Zepher

Something that depresses me to this day. That Yeti Fur. Why was it introduced? Ah well. And THAT (balancing for them) is actually my main objection to over-kill gloves. Just my style of QMing, since I usually don't scale. I will probably just keep my old adage of not allowing characters with game breaking artifacts on my quests, because they frustrate me and infuriate me too much. Agreed, but I'm afraid you'll only ever hear Knight classes complaining about it, and that it will never change. C'est la vie.

"Listen to the private's word, Nevron." Boomingham swings ferociously at Magnus from the front row. Battle Order Arthur Arthur Boomingham Karie Em Arnulf Nevron

I think she was referring to the childish way in which it was posted. Don't know if I agree with the policing either, but I at least understand that it's more a board issue than a personal taste.

Guts finds Doc Daneeka standing near the door leading out to the hallway. "Hello all, looks like everyone has finally gathered in one place! I'm glad to see you're all socializing, even you Hybros. U'Or, leave the lights alone, go talk to people. Maybe the only other U'Kin in the room." U'Or blushes. "I'm just making an exciting announcement. We're about to break out a huge vat of Azzurat spiced wine. My chef Clippard assures me that he can make it properly, and I trust his judgement. This wine is very old, very potent, and very good. A good friend of my retrieved it for me long ago, and so I've decided to share it all with you. Just thought I'd let you know. Dr. Everstein, what time would you say it is?" The wereraven coughs and sputters before answering. "8:35." Guffington climbs back down off the table, and Lady Marsh begins talking to him. "How can I be of assistance, Guts?"

I didn't know you were waiting on them. I'm doing all my clerical work the next few days (and starting the NPC index work I should have been doing) so expect an incoming soon! Damn straight he will. I don't want to wait around while you make money. Do it. I dare you. No seriously, it would be interesting. I'd say currently that Arthur is the character Boomingham knows the most about, but can determine he's feelings least about. I still think their OP, for the record. I just don't think complaining will do anything. So, c'est la vie. I would personally have limited them to only "non-rogue classes" as they would have then served to close the gap instead of further widening it, but Flipz would be right in saying that it would be in no way fair to him. Cronk is intelligent. Simple as that. I think he's simple. Not in a bad way, I think a LOT of smart people choose to be simple. Life is so complicated, but Cronk CHOOSES happiness and honor and friendship and optimism. That makes him appear stupid, but it is, in fact (in my mind) the mark of someone with high intelligence. I actually thought that twist the first time I read it. Happy to see it's true. Well played, WBD.

"I said no argument while there is an active enemy. I will deal with all of you after it goes down. As I see fit." Boomingham swings at Magnus from the front row. "Nevron, if that chromoid still stands, destroy it, if not, you're with me, chappo!" Battle Order Arthur Arthur Boomingham Em Arnulf Nevron

But those are the most fun. She was only curbstomped by him once in Dastan, and then it was mostly Blackenord's fault. The second time they didn't fight! A true love story. To each their own. They are a hassle sometimes. They exist because of Cronk.

72. We actually already did that for 70.

My goal for 70 is to eventually have 4 different side-quests going with no one posting in the main thread.

Nyx vanishes into the kitchen, leaving Docken and Guts alone with the guests. Guffington sighs, and then smiles sadly. "So this isn't our first time around, then. Very well. I'm sad to hear that this is the group that I can't trust. I like them all, in their own ways." "I can simply direct the cup that should have gone to me to you instead. That should work just as well. I do love pageantry, but there is less risk that way. Guts, listen to me. Once you figure out what this second plan is, you must discover which of my friends cannot be trusted, and you must be one hundred percent certain. It is very important to me." "That is the truth. We generally hire an actual chef of note." The light in the sky fades out. The servers file into the kitchen and Everstien goes to stand by the door. Guts watches him, and sees that he does not lock it for at least the time being. U'Or looks around. "If you'll excuse me, I must go light the torches."

