Zepher

I was just hoping to give a QMs insight... and win the case.

I urge everyone to read my argument for this new rule about a page back before voting. As I have a bit of experience as a QM and know what balancing battles is like, I feel those who have not had that experience might benefit from reading it.

Yay. PS - Still a fan of everyone who plays this game, and sorry that a rule I made up on the fly when trying to balance a battle caused so much contention.

The Hourlings go through their transformations once more. Round 9 Hourlings Battle Docken v. Uma - Hit (33-2=31) Guts retrieves Potion Hybros v. Id - Hit (No Assassination) Hybros v. Id - Critical Hit (Assassination) Docken fires a well placed bolt into Uma, and Hybros cuts down yet another foe. His armor gives him a little shock as Guts feels a Nostrum land in his hand. The Enemies Uma Level 24 Hourling *Poisoned* Health: 112/324 SP: 2 Special: Envy – Uma attacks a hero with a force equal to the hero’s power, minus half the hero’s current health. This blow disregards SP/row. Drops: Nothing The Party Guts Holla, Level 19 Raider *Party Leader* Power: 33(27) Health: 27/32 Gold: 693 Inventory: Lifestealer (WP:14, Ice, attacks restore 3 health), Beholder's Eye, Bedroll, Shovel, Mythril Shard, 6x Mead, 4x Nostrum, 6x Smelling Salts,, Nostrum, Elixir, 9x Grand Potion Grand Tonic, 5x Remedy, 1x Phoenix Essence, 2x Phoenix Essence. Hybros, Level 19 Assassin *Hastened* *Cursed* Power: 32 (33 for Clock Cog, 28 for Bladerang, 27 for all other throwing weapons, except 24 for Shuriken of Mercutio) Health: 21/25 (-6) Gold: 964 Inventory: Zoot's Reaper (WP:13, Earth), Clock Cog (WP: 14, retrievable), Shuriken of Mercutio (WP:5, retrievable), 2 Throwing Knives (WP:8, retrievable), Banana Bladerang (WP:9, damage all, retrievable), Ancient Throwing Dagger (WP: 8, retrievable), Helmet (Max HP +1), Cat Statuette (Max HP +1), Golden Armor (Artifact, Bodywear, User is permanently hastened and cursed), Grand Potion, 1 Smelling Salts, 6 Grand Potions 10 Potions, 5 Remedies, 2 Phoenix Essences, 2 Smoke Bombs, 3 Holy Bombs, 5 Nostrums, Mead, Smelling Salts, Deadly Venom, Bone, Bedroll, Skeleton Decoy, Shovel, Emerald Bartholomew Docken, Level 22 1/3 Warden *Scary* Power: 33 Health: 41/41 Defense: 15 Gold: 451 (50 Gold loaned to Arthur Justus Regulus VII [Flipz]) Inventory: Briar Bow (WP: 11; Wood Elemental), Mockthril Longbow (WP: 5), Mythril Shield (SP: 15), Frozen Saber (WP: 9, causes stunned effect to opponents), Dread Hat (enemies lower than half of wearer's Level won't attack directly), Quiver of Poisoning (permanent poisoned effect to all attacks, backwear), White Marksman's Hat (⅙ chance of Assassination vs. Flying monsters), Lover's Locket (immune to the Enamored effect), Bedroll, Mead, Venom, Smoke Bomb, Soma, Grand Tonic, Potion (3), Potions (2)

Quest 38 Sign-Ups Althior (K-Nut) Alexis (Masked Builder) Johon (Bricksandparts) Christopher Daggerfall (Fred Fred Burger) Nagure (Costy) Dak (Darth Nihilus) Haldor (Scorpiox) Jess (Sisco) Alisha Mortek (Poison Ivy) Sylph (Dannylonglegs) Dryrugr (Vash the Stampede) Tesni Hightribe (Peppermint_M) Isabella (Dharken) Arthur (Flipz) Cronk (CorneliusMurdoch) Quest list will go up on Sunday, and we will depart on Monday! The party has been expanded to 5 people.

