Zepher

"The Eubric highway is a hard place to pinpoint anything, but if you travel about a half a day north from here - about half way between the Weeping Inn and Bric'Lin - you should find the general area." "Yes, he is settling well into his new job he's settling well into. Emperor Victor is the man who got me and my kin this job within the armed forces is a job that Emperor Victor got me and my kin. Some people accuse him of flooding the armed forces with U'Kin too quickly some people say, but whenever the matter of flooding the armed forces with U'Kin comes up Emperor Victor always says its a promise he made to a friend and that's the end of the subject of flooding the armed forces with U'Kin." "I should be arriving there for the first time in my young life in just a day or two," says the robed woman. "I will be certain to look for Sküld and make sure she is well."

"Alright men, the boy wants us to head north twice. These crossbow men aren't for us."

Fair enough. I guess I am a little silly, carry on!

"You were the one to approach me. The Lord Ennoc works in strange ways. Perhaps he drove you to me." Dyric feels, suddenly, reinforced. "Who told you that, a Hinckwell?" Shawe laughs merrily, his lips cocked into a grin. "No, no, I won't deny it, the Shadeaux are jealous of the Hinckwells just as often as the opposites true. I work for the family, doesn't mean I don't see their pettiness from time to time. But in this case, we won out. A hero, Guts Holla, opened the way for us, and a deal was struck with Madame Ladybug and her guild. The Hinckwells were extremely jealous of our shipment... until it went missing." The U'Kin smiles and balks at Thothwick. "It is rare to meet someone in Uland who has been to Dastan is hard to find. My name is U'Voros is my name!" The U'Kin offers his hand to the Black Knight. "The land of Dastan stands well. Surely you have heard of our recent troubles, but they are repairing the lands even as we speak." The U'Kin's travelling companion also turns and looks at Thothwick. A strange warm feeling spreads through his limbs. "The Empire is doing so well, in fact, that there are rumors that they have been able to afford to send their princess forth," the robed woman tells Thothwick with a airy voice. "The word is that she is going to Eubric to study under the Oracle there. Of course, it would be foolish to reveal herself on the road... so the rumors go." The U'Kin looks back and forth between Thothwick and his companion.

I think the classes look very nice, Sandy! I really can't see many problems with them - we'll see when they go into action, but really they look nice. I agree with JimBee - the buffs are awesome. Great work. We'll see what happens when they come into play, but right now they look good!

At least I wasn't planning on having counterstrike gloves much longer anyway. Think the ruling is a little silly and punishes people who have built themselves for tanking, but c'est la vie.

I'm not suggesting that EVERY enemy have these abilities, only a few and far between enemy.

I really think most QMs are comfortable working around it. Not every enemy has to avoid the strategy - only a few per quest - and really there are many ways to get around it. -Enemies with high levels to begin with that don't make counter-striking feasible -Enemies that pierce SP -Enemies that heal on free hits instead of attacking -Enemies that deal extra damage on free hits There ARE ways around it. It hasn't come up a too often, and so it wouldn't need to be counter-acted too often either. If there's an enemy you REALLY don't want that strategy used on, then use one of the above specials. If its an enemy it doesn't matter to you if its beaten that way, then it doesn't matter and they can/should be rewarded for their smart build.

I agree with BD. It should be negated when it should be negated, and otherwise I actually genuinely don't have a problem with it. I'd be pissed if it were on a boss, but I can design the enemy around that. Minions... well, I agree that the player should be rewarded for a smart build.

Yeah, a passive special that heals on untargetted hits seems like a good solution, or an enemy deals double damage on free hits, or something. There are certainly ways to work around it if the QM is smart - and I don't mind the strategy used from time to time. I think it should only be counter-acted in cases where it clearly should not work (the Count and Titan being the two I can think of right now). Really its up to the QMs, I think, and I like leaving as much in the QM's hands as possible.

OoC: Trying to let Thothwick get some words in edgewise. I hope the pace is good for everyone so far, we'll be slowing down significantly during the weekends in general, but there should still generally be one update every 24 hours (hopefully). "Who, Everyman and I? I can't speak for him, but I'll be here until my mercs show their faces." Justin shows up and plops an Ambrosia in front of Dyric. Shawe hands him a few gold coins. "I'm quite honestly glad that some heroes are here. Your organization has been nothing but helpful in the past. I'm hoping you'll be doing the same. I've got to assume that you're on a quest - that is generally why you leave Eubric, isn't it? - but if you do happen upon my shipment, you'll let me know, won't you? I'd really appreciate it." Shawe leans in a little. "I don't want to look too much like a gossip, or too paranoid - though of course that comes a little with my job - but I wouldn't be the least surprised if the Hinckwells were behind my robbery. It's pretty common, truth be told, for them to hire some hands to come steal from the Shadeaux. Hel, they've used heroes to break into one of our warehouses before, handed the little Umbra girl her megablocks. I know for a fact that they're jealous of our deal with the Guild - they couldn't get one of their own." "Well perhaps you ought to look for him, Karie. He is a guide for life, and everyone needs some guidance. He sadly cannot act on his own. He needs his agents here on Olegia, and he's always looking for more agents to spread the good light."

