, the effort clearly more difficult than one would expect. Arthur frowns in concern, but says nothing directly. "Not all Dragons are good, Miirym. We've discussed this before." "It still interests me," the Dragon 'says', conserving her words as much as possible.

"You sure you want to wait for payment? I can probably afford to pay you now and just accept Hybros' Gold myself." "As far as the family life...you get used to it. Honestly, what you saw today was maybe a four at most." "<It is uninteresting.>" Miirym informs Althior from atop the chandelier, despite the latter not being able to understand her speech. "Miirym," Arthur chuckles, "it's not boring. You're just haven't experienced enough of life to recognize how unusual ours is. Sentient silverware isn't exactly a common commodity for most of the world." "<Isn't it?>" Arthur tries to reply, but can't seem to find the words. "You really need to get out and see more of the world, don't you Miirym? One day soon, I promise." He shakes his head. Behind him, Miirym smirks softly, the seeds sown. "<Perhaps. In any case, I claimed it to be 'uninteresting', not boring. There is a difference.>" "Oh? And what is the difference between boring and uninteresting?" Arthur asks bemusedly, his wordiness mostly for Althior's sake. "<To be bored is to suffer in stagnation. To be uninterested is merely to not have cause to utilize your full attention or interest.>" Arthur blinks, then laughs loudly. He clears his throat in response to Miirym's obvious disapproval. "Sorry. You have a valid point, of course, it's just--you're not even a year old, and already you're saying things like 'To be bored is to suffer in stagnation. To be uninterested is merely to not have cause to utilize your full attention or interest.' It's weird to hear that kind of thing from someone who's practically a baby in human terms." "<I am a Dragon. I may be both young and naive, but none can truthfully claim me to lack either intelligence or insight.>" A few months ago, Arthur would not have known what to say. Now, however, he knew the most productive way to humor her. "I'm sure Mom's lessons didn't hurt, either," he says, his pointed tone belying the affection behind his remark. "<I will give credit where is is due, yes.>" The sound of footsteps on the stairs temporarily halts the discussion. "Oh! I didn't realize you had company over, Arthur. Who's your friend?" "Mom, this is Althior Emorith. He's a Necromancer, he's done a lot of good work for our family." "Ah, yes, Mr. Emorith. I recognize the name. Truth be told, we've probably met once or twice, if you're a Hero." She looks to Arthur. "Where's Noel?" "Out. A dish ran away with a spoon. He's tracking them down." Valentine smirks. "Well, I'm happy to see him practising at least. I won't disturb you and your visitor, I'm going to go visit your Aunt Merryweather today, see if there's a rainstorm scheduled this week. Leave a note for Noel to Z-Mail me if you go out before he gets back." "I will, Mom." Arthur waits for Valentine to make her way through to the kitchen before he resumes speaking to Althior. "So how's life at the Hall this morning? I heard you mention Karie, how's she been holding up since the whole Regret thing?"

The Fields aren't meant for new players, they're meant to be end-game content for players who've exhausted their current supply of storylines they are invested in but who still want to play the game for its mechanical aspects. As far as Quests being "meant" for new vs. old players...look at 104. There is a megaton of connection and backstory and revisited locations and continuity in there, all of which would have been great for a set of experienced Heroes with history and backstory connected to those places...and yet, the team of inexperienced Heroes made the Quest far better than it could have been otherwise, simply because they invested in the Quest and its story and played along. Honestly, I think the problem you're seeing is that a lot of new players/characters don't invest as much (and their QMs don't trust them to do so as much as they do older characters they're already familiar with), whether that lack of investment comes through inactivity or through shoehorning one's own agenda into an otherwise-engaging Quest. QMs don't necessarily want characters of a certain Level, they want characters they think will engage with and interact with both their environment/story and their fellow players in a positive manner. The advantage that established characters have is that the QM has that character's previous Quests and Hall activity to look over and see if they'll offer good contributions, and even that can be a disadvantage in some cases (i.e. if a character has repeatedly faded into the background/abandoned a Quest or if they've repeatedly and deliberately hijacked Quests). TL;DR, there's not a lack of Quests aimed at low-level characters, there's just a number of QMs at the moment who are looking for players/characters they can trust to engage, and they happen to be erring on the side of previously-established characters rather than untested ones.

Hey, Calico would have lived if you all hadn't been so damned clever with controlling all the actions. Well, lived longer, anyway.

Yeah, bringing back my CAT character is kind of not an option.

A series of thumps followed by a high-pitched yowl rings through the house, accompanied by the sound of a violin being thrown against a wall. About a minute later, a bleary-eyed Arthur opens the door, a snickering Noel hovering--literally--behind him. "Cannih helb yuu?" he asks, not immediately recognizing Althior. Just then a plate and a set of cutlery run out from between the Dragoon's legs, making their way to the street. Arthur swears, managing to grab the knife and fork, but the dish runs away with the spoon. A little dog, out for a walk with its owner, begins yipping in amusement as it spots the situation. Arthur groans. "Criminal syndicates, world-conquering demons, and three entire armies, and in the end it's dinnerware that finally outmatches me," he mutters, violently slamming the cutlery against the doorframe until it stops struggling. "Oh, hey Althior! Come in, come in, I just need to put these back before they wake up." Noel shakes his head. "Smooth, bro." "You want to help out and grab the other two? Mom's going to kill you if we end up with a repeat of the cow-on-moon incident." Noel opens his mouth as if to reply, but thinks better of it and dashes out into the streets. As Athior enters the dining room, still dominated by the overlarge dining table occupying most of the storage space, Arthur emerges from the family's kitchen. "Sorry about that. Noel must have been practicing his spellwork in here again. I should know better than to come downstairs half-asleep. Anyway, how can I help you this morning?"