"Arthur, let's light up Magnus with a little bit of lightning. The rest of you are on the Chromoid. Stick to the back!" Boomingham heals Arthur from the backrow. Battle Order Boomingham Arthur Arthur Em Arnulf Nervon Karie

Everstien smiles slyly and coughs a few more times. "Unless you can think of a better explanation for the cut up chef in the kitchen."

I will be playing DnD for the first time when I arrive back at college, and I'm pretty excited for it. However, for the time being, I can't really comment on what my stats would be. And yes, I'd say we have mostly intelligent characters. That being said, I think Boomingham has a very different sort of intelligence than I do in real life. And he drinks sometimes too heavily, and does stupid things. That's a trait we share.

"Why, are the noble heroes of Heroica looking for alternative employment?" U'Or laughs feebly at his own joke. "The process is simple. I go down to the hovels and see who would like to serve. There are always places to look for those in need of work. Guffington always have the final call, though." "By all means." Lord Chauncey nods politely and then drifts away. "I have never used it as a parlor trick before, but of course. Lady Marsh. Hm... I have over heard that she rarely leaves Gull by her own account, and I'd say that's true. She seems genuinely confused by many of the organizations that exist outside her city. Her skin, however, is not a tan as you'd imagine for someone from Gull. She must spend a lot of time inside. Physically she serves no threat to yourself or I, unless she is particularly good at hiding her ability. Lady Felix, any of the servers, even perhaps the Shawe boy would have no trouble overwhelming her." He shrugs. "She does not particularly interest me, truth be told." "As for my request. Your friend Guts has refused to clean up his mess in the kitchen. If we do not deal with it, the servers will alert everyone as to the chef's death, and we will never see this back-up plan in action. We must some how calm them. I ask you, go into the kitchen, and explain to the servers the scenario. Heroica garners some respect in the city, perhaps they will believe you. Either way, the next time around they will not remember it. It you really must subdue them, all the doors in this house have locks on both sides. Simply walk over to the door and lock it. I will stand outside and lock it from the outside if I hear the interior bolt go."

"Righto, Arnulf, help down that Chromoid. Nevron, you've got the same job. The sooner we get rid of them, the better. You can both stick to the back, because it doesn't matter much which way you whack it." Boomingham himself whirls on the Magnus unit and thrusts Scupperer into its machinery from the front. Battle Order Boomingham Em Arnulf Nevron Arthur Arthur

Huzzah! Congrats, Sandy!

No more updates from me today, folks. Going to go see one of my favorite bands of all time in the city tonight! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTi6vcfmEg0 A little taste. I'll see you all on the flip side!

"I'm keeping you around, Ranger," says Boomingham with a smile. "You may be one of the smartest chaps I've met since I've come to Heroica. Karie, again. This time, let's one of us hit the other." Same Battle Order

"My apologies, private. Don't mean to lose more than one hero today." Battle Order Arthur Boomingham Arthur Arnulf Em Nervon