I'm onboard the passive special train, personally. Seems the easiest and most creative fix.

I think it looks great! Really cool look for him, and the colors look great! See if you can get that normal red mixed in one more time, and I think you're golden. I have a new Boomingham coming up soon! He looks pretty cool, but his looks will change once more when he goes Necromancer.

OoC: I'm such a dunce, meant to go north then west. Whoops. Boomingham looks a little bewildered as his men march towards the crossbowmen and arrows rain down in the midsts. He holds up the impromptu map he has sketched in one of the opening pages of his Tome of Affluence, on one of the original tattered dedication pages. He stares at it intently for a few seconds. "Drew the damn compass backwards," he growls to himself. "No matter, boys, let's hack them to shreds. Can't turn tail now. Wouldn't look very good, would it?" Boomingham directs his troops to attack twice.

The two soldiers look between Karie and Raguel with a wee bit of worry in their eyes, but after a second or two Raguel gives a thin dry chuckle. "That's the one," he says though a smile hardly plays on his lips. "Wonderful, what will it be?" Shawe indicates a chair for Dyric to sit in and holds up a finger to get Justin's attention. "Inn Keeping is a dangerous profession," mumbles the sad pale man. "The last five Inn keepers here were murdered in their sleep for various reasons. And look at this!" he holds up a magazine that, surely, has a rather small readership: The Innkeeper's Times. "There was this battle in the Albatross in Eubric just a few weeks ago, and then, just a few days ago, the keepers of the Winking Gargoyle almost lost their lives in a brawl!" He sighs. "Oh, if you'll excuse me." Justin makes his way over to Dyric, Everyman and Shawe, but there are still many more patrons to engage if Thothwick still wishes. He glances around the inn and sees two duos - a blond haired woman talking to a fierce looking gremlin, and a woman in red flowing robes, followed by a militant looking U'Kin.

Very cool! The Rogue, as always, seems to be the most powerful of the batch. Sometimes I feel like I just picked the wrong base class though. Perhaps it would be better to say that the Knight seems a little under powered, but then I may be biased. Anyway, they look great and I'll be happy to see them!

I believe Russel III is actually going to roll around first (and I'm VERY excited for it - almost done scripting, taking many cues from CMP, WBD and Kint quests), but Guffington III looks to be a relatively decent sized party (6-8) so there should be some good spots for some good heroes.

On a related note, since I will not be traveling abroad this spring like I originally thought... and you guys know I love dropping hints... Poletad will be back soon, along with many more (hopefully) still beloved and not too dead NPCs from Wren's days... and they may be meeting some of the newer Zepher quest faces as well. I've purposely tried to keep them apart so that Wren wasn't mentioned all too much (Everyman's appearance in 68 was actually an accident as I reused my most common face for an actor and then realized it was him...), but Guffington III and Russel III will be blurring the lines as we gear up to the finale!

It would be a little silly to have a consumable that only he can drink. I'm going with lucky and puns for everyone - maybe its a different brew. And that isn't the Gray Wizard. I only have so many "angry old dude" heads, and Guffington is already using the other one. What, you thought the Gray Wizard would come back without his signature gray hair and beard combo?! No way! Besides, he isn't likely to join the religion of Ennoc considering that he'd have to forsake his other religion... and he's one of the cardinal gods of his other religion. EDIT: I do apologize for the confusion, though. In retrospect I should have chosen another head - sometimes I toss bits still together into the parts bin and forget I already used them in conjuncture - its the same reason that one of the witches from 68 reuses Blackenord's head/torso combo.

OoC: You're lucky, but only if you remember to make a (passable) pun every time you attack.