It's not, especially since it's a end-of-Quest reward.

Asphalt, I personally would change that Scarab Shield to "bearer takes half damage from Vermin"; it's a great item either way, but giving it a flat effect instead of a die roll makes it MUCH easier for other QMs to handle it.

So I was aiming for the Training Room to look something up, misclicked, and stumbled across this little gem in the Theatre topic...

Yeah, that's what reminded me "oh yeah! I have a wiki article for this already typed up in my QM folder, I should really post that!"

"The Scroll of...? Oh that's right, I'd completely forgotten it. I think Hybros sent me a Z-mail a while back saying he'd left it for me in the Hall. If you can find it, it's yours." Arthur smiles at Althior. "Thank you again, for everything, Master Emorith." With that, the Dragoon turns and heads home.

Does anyone recall/know who authored "Begone With The Winds" in-universe? I seem to recall us settling on a "Fifty Shades of Bley" author, but not one for our other Expert Class book. Also, in the vein of several other QMs, I've gone ahead and written up a lore article on the wiki revealing information I've been sitting on for the better part of this year. The Circle of Tempestas was originally going to feature prominently in the Quest I was unable to host this past April (although I hope to be able to host it for real next year), and features prominently in one of my two upcoming Quests later this year. If anyone else has a Weather Mage NPC who would likely be part of the Circle, by all means please add their name(s) to the list! Every bit of background I can add to this group is most welcome.

"<Chicken? I am no common farm fowl. I am a Dragon, creature of scale and sky! You will refer to me with respect or not at all.>" "Miirym," Arthur chides gently. "He's a moron. Don't expect much out of him." Arthur addresses Althior next. "Actually, as of that evening, I'm retired. Left the weather-working to my Aunt Merryweather so I could focus on taking care of Miirym. I actually just came from the Hall, selling off a bunch of equipment I don't need anymore." "Life has treated me about as well as I could have expected. Mostly it's been helping my mother out around the house, or else keeping an eye on my cousins, what with Nanny Mag Phee still recovering from getting trapped in Lilly's imagination." Arthur graciously accepts the shield. "I do remember this shield, and our deal. You've certainly earned my old one," he says, swapping Purpearl his Arm Shield in trade for his Blue Hand counterpart. "And you know, since you'd make better use of the Crescent Shield than me anyway, I'm more than happy to sell it to you," he confirms, accepting the Gold as well. Miirym doesn't speak to Purpearl, but nods respectfully, about the best reaction that could be expected given her recently-soured mood. "<Is that the shield we gained from the battle in Xu?>" she asks of Arthur. The Dragoon nods. "It is indeed." "<Good. I am pleased to see you bearing a suitable symbol of our conquests.>" Arthur chuckles. "It's not like that Arm Shield wasn't a similar symbol. I may have bought it at the Marketplace, but I had my friends among the Lion Knights emblazon it with their crest when I became a Skirmisher. I don't know if I ever told you the full story? Maybe when we get home, I don't want to worry Mom and Noel." "<That seems prudent, yes. If you approve, I shall fly ahead to tell them you shall soon arrive.>" Arthur nods. "Go." At his word, Miirym unfurls her wings and flies forth into the darkening sky. "It was wonderful to see both of you again. Perhaps one day our paths will cross again, particularly should you find yourselves in the Ziegfrieds' employ." Arthur shakes first Purpearl's and then Althior's hands in turn, slipping a note into the latter's hand as he does. "My current address," he murmurs near-silently into the Necromancer's ear. "You've been a good friend to me and my family, I don't think Mother would mind you having our address." Arthur takes a step back and prepares to move on. "Farewell, Heroes," he says. "I wish you good luck in all your future endeavors. Be well."

It was a special reward for completing Quest 53. Unless Zeph awards it on one of his next two Quests, I highly doubt it'll be available ever again.

While Vindsval contemplates pies and the meaning of life, Arthur continues his journey home to Number 14 Heron Street. Miirym, having taken to the skies once more, swoops down alongside him. "<Arthur...>" she asks uncertainly, "<Why did you stop being a Hero?>" Arthur pauses, then sighs. "Because if I had remained a Hero, I would not be able to take care of you...or Noel, or my cousins, for that matter. A Hero has to put aside personal matters, or at least keep them close to the Hall, and put their energy and focus into changing the world around them. Sometimes they stay in Eubric, but more often than not a Hero's concerns will take them all around the world, moving from one source of danger to the next. That's no place to raise--" Arthur stops himself suddenly. "Er--let me rephrase that. Do you remember how upset you were with me after we returned from Xu? When I took the mission to Ziegfried Manor?" "<Of course. A Dragon forgives, but does not forget.>" Arthur chuckles. That sounds like something Mom would say. "Answer me honestly, then. Did you feel like I was giving you enough attention? Or was I just going off and gallivanting around with my old war buddies while just leaving you to your own devices?" Miirym lands, her posture uncomfortable. "<I...was being selfish,>" she says, seeming sincere but conflicted over her words. Arthur nods. "Perhaps. But so was I. I selfishly put my own wants and adventures--and, admittedly, the needs of the rest of the world--ahead of my dedication to what's most important: my family. You are the most important person in my life, Miirym. I'm not going to make the mistake of neglecting you again." The female dragon appears lost in thought as she walks forward. She looks up, spotting two figures headed toward them and the Hall on the streets ahead. "<I recognize them,>" she says simply. Arthur smiles. "I do, too," he says, increasing his pace to meet them. "Althior! Lady Purpearl! I was just heading home. Back from another successful Quest, I suppose?" the Dragoon asks, looking at each of them in turn.