Nice MOC! It really looks a ton like a train! Vote: Pablo Parrot (darkdragon). Nice color scheme!

I've said what I have to say on the matter. I think I explained why it needs to be the way it is well enough, and I will keep the rule in place in my quests, unless Sandy states specifically that she demands we all change it. In a entirely not mean way, if you don't like it, avoid my quests, because it will be present, and I don't want you to play in a way you don't enjoy.

The Hourlings go through their transformations once more. Round 8 Hourlings Battle Docken retrieves a Potion Guts v. Id - Critical Hit ([14x2]+19-4=43) Hybros v. Uma - Critical Hit ([13x2]+19-2=43) (No Assassination) Docken envisions and receives another potion, and Guts and Hybros stand back to back and hack at their enemies. The Enemies Id *Poisoned* Level 5 Hourling Health: 192/400 SP: 4 Special: Ego – Encourages the hero for the next round. Jinxs them for the round following that. Drops: Nostrum, Mead, Deadly Poison x2 Uma Level 3 Hourling *Poisoned* Health: 144/324 SP: 2 Special: Envy – Uma attacks a hero with a force equal to the hero’s power, minus half the hero’s current health. This blow disregards SP/row. Drops: Nothing The Party Guts Holla, Level 19 Raider *Party Leader* Power: 33(27) Health: 32/32 Gold: 693 Inventory: Lifestealer (WP:14, Ice, attacks restore 3 health), Beholder's Eye, Bedroll, Shovel, Mythril Shard, 6x Mead, 5x Nostrum, 6x Smelling Salts,, Elixir, 9x Grand Potion Grand Tonic, 5x Remedy, 1x Phoenix Essence, 2x Phoenix Essence. Hybros, Level 19 Assassin *Hastened* *Cursed* Power: 32 (33 for Clock Cog, 28 for Bladerang, 27 for all other throwing weapons, except 24 for Shuriken of Mercutio) Health: 21/28 (-3) Gold: 964 Inventory: Zoot's Reaper (WP:13, Earth), Clock Cog (WP: 14, retrievable), Shuriken of Mercutio (WP:5, retrievable), 2 Throwing Knives (WP:8, retrievable), Banana Bladerang (WP:9, damage all, retrievable), Ancient Throwing Dagger (WP: 8, retrievable), Helmet (Max HP +1), Cat Statuette (Max HP +1), Golden Armor (Artifact, Bodywear, User is permanently hastened and cursed), Grand Potion, 1 Smelling Salts, 6 Grand Potions 10 Potions, 5 Remedies, 2 Phoenix Essences, 2 Smoke Bombs, 3 Holy Bombs, 5 Nostrums, Mead, Smelling Salts, Deadly Venom, Bone, Bedroll, Skeleton Decoy, Shovel, Emerald Bartholomew Docken, Level 22 1/3 Warden *Scary* Power: 33 Health: 41/41 Defense: 15 Gold: 451 (50 Gold loaned to Arthur Justus Regulus VII [Flipz]) Inventory: Briar Bow (WP: 11; Wood Elemental), Mockthril Longbow (WP: 5), Mythril Shield (SP: 15), Frozen Saber (WP: 9, causes stunned effect to opponents), Dread Hat (enemies lower than half of wearer's Level won't attack directly), Quiver of Poisoning (permanent poisoned effect to all attacks, backwear), White Marksman's Hat (⅙ chance of Assassination vs. Flying monsters), Lover's Locket (immune to the Enamored effect), Bedroll, Mead, Venom, Smoke Bomb, Soma, Grand Tonic, Potion (3), Potions (2)