The barkeep makes Karie a drink, which she immediately begins to sip down. The Party Dyric Rone *Party Leader* Level 21 1?/3 Assassin *Immune to Wood, Water, Earth, Ice, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Light, Darkness* *Lucky* *Steals 50% more gold* Power: 33 Defense: 3 Health: 33/33 Gold: 792 Equipment: Requiem (WP: 20; wood, light and darkness-elemental, ranged), Lucky Die, Tricorne (SP:3, Water, Wood, Earth, Ice, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Light, Darkness - elemental) Sticky Gloves (Increases amount of gold stolen by 50%; handwear) Inventory: Double Chain Whip (WP:10), Throwing Knife (WP:4, ranged, retrievable), Longsword (WP: 3), Aquamarine (Water), Diamond, 4 Potions, 5 Grand Potions, Elixir, 2 Remedies, Mead, 2 Venoms, Smoke Bomb, Skeleton Decoy, 3 Mythril Shards (3/4 of a Mythril), Silver Ore (Worth 60 gold), Bone, Winged Sandals, Pheonix Essence, Smelling Salt Bedroll, Shovel, Banana (Restores full health to target), Diamond Lamp of Summoning, Tonic Thothwick Level 24.33 Black Knight *Damage Undead* *Immune to Stunned* Power: 38 (34 Ranged) Defense: 10 Health: 39/39 Gold: 114 Equipment: Banana Sabre (WP:13, Heals Metasimians when used on them), Skull Shield (SP:6; immunity to darkness-elemental damage; suitable to Black Knights only), Black Knight's Armour (SP:4, protects from stunned-effect), Cultist's Hat (regular attacks do Damage to Undead) Inventory: Shuriken (WP 8), Sabre (WP 10), 1 Bedroll, 1 Telescope, 1 Potion, 9 Cosmic Essences, 1 Venom, 5 Deadly venoms, Grand Zoot Cookie, Sapphire, Dragon Scale, 4 Meads, 5 Grand Potions, Ambrosia Karie Alderflask Level 17.5 Witch *Hilariously and Luckily Drunk* Power: 24 Defense: 2 Health: 31/31 Ether: 23/23 Gold: 85 Equipment: Oculoid Palm (WP: 11, Whip, successful hits lowers the target's level. Coils around the user's arm and mimics a tattoo outside of battle.) by 1. Ethereal Cloak (SP +2, Max. Ether +4),Catsuit (Wearer has 1/3 chance to completely avoid rolls of COUNTER and DAMAGE and Free Hits; suitable to women only; bodywear) Inventory: Grand Tonic, Mead (1), Remedies (3), Venom (7), Smoke bomb (1), Pixie Dust (1),Telescope (1), Bedroll (1), Emergency Essence (1), Grand Tonic (3), Nostrum (1), Smelling Salt (1) Quest Items: Entry 11, Map of Brendenton (1), Spider Coin (worth 1 gp), Forest Journal Aretefacts/Weapons: Heirloom Dagger (WP: 3), Scroll of Newtity (costs 10 ether)(usable by ex-Amphibians only), Lover's Locket (Accessory, Protects from enamoured effect), Trickster's Mask of the Elf (Accessory, changes user's appearance into an Elf) Sexy (WP: 8, Rapier, Disregards SP, usable by Knights and Rogues), Paper Doll (Accesory, prevents Hexing) Gemstones: Topaz "Ah, I would have just slowed you fella's down, ya know that, Mister Rone." Johnny shrugs. His words come out a little sloppily... clearly he and Shawe have already shared a drink or two. "I don't know if Zane needs someone to harbor him, 'sides he's got enough skills to look out for 'imself, dontchu know?" "Yes, I was taking it up to Loush to ship off. I have some interested buyers. I finally worked out a deal with the Guild of Invision, and of course it doesn't work out." Samuel Shawe sips his drink. "Such is the way of the world. I'll find those suckers and get it back. I'm just worried about the people I was supposed to sell to. The shipment was meant to arrive yesterday, and they didn't seem the type to enjoy being kept waiting. Maybe I should have sent Mac that way with word, but I had to use him to get some hired hands. C'est la vie." "Uland is crawling with criminals. Too many freed Orc slaves, if you ask me. Bound to cause some trouble." "Now now, Valentino wouldn't want any of us talking like that." "Yeah, but Prince David's in charge now, and he don't trust the Orcs no further than he can throw them." General Hamilton smiles ruefully and turns back to Karie. "There may be bandits, but they're unlikely to accost soldiers, as far as I can tell." "The Lord Ennoc looks out for his own. If any bandits were to attack us, it would be because he has decided their day has come. I will arrive to young David. He is in dire need of my guidance, and so I will fell any bandits who fall on us. Have you found the lord Ennoc, Karie?" asks the old priest in a quiet certain voice.