Simpler days. Anyway, the classic Zepher break-down of the quest. Self-critique: Like I said, I don't think this quest was one of my best, but that being said, I still think it was pretty solid. It was about the length I wanted, had challenging battles for more advanced heroes, and still told the story I wanted to tell. I was pretty happy with the pictures and sets, and enjoyed slowly destroying the stage as they sunk slowly into the "reality" behind the play. It was a tough party to beat. The only scaling I did was knocking a little over 200 health off of the enemies of Act IV as I thought it would needlessly prolong the fight. I was happy with the characters (wish I'd had Russel and Pigley say a bit more, but I think they still came across). I also was happy with my twist. In most stories, the character is pissed because they were cast in a bad light, and in this one, she was pissed because she wasn't cast in a bad enough light. I thought it was an interesting story to play with. I was also happy with the afflicted effect, though I totally forgot to actually use it with Althior's undead in the final battle. Also, Necromancers are hard to balance for. Out-line: Russel Part Duex aka The Curse of the Stirlance Play For Three Four Heroes Introduction Russel greets the heroes, and tells them that the cursed Stirlance play is going up at the Bric’lin Theatre. Pigley has a part in the production, and so Russel has taken it upon himself to protect him. As they walk, Russel details the plot of the play: There is a war against the Dark General OR Akkaba. Duke and a General walk through the woods and meet some Witches. The Witches tell them that they will both be Kings one day. The Duke and General than win a big battle. The Duke and the General both consider winning favor with the current King, and the Duke and General both try to gain favor with him, as he has no sons. He originally is going to name the General his successor, but then names the Duke his successor when the General refuses. The General then advises the Duke to kill the King, which the Duke does. The General then stirs the people against the Duke, who slowly beats a retreat. He wages all out war, trying to win the Kingdom back from the people and the General. Afraid for his health, the Duke locks himself in a room with no windows and only one door, which he has barred up. His wife feeds him by sending him food tied to rats, but when the General comes to parlay she falls in love with him and trains the rats to kill the Duke. They do so, but the General is horrified by her methods and does not accept her. She disappears with her rats, and the General becomes the new King, saying he allowed the Duke to be King before him because he knew, logically, if they were both to be Kings the one to be King first would also have to die. The play ends with the witches entering and saying that their Gods, the Ancient Gods, have been well served, as always. The play is cursed by rats whenever performed. ACT I - Enter the Witches On the road to Bric’Lin, the heroes meet three witches. They hail the heroes as the King, General, and Duke, though they don’t indicate which is which. They praise the heroes, and say that they will do much good, perhaps lifting the curse of the play forever, but perhaps becoming as conniving and evil as the characters of the play in the process. They then disappear. The heroes arrive at the theatre. They watch a quick rehearsal of the play (Pigley is playing Guard #2) but then night is called. They may talk to all the actors (Duke, General, King, Duke’s Wife) and also the Director. They then retire for the night. ACT II During the night, the heroes awake to hear the Duke’s Wife being taken by rats. They, along with Russel, follow the rats down into the depths of the theatre, and suddenly find themselves on a battlefield. They are attacked by a group of soldiers. SOLDIER BATTLE After the battle, a Lt. enters and hails whichever hero killed the REBEL PRINCE as the King. The King is asked to pick a successor, as he has no children of his own. Whoever the King picks becomes the General (who, in secret, refuses the position, making the DUKE the real successor). ACT III The Leading Lady appears, this time appealing to the DUKE. She tells him to kill the King, though she appears to be controlled by rats. She then is carried off. The heroes are left to puzzle out what to do. The KING must consent to being KO’d by the DUKE (not the GENERAL). Once the King is KO’d by the Duke, the battle begins, with the King still KO’d though he can of course be brought back to life for the battle. KING BATTLE After the battle, a number of soldiers come and hail the GENERAL, saying that they’ve corner the DUKE and that now, only his loyal guards stand in the way. They say that he will pay for his crimes against the Kingdom. ACT IV The heroes rush forward and encounter the Guards. GUARD BATTLE After the heroes defeat the guards, they are greeted by the Leading Lady and her puppet master, the Duke’s Wife, now decrepit and styling herself the Queen of Rats. The Queen of Rats explains that she was the one who told the General to nominate her husband, as she always loved the General. She also tells that the General did not, in reality, cast her out, but rather she lived years with him, being his puppet master, and eventually she drained his life force to become immortal. The representation of the play makes her out to be powerless, but she is not. She refuses, therefore, to let it be performed. If the heroes attempt to fight her, she’ll remind them that they have been acting out the play, and therefore one more person needs to die- by “her” hand- before they can engage in combat. The heroes must offer up the DUKE to be KO’d by her. Once that is done, she raises her rats and her puppets, and the final battle begins. ACT V RAT QUEEN BATTLE Pop-a-duke Enemies Soldiers (Act II) Rebel Prince Level 20 Humanoid
*Immune to Sudden Death* Health: 678/678
 Defense: 6
 Special I: Deceive: Deals damage equal to the enemy's level. 
 Special II: Corrupt: Hexes the hero for three turns. Drops: 150 gold, Royal Dagger (WP: 5, may be sold for double gold) Rebel General Level 30 Humanoid *Immune to Instant Kill* *Immune to Stun* *Lucky* Health: 500/500 SP: 10 Special: Enervating Strike - Takes 75% off the target's current health and adds it to his own. Cannot exceed initial health. Drops: 60 Gold, Rebel’s Sword (WP: 11, Longsword), Rebel’s Dagger (WP: 5) Rebel Captain
A Level 5 Humanoid Health: 25/25 Special: Call the Guards! - The Rebel Captain calls in backup. Two Lion Footsoldiers will arrive in one Round.
 Passive Special: Medal of Honor – AoE effects do not affect the Captain. Drops: 10 Gold Rebel Captain
B Level 5 Humanoid Health: 25/25 Special: Call the Guards! - The Rebel Captain calls in backup. Two Lion Footsoldiers will arrive in one Round.
 Passive Special: Medal of Honor – AoE effects do not affect the Captain. Drops: 10 Gold Rebel Soldier A Level 24 Humanoid Health: 280/280 SP: 10 Special: Stunning Strike - Stuns the target for the next round. Drops: 20 gold Rebel Soldier B Level 24 Humanoid Health: 280/280 SP: 10 Special: Stunning Strike - Stuns the target for the next round. Drops: 20 gold Rebel Footsoldier A Level 2 Humanoid Health: 10/10
 Special: Sound the Alarm - The Footsoldier alerts his allies. Five more Footsoldiers will arrive in three Rounds.
 Passive Special: Lust Drops: Nothing Rebel Footsoldier B Level 2 Humanoid Health: 10/10
 Special: Sound the Alarm - The Footsoldier alerts his allies. Five more Footsoldiers will arrive in three Rounds.
 Passive Special: Lust Drops: Nothing King Battle (Act III) The King’s Ghost Level 40 Etheral *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill* *Lucky* Health: 400/400 Special: Knighting – Knights the target, making them enamored with the King’s Ghost. Drops: Nothing Wizard of the Court Level 35 Etheral *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill* Health: 370/370 Ether: 10/10 Special I: Magic Burst – Deals 15 fire elemental damage, 15 water elemental damage, 15 earth elemental damage, and 15 wind elemental damage. Disregards SP. Special II: Magical Vortex (used if ether is depleted) – Deals 20 lightning elemental damage to the party, and heals allies for 50 health. Drops: Wizard’s Staff (WP: 1, Fire, Earth, Water, Wind Elemental) Note: Fights from the back row and disregards row until ether is out. Attacks cost one ether. Once ether is depleted, attacks from the front row and does not disregard row. King’s Head Guard Level 30 Undead *Immune to Sealed, Bound, Blinded, and Asleep* Health: 320/320 SP: 20 Special: Take Cover – Doubles the Head Guard’s SP for the next 3 rounds, and gains counterstrike. Passive Special: Affinity for the Shield – When hit by a shield, the Head Guard gains the lucky effect. Drops: Guard’s Shield (SP: 6), Guard’s Dagger (WP: 4) Gate Guardian Fight (Act IV) Door Keeper Level 30 Rock Water *Immune to Negative Effects and Instant Death* SP: 52 Health: 350/350 Special: Protect the Bridge – Deals 30 damage rock/water elemental damage, ignoring row. Also strips hero of all effects. Passive Special II: All SP of other guards are added to the Gate Keeper’s SP. Drops: Garnet Summoning Lamp, Aquamarine Summoning Lamp Guard Master Level 50 Humanoid *Immune to Instant Death* SP: 10 Health: 400/400 Special: Precision Strike – Halves the target’s health. Passive Special I: On even rounds, pierces SP. Passive Special II: On odd rounds, gains the SP of hero attacking him. Passive Special III: Miracle of the Court – All negative effects last only one round on the Guard Master. Drops: Grating Stone Magical Guard Level 47 Humanoid Health: 300/300 Special: Soul Sap - Drains half of player’s remaining ether. Passive Special: Ether Drain - Drains ether from each party member at the end of each round in an amount related to the round number. Drops: Tonic x2 Guard A Level 44 Humanoid *Immune to Asleep* SP: 4 Health: 586/586 Special: Human Bowling – The Guard weakens and makes fragile all enemies. Drops: Minimizing Dust Guard B Level 31 Humanoid *Immune to Asleep, Sealed, Bound* Defense: 8 Health: 473/473 Special: Ugly Truth – De-equips all SP-giving equipment from the target. Drops: Robust Shield (SP:8) Guard C Level 50 Rock *Immune to all effects but slowed, immune to sudden death* *Slowed* Defense: 10 Health: 500/500 Special: Wisdom of Stone – Causes the slowed-effect to all enemies. Drops: Gaia Bomb (100 earth-elemental damage to all enemies) ACT V Queen of the Rats Level 46 Demon *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill* Health: 735/735 Passive Special I: Queen of Rats – Every time seven rats are KO’d, the Queen of Rats will sacrifice one of the ghosts to bring back the five most recently KO’d rats. Passive Special II: Rat’s Queen - All damage dealt to the Queen of the Rats is divided by the number of Rats in the battle. Drops: Ghost of the King Level 40 Etheral *Immune to Effects* Health: 320/320 Special: Knighting – Knights the target, making them enamored with the King’s Ghost. Drops: Nothing Ghost of the Duke Level 30 Undead *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill, Excluding Poisoning* Health: 240/240 Special: Treachery! – Deals 5 damage to all allies, and then deals the amount of damage done to the heroes. Drops: Nothing Ghost of the General Level 44 Undead *Immune to Stunned, Blinded, Asleep and Sealed* Health: 400/400 SP: 5 Special: Battle Cry – The general shouts, enraging the target. Drops: Nothing Note: There is a 1/3 chance the Ghost of the General will attack the Queen of Rats on a roll of damage. Rat Level 1 Vermin Health: 6/6
 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: nothing