As addressed, you can't really do that as that's the only thing that makes Knight classes unique now that everyone has SP. Yes, that's always been that way. It's not a punishment to the Knight classes, it's just a mechanic I added to make my fights make sense. And upgrading shields still makes sense. 1 damage is rarely going to KO anyone (yes, I admit SOMETIMES it may... but I don't think it's ever finished anyone in one of my quests). There is still, of course, incentive to upgrade shields. As I've said, Docken is safe from anyone under level 32 right now, if we implement the no (-1) on Free Hits rule. He's invincible to those people BECAUSE he upgraded his shield so much. It takes 41 rounds to kill him. Without his shield, against a person of 26, let's say, it would take only 4 rounds of free hits. So, upgrading his shield gives him an extra 35 rounds right now. I'd say that's a pretty good incentive to use a shield, and proves it's worth even with this rule. Final three points: Other than the first time I noticed we needed it, I have always warned my parties I'd implement that rule. Peppy, I'm sorry that you think we're cheating the system by using, but actually the rule helps a lot of QMs created balanced and fair fights. You know I love ya, but your comment was a little off-base. Finally, all this is coming from a shield user. I agree to it. I think it's needed.

Don't worry WBD, we'll vote you off as the first day sacrifice, so you'll have tons of free time!

Yeah, the issue is this: Let's say that I want to pierce Docken's shield. He fights back row, and can absorb 15 damage there, which means you need to have a level 32 creature to do 1 damage to him (32/2=16-15=1). He could survive that monster for 41 rounds, assuming he didn't roll aura in that time. A 32 creature is a huge issue for everyone else. Even with the -1 automatic rule, most battles are more "see if the rogues get to gain XP" as opposed to "see if the heroes can beat the monsters" because that's never in question, Docken always will. However, in the end, Sandy has the final say I guess. It is her game. I'll just have to pick parties more carefully from now on.

I think all immunities are usually in gray. Also, I love rereading my own long quests. I forgot about the Nyx side-quest almost entirely, I love the NPC banter throughout that whole thing.

Flushing Out The Culstists (During the Sphinx Battle) U'Stus Watching (Between the two visits to U'Stus' House, directly preceding his death)

No, you killed U'Vires before he could come back to fulfill that. It was supposed to be him all along. Zepher plans his quests down to important dialogue.

The Hourlings go through their transformations once more. Round 7 Hourlings Battle Docken v. Id - Shield ( ) Guts v. Uma - Shield (Id: 33-1=32) (Uma: 33-2=31) (Sig: 33-0=33) (Gold: 96) Hybros v. Sig - Critical Hit (Assassination) ( ) The party feels better, and so launch into action. Docken swings forth his shield again, and Guts flies at all the enemies, hacking at them with his short dagger and stealing gold left and right. Hybros calmly slides through the carnage behind his ally, and while Sig is distracted, sticks his reaper, a surprising suiting weapon for this quest, into his foe's gut. Sig falls motionless. The Enemies Id *Poisoned* Level 15 Hourling Health: 236/400 SP: 1 Special: Ego – Encourages the hero for the next round. Jinxs them for the round following that. Drops: Nostrum, Mead, Deadly Poison x2 Uma Level 3 Hourling *Poisoned* Health: 188/324 SP: 2 Special: Envy – Uma attacks a hero with a force equal to the hero’s power, minus half the hero’s current health. This blow disregards SP/row. Drops: Nothing The Party Guts Holla, Level 19 Raider *Party Leader* Power: 33(27) Health: 32/32 Gold: 597 Inventory: Lifestealer (WP:14, Ice, attacks restore 3 health), Beholder's Eye, Bedroll, Shovel, Mythril Shard, 6x Mead, 5x Nostrum, 6x Smelling Salts,, Elixir, 9x Grand Potion Grand Tonic, 5x Remedy, 1x Phoenix Essence, 2x Phoenix Essence. Hybros, Level 19 Assassin Power: 32 (33 for Clock Cog, 28 for Bladerang, 27 for all other throwing weapons, except 24 for Shuriken of Mercutio) Health: 21/31 Gold: 964 Inventory: Zoot's Reaper (WP:13, Earth), Clock Cog (WP: 14, retrievable), Shuriken of Mercutio (WP:5, retrievable), 2 Throwing Knives (WP:8, retrievable), Banana Bladerang (WP:9, damage all, retrievable), Ancient Throwing Dagger (WP: 8, retrievable), Helmet (Max HP +1), Cat Statuette (Max HP +1), Golden Armor (Artifact, Bodywear, User is permanently hastened and cursed), Grand Potion, 1 Smelling Salts, 6 Grand Potions 10 Potions, 5 Remedies, 2 Phoenix Essences, 2 Smoke Bombs, 3 Holy Bombs, 5 Nostrums, Mead, Smelling Salts, Deadly Venom, Bone, Bedroll, Skeleton Decoy, Shovel, Emerald Bartholomew Docken, Level 22 1/3 Warden *Scary* Power: 33 Health: 82/41 Defense: 15 Gold: 451 (50 Gold loaned to Arthur Justus Regulus VII [Flipz]) Inventory: Briar Bow (WP: 11; Wood Elemental), Mockthril Longbow (WP: 5), Mythril Shield (SP: 15), Frozen Saber (WP: 9, causes stunned effect to opponents), Dread Hat (enemies lower than half of wearer's Level won't attack directly), Quiver of Poisoning (permanent poisoned effect to all attacks, backwear), White Marksman's Hat (⅙ chance of Assassination vs. Flying monsters), Lover's Locket (immune to the Enamored effect), Bedroll, Mead, Venom, Smoke Bomb, Soma, Grand Tonic, Potion (2), Potions (3)