Well, what can I say, Pie? Lovely quest. You have an incredible knack for NPCs! I will find Natnail again. You like stealing from WBD, don't you. But really, the Gnome city tenants were wonderful, the Wolfgang was sympathetic and nice enough, Soryx was really an enjoyable character, and the Magpie characters are absolutely lovely ALWAYs - especially their newest addition. You, like WBD, have a great talent for capturing the city of Eubric, and mixing random encounter with plot points - it never feels so plot heavy that you lose the sense of the world around (Bonapartes, Spiders, Wolfgang, etc.) but never strays so far from the story that you forget the objectives. I personally like long quests as long as they are regularly updated. I don't think that short quests are bad, but long ones really let you explore character dynamics in full. It's cool when people quest together back to back, but being holed up with each other for 69 pages with no one else to talk to... THAT develops real dynamics, relationships, and camaraderie. I wasn't on the quest, but it never seemed to flag even in the slightest from an outside point of view. If I had the parts for Soryx I'd steal him from right under you. Can't wait to see your next quest (well, after 82 as well ). I love your characters, and like I said to Kintober, you have an organic way of telling stories that fall together very well without feeling super scripted. I'd absolutely love to go on one of your quests, and I encourage you to one day collaborate with WBD and Kint, as I think the three of you would make THE BEST Eubric based quest. Wonderful quest, buddy.

"Well, barkeeps don't generally give away their secrets, because it would be bad for business, but I'll probably be dead soon anyway, so why not. A Hurricane is a Nostrum, some whiskey, some sugar, some cherry syrup, and a few ice cubes. A pretty good drink." The barkeep sniffles morosely. "Sell-swords! Certainly not! Humph! The very idea. Why, I ought to-" "Settle down, Agnuy. The girl was just asking a question." The other solider offers his hand. "I am General Hamilton from Carmina, also known as the Kingdom of the Red Lizard. Agnuy and I are on business in Eubric, collecting an advisor for our young prince. This is Raguel the Warrior Priest of Ennoc. We have just collected him from the Temple of Ennoc in Eubric." The Warrior Priest turns around to face Karie. "Hm, funny, that's exactly what the Gibbin guy said! I don't know why you all expected me to stick around to fight Wren. I don't think I ever promised to do that at all. I was sorry to hear that you lost our allies in the Town Watch, most likely Patricia blames me in part of the loss and I was already on her bad list. La de da, well, 'spose I won't be going back to Eubric until I absolutely have to." "Zane and XX were a-okay. Think they went up to Loush to catch a ship, or maybe it was that western port, can't quite remember the name ever, ah well, what the Hel. XX got me that job in the play first though, after meeting with some fancy pantsy aristocrat who liked the dark arts and the old gods and all them souls that Zane swallowed. Not my scene, so I bid them adieu. Still, Hel of a nice pair of partners to travel with. Now I'm just wandering around, you know how it goes. I think Zane said he was going to the High Kingdoms for something, but XX didn't really say where he was off to. I hear he's still kicking around somewhere, but seeing as we haven't heard of anything, or I 'spose anyone, important getting its hat blown off recently, I guess he must not have had a job for a while." "Glad to hear it. Heroica is always doing good, far as I can tell, and bandits are quite an issue on the road. Just three days ago I was assaulted and a huge shipment of explosives, mining stuff, you know, was stolen from me. I sent my driver Mac to go hire some sell-swords so I can chase them down, but he hasn't made it back yet. I hope he's alright." Shawe gives a shrug. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, I don't doubt he'll be back soon enough. Dyric, was it? Why don't you join us for a drink? Pull over a chair, I'll buy you something or other, courtesy of House Shadeaux. There's a perk or two that comes with working for the richest house on Uland."

"Hi there," sniffles the bar tender as he walks over to greet Thothwick and Karie. "Welcome to the Weeping Inn. My name is Justin Featherhead. Here are our prices for everything." Ambrosia - Causes the reinforced-effect, double the target's defense for the duration of one battle. Costs 57 gold. Flame-distilled Brandy - Causes the encouraged- and the immune to ice-effects for the duration of one battle. Costs 24 gold. Mulled Wine - Causes the inspired-effect, doubling the target's current and maximum health for the duration of one battle. Costs 47 gold. "A room for the night costs 10 gold, I have only single rooms left, sorry," the inn keeper sniffs again. "I can also mix up a mean hurricane, only 17 gold." "Well, howdy there then! Dyric Rone, isn't it? One of them folks who fought Wren way back in Grogmas, right? How have you been? I've been more than great myself. I saw your friend with the chicken over in Bric'Lin. I was starring in a play over that a way, after Zane and XX and I parted ways. They're good enough fellows, you know, once they stop trying to murder you. Do you know my pal Sammy Shaw over here?" Samuel Shawe raises a glass in greeting. He has a grim and shrewd smile on his lips. "How goes it, hero? What brings you to the Eubric Highway? Hopefully clearing the area of bandits."

"Righto, chaps," says Boomingham to his men. "Looks like some crossbows to our east, and we aren't particularly well prepped for them. So, let's tag up north and then go east from there, ready to get those spearmen. Hopefully we'll draw those other Pongcanis out of their building, and then they'll be, at the very least, easier prey."