 Big Rat
 Level 2 Vermin
 Health: 10/10
 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: Venom Rat C Level 3 Bestial Humanoid Health: 30/30 Special I: Poison bite – Causes poison effect to target, used if 6 or more rats in battle. Special II: Call to the horde - Brings 2 more Rats (randomized) into battle. Drops: Venom Dire Rat Level 4 Vermin HP: 22/22 Special: “For there are no cat’s in Eubric!” - The Dire Rat sings a song of his people, healing his comrades by 4 hit points. “And the roads are paved with che-ese!” Drops: Potion Kitchen Rat Level 5 Vermin Health: 26/26
 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: nothing Brown Bilge Rat Type: Vermin Level: 6 Health: 50/50 Special: Bite: Causes 7 damage and poisoned effect Drops: Mead Bad Rat Level 7 Vermin Health: 50/50
 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target.
 Drops: Venom Cave Rat Level 7 Vermin Health: 100/100 Special: Lethal Bite - Causes 7 damage and the Stunned effect to the attacker. Drops: Nothing Rat B
 Level 8 Vermin Beast Health: 60/60
 Special: Fierce Bite - Deals 8, regardless of SP and Row Drops: Nothing Giant Rat Level 15 Vermin
 Health: 151/151
 Special: Deadly Bite – Causes the deadly poisoned-effect to the target.
 Drops: 2x Deadly Venom Rodent of Unusual Size Level 18 Vermin Health: 350/350 Special: Bit and roll – The ROUS jumps on the hero and rolls with them causing 25 damage to hero and confusing them. Drops: Health Core Ship Rat Level 20 Aquatic Vermin
 Health: 90/90
 Special: Unsanitary Bite: Poisons the target, if the target is already poisoned, deadly poisons them instead.
 Drops: Nothing. Giant Rat Leader Level 23 Demonic Vermin Health: 265/265
 Special I: Accursed Gnawing – Causes the cursed-effect to the target and causes the encouraged-effect to self for 3 rounds.
 Special II: Say Cheese - Causes enraged-effect to the target because the target is allergic to cheese, and gives itself immunity to all effects for 3 rounds.
 Drops: Tiger Balm, 3 Bones, Shackles of War Note: Specials alternate. Giant Rat Leader is weak to Cheese Elemental attacks.