Hahaha. You can only post so many Quotes in one post, which I tried to beat by not posting them all in one post... but they merged. So I've got to wait a bit before posting the rest of the side-quests.

Side Quests Dastan (During the Marketplace Battle) Dastan - Wren Hunting (During the retrieval of Mallelio) OoC: Is it related to your Nutritious Banana? The party makes it's way back to the Palace. They walk in without any trouble, Felton simply nods to one of the guards. "We are lucky to have Phil on our side," he remarks. The party makes it's way through the hallways of the Palace. In the King's Audience Hall and Grand Chamber, the party sees him talking with a U'Kin, who Atramor recognizes as U'Stus, and Phil. Felton beckons to Phil, who quickly breaks off from the conversation and exchanges a word or two with him. Felton then leads them to the second floor of the castle, to a backroom. The door is flung open, and Ella is inside. In front of her is a blue bowl filled with mist that she whispers to softly. Before the party can say a word, she turns around. "Hello, Felton, Hans, Atramor. How is the hunt coming? You need me for something?" The party begins to step into the small room, but Ella stops them. She walks up to McCaffrey. "Hello little feathered one," she says quietly. "I'm so sorry, but you are not permitted into my study. I tolerate you in big spaces, but there is already enough magic in this room. I will not flatter with myself by saying that I understand what you are, because I don't, but I can tell you that on the Ether plane, if one is looking, you have quite a bit of power. In the Energy Pools that the Dragons watch, you register even more strongly. Perhaps you are not as used to hiding yourself on that plane? Be careful, or Vipera will have you out of Dastan." She allows the others in, leaving the chicken at the door. "How may I help you?"

That Chimera I had to hide behind fog. I'm posting the side-quests now. Hopefully the mysteries of them will be more clear now that everything is done. Atramor, for example, just opened a ton of mysteries in his side-quest, all of which were answered WAY down the line. FUN FACT: See find the ending quote in the Atramor Side-Quest. One of the NPC deaths was heavily alluded to. See if you can find it!

BD, you know I adore your pictures. Your characters are awesome looking and... well dressed, for lack of a better word (they're outfits are always fitting/make sense). I love particularly the scenes of the Lions farming, namely because they have awesome brick built animals, AND that's what Lion Knights are supposed to be doing. Beautiful shots, one and all. I also enjoyed all of the Dastan architecture we created - I think we all looked at each other's builds and stole pieces from them, so in the end we actually created a distinct style that held true throughout the Quests, though of course your's were the most beautiful.

I can vouch for that. All the ridiculous confusing backstabbing enemies who were sort of working together and sort of not working together... that was a Zepher creation. The Cultists were a cool "side-plot" that actually wove itself around all the quests. Again, showing that not all threats are the biggest threat. The heroes had to worry about their objective, the cultists, and Wren, all of which were differently oriented.