 Player-Critique: Atramor - What else to say. I've hosted you so many times... you always bring something fun and new to the table. Atramor is a dynamic character, he's smart and witty and powerful, and YOU always take an interest in and follow the story. I love it. I liked your post a lot in the hall as well - Atramor and Boomingham would be tight friends now, if they ever met again, I think, as they have very similar philosophies at this point. So, like normal: good RPing, good strategizing, great build, lots of fun. Tesni - It was good to have Tesni back! I said I wasn't going to pick any Wren questers and was trying to branch out, but seeing as you missed 53 (and Atters was built to kill rats) I ended up taking you both! Tesni is always a lot of fun. She's sweet but very powerful - someone who would be great to be friends with, but terrifying to anger. I loved when you told Ellaria to just stab you already. Very cool moment. I'm sad that the RP dies down a little from you when fights begin, but I'm actually exactly the same way (I think it is a character choice for both of us) and so I understand. Would have liked to see more, but what I saw was, as always, awesome, and I find Tesni super fun to play with. Ellaria - Oh Ellaria. She's so innocent, and I love it. Everyone else has such a hardened past and so many regrets and are all "bad-assery" from it, whereas Ellaria has had a tough past and is just the sweetest little girl, though she's still believably affected by her past events. I liked everything you did, and was SO HAPPY to finally host you. I hope you'll come back some time, even though I'm horrible at running battles. There are lots of interesting threads for Ellaria to pick up from this quest. I also wish I had seen a little more from you, especially as the quest went on, but I understand that fights don't always promote role play. Althior - Althior's character used to confuse me a little. I liked him, but he seemed a little all over the place. Then you went to the fields and stopped role playing all together. I am so happy you're back in action. Althior is VERY COOL now, and his emotionlessness is a really unique and powerful choice. Whats best is that you motivated it. It seems like all your (slightly) scattered actions of the past have all informed his choice to give up his emotions. It's a new kind of bad megablocks, and I imagine we'll see people copying it sooner or later. It's fun to have that character to bounce off of. I hope to host or quest with Althior again soon, and I really hope to see you continuing to grow this new Althior, as he really intrigues me. That's all she wrote.