I'd say four to five days? Got other Heroica things to do first! The NPC index needs some love and care, and then after that, I think I'm taking a day or two of rest, but as soon as that's done, we'll be back out! I'll at least let you finish this battle in the Fields, it's got some pretty swell drops.

That was the lesson of my quest, not the trilogy, so you did get to see less of it than the others. But I agree, kudos to all three quests on obtaining all the goals! Note taken! Thank you for the feedback, I will stretch out the roleplaying stimulating events more so in the future! And I absolutely loved the dancing and miming. It was very funny, and a great explanation. The rounds were hellish to run. Seriously. Very cool, very exciting (especially when things went horribly wrong or awesomely right for the heroes) but VERY hellish. And time consuming. A round usually took around an hour for me. And yeah, Thothwick is the polite quiet guy who is very well played. I'm with you there Atty. I also hope that you get to run into Wren again!

...that would have been me. Oh, it was 100% created to be used against the likes of you. Hey, who says that I don't give my players choices! Railroading is featured HEAVILY in my quests... but so is players making world changing choices! Well, Phil and Poletad are the two "NPCs who shouldn't be". Neither of them were in any original plans for quests. Now I think Poletad may eventually be in the most out of all my NPCs. I love that little guy. Then he wouldn't have been in Dastan. He wasn't originally a Dastanian, it was only at the end of the Quest that I picked his homeland, and only when we decided to do a three-pronged quest and I remembered that Dastan had three Emperors that we decided to visit his homeland. Phil is a wonderful name for an Emperor. I don't know if you've caught the homage, but all the Frog Paladins have names starting with "P' in reference to your Lion Knights.

...here we go... Final Notes: Alright, so, tons of thoughts, but before we get into personal feedback, player feedback, and story analysis, over-view, and moral I have a things I need to get out of the way. JimButcher and BrickDoctor – This was AWESOME. Super awesome. You were great to work with, and well, we’ve worked together for about 8 months total at this point, planning and then executing. It was a huge pleasure, you were both easy to work with, and I am so thankful that we did this. Sandy – As ALWAYS, thank you for your support. When I first told you that we were doing this, you were supportive. When I told you our ridiculous idea for the final battle, you said you trusted us to pull it off. Thank you. NOW, what we’ve been waiting for: THE STORY FEEDBACK THE POINT: Did you notice that you were confused almost the entire quest? Everyone seemed to be demanding something different from you, and you rarely had the right information to make the right choice. THAT WAS ON PURPOSE. You were supposed to feel sort of lost. U’Stus and Constance refused your protection, and the Emperor demanded that you protected them. Side quests went on right and left, and you knew that somewhere out there, there were other heroes at work. This was all to help me prove my (and Wren’s) point. You can’t please everyone. Sometimes, there is no good solution, only the best solution given the circumstances. Wren quests are all about taking the heroes down a peg and teaching them a harsh reality of the world. This quest taught this: you can’t always win, you can only achieve the best possible out-come, which is nearly never the “perfect” outcome. So, quick story explanation and analysis: Wren – Wren took a back-seat on purpose in this quest. I’m afraid of portraying her as TOO powerful. The players (me in particular) need to remember she is a sub-plot to Sandy’s over-all story. So, this time, she was not the main villain, and she stated on many occasions that she could not succeed without her allies. This was true. I also don’t want to lose Wren’s human weaknesses. She has fallings, many of which will become even more apparent next quest. I wanted to allow those to shine through a bit. Felton & Constance – Here I wanted to do something new. Many of the Wren quests have dealt with liars and false promises (Quest 7’s advertisement, Quest 19’s Fake Felton). I haven’t focused, however, on someone who has purely good intentions but is a broken person doing something wrong. Felton really did believe that Constance was evil, and really thought the heroes needed to act against her. He has trust issues, and they appeared, even while he was trying to do good. Constance, on the other hand, was racist and a snob, but she too had the good of Dastan at heart. I also wanted to see if the heroes of Q 30 would kill her, even though it brought them closer to failing the quest. Ambiguously Good & Evil Characters – Wren is not supposed to be purely evil, more clinically insane, but I decided to play with the idea of likable villains in this quest, along with unlikable protagonists. XX spares Nyx’s life in U’Stus’ Manor (one of my favorite moments of the whole quest, actually. It came to me suddenly and it worked so well, and it made XX far more interesting). U’Vires actually likes U’Stus, and is sad about his death, and also turns on Wren. Wren and U’Vires both assist the heroes when they go to fight the Chimera, a force that they both deem too dangerous, even for the likes of them. Sphinx likewise fights honorably, and spares Mallelio when the heroes win him back. Claw offers to kill him anyway, but Sphinx prevents it. Felton and Constance, both “broken protagonists” have already been discussed. Three Quests – This was one of my favorite things. By all three of us going to Dastan, you can really see the entire geo-political landscape. The racism against the U’Kin is mentioned in every quest, the three Emperors, the Dragons, the Chimera… you all got to see it all, and by showing it from so many angles, we got to paint a better picture. Think of all the nations we talked about. Lion Knights, Dastan, Dragons, Rito, U’Kin, etc. Fitting that all into one quest would have been impossible, but with 3, we got to tell you EVERYTHING about Dastan. That was a huge thrill. I also drop little things about the other quests in my quest. XX says, for example, at some point, that he was hired by Roland, though he doesn’t mention the name exactly. He lists everyone else who could have hired him to fight alongside the heroes, and ends the list with Alandri and Septrine, but says that “the others got to me first.” Little drops like that... I also hid U’Stus’ funeral in Quest 29 when Felton asks them to kill Constance. They didn’t know what it was, but now, after reading all three quests, they’ll get it. There are other little nuggets. Wren, when meeting the heroes in Quest 31, talks briefly about XX and U’Vires. Sir Lyons, almost every time he was met, referenced Loren and his other men. The more you read, the more you’ll find. I paid a lot of attention to the other quests, and so did the others. You can pick through for tons of fun surprises. Ella mentions the tunnels the villains used when she talked about Brunt, and Blackenord and XX discuss them briefly and in little detail before they fight Nyx. Story Changes – Things the players did changed the course of the story. The first change was Atramor staying behind when the heroes went to go fight Sphinx. I was forced to produce an entire side-quest for him, that was actually a great thing, because I got to introduce Constance earlier on and show her actually fight alongside the heroes against a Chaos Beast. It also intro’d the whole Ella kidnap scheme, and let me introduce her early on as well. The second change was when Nyx stayed behind with U’Stus. I couldn’t let her stop that battle all-alone, but she was smart enough to stay, so I wanted to give her some reward. By staying she discovered Blackenord was traitorous. This cut the number of Chimera guards he had in the final battle. Because Nyx saw him, Constance got to go arrest him, and story-wise, he produced less Chimera Guards. The final battle was supposed to have 15, but