Guts makes a bee-line for Guffington, who is currently engaged in conversation with Lord Chauncey. Upon Guts' arrival at the outskirts of the conversation, Guffington's eyes light up. "Hello there, Guts! Making friends, I hope? Ah, where are my manners. This is my good friend Lord Chauncey, from Bric'Lin!" "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Meanwhile, Docken tracks down U'Or, who stands at the outskirts of the party, ready to light torches on the walls when the sun sets in a few minutes. "Hello, Master Docken. How may I be of assistance?" Nyx catches Everstien giving her a stern gaze out of the corner of her eye. Clearly the Wereraven has thought up some mission for her.

That we've met so far? The Old Gods have stated their immortal life-span wise (as I think Proggs are actually?) and Baba was around when the Moon Elf Kingdom fell, which also seems like a really long time ago. I also imagine the Council of the Watchful Eye is immortal in some way, shape or form. The Dragons too? I don't know how old some of the other dragons are - Vipera has said she's one of the youngest Dastan Dragons, and she's pretty old as far as humans go at least.

Everstien gives a wheezy cough as Guts walks away. "Look how flustered he gets when things don't go his way," he mutters to himself, smiling. "Clearly he has never learned to clean up his own mess." "He may have in the past, but I think U'Or does most of that work for him. At least for tonight its just us three and the chef. The chef comes from other lands, I don't know where, but he's definitely not from the hovels." "I've often found that hired help, when hired, has some of the best stories. Whenever Lord Marsh throws a party for friends, he always gets the most interesting sorts. I guess its just a habit I developed. Most of our guests are usually from Gull, whereas the help can come from anywhere." "I have no idea why he was so keen on it. Perhaps to keep an eye on me?" Lady Marsh shrugs.

"You have time to make amends. But it is fleeting."