that number was cut down to 8. Likewise, if Blackenord hadn’t been found at U’Stus’, the heroes would have fought him while the Lion Knights invaded, and then fought Lyons and his troops in the Palace instead of fighting them outside and Blackenord inside. Finally, I had expected the heroes not to save Ella, but they did. I thought since she was not an objective, they’d be sort of forced to let her go, but apparently they were strong enough to stand up to the Chaos Beasts, so kudos on that! Railroading – Sorry, it had to happen sometimes. I could always ask you if you were ready to move on, and with a story this complex, a stop at the library of Dastan would only cost us time. I mean, this thing was four months with me guiding you. Sorry, but Zepher quests will always always move the players where they need to be. Again, I gave people two sidequests that weren’t supposed to exist because I did want to encourage freedom, but sometimes you just had to move from Point A to Point B without stopping at Point C, D, Omega, and Pi. Brunt – The heroes embarked on a very short side-quest involving the insane Emperor Brunt. I thought it would be a fun thing to do to develop Ella more, along with the back-story of Dastan. It also proved that not every little event leads back into the main plot. The heroes had to exorcise a ghost, and that was the end of it. Helped the paint the NPCs and landscape, but didn’t do much more than that. PLAYER FEEDBACK Alright, this is already getting super long, but I have so much to say: Whole Team – I think coming off Quest 19 I was a little spoiled. The team dynamic of that Quest was absolutely fantastic. I think this team dynamic was a little slow to get on its feet, but after that, it really took off. The splitting into group hurt it at first, I think, but those groups got really strong. When Tarn and Nyx kept ending up together, especially after the Sphinx fight, they actually got chummy. Atramor and Tarn after fighting Brunt actually got pretty close too. It was fun to see. Even Nyx being the misfit in the group that visited the Ritos was an interesting mash-up. However, when the team got back together for fighting Lyons, I nearly had tears in my eyes you were all playing so well. It was a really interesting dynamic – you had all seen different things in Thothwick – I enjoyed having Thothwick around! He’s one of my favorite characters. He reminds a lot of Hoke from my last quest, a voice a reason amid all the more strange characters. He still has a great flavor to him; he’s just not goofy or sad. He’s simply Thothwick, quiet, polite, thoughtful, friendly. He’s an all-around good guy who makes good choices and thinks before he acts. He is the only hero to sit out the Constance battle. I love it. I would have liked to see some more conflict with him and some others. Out of all the heroes and villains in the quest, the only person he seemed to have any personal sadness or hatred towards was Atramor, and he didn’t seem super friendly with any of the NPCs (might be a choice you made, maybe none of them were really his style). I would have also liked just a TAD more sadness or thought or conversation about Hoptet. Maybe he could have talked to one of the other characters about it? Over-all, great job, thanks for being the Party-Leader, I had a ton of fun. William – Where were you? You seemed to check in with the Quest every week or so. You posted more while you were knocked out in the final battle than you had for the previous month. For the parts you were around, you were pretty helpful, and sometimes you had bursts of good speeches… just wish they had been more consistently there, because when they did appear, they were a ton of fun. Perhaps I just don’t host the type of quests you really get engaged in? Thanks for playing with us! Tarn – Man oh man. I had a ton of fun with you. You and Atramor take the cake for interacting with the most NPCs, though I think Atramor might have outdone you a little. I purposely had Ella be attracted to you because I wanted you to feel more guilty if/when she was taken by Wren (again, shocked you guys stopped that). You played with that beautifully, and you and Mallelio developed a friendship through it. You saved his life and he fought with you against Brunt. You also had an interesting, albeit brief, relationship with U’Stus, and I think you took his death properly, and played that well. You were another good straight guy, and yet you had conflict, rising and falling emotions… and of course you blew up Constance. Atramor – Holy crap, I swear you spent more time with NPCs than with other players, and damn you did a nice job with it. I think you saw more of Dastan than anyone. McCaffrey was awesome too, meeting with all the people of Dastan and giving her unique thoughts on it. You met Ella for real before anyone else, and Constance as well. You had that whole side-adventure with Felton and Hans when the three of you stayed in the city. You made U’Vires a true enmy of your’s, and were the only hero in the entire quest who got the experience of a true Wren Quest by chatting with Wren in the Library. You were even one of the only two heroes to fight Brunt, and luckily you were the hero that read about him earlier on. You also did a damn fine job of roleplaying through my rail-roading, very impressed. I also believe firmly that you had one of the best grasps of everything going on… again, possibly because you met the most people and got the most information. Nyx – I felt a little bad for Nyx this quest. The people she seemed to interact with most were the enemies. She built up an extremely interesting relationship with XX (who is slated to appear in at least two more quests because I really love him, so I hope you get the chance to see him again and see that friendship/rivalry/hatred grow). She also had her stomach issue thanks to Blackenord, and that caused her to hate him, something you played very well as well. Nyx is funny and serious at the same time, and that makes her a lot of fun. She is already one of Boomingham’s best friends, and now she gets to join the cast of heroes who know the NPCs of the Wren Quests. I’m very happy to have taken her along, and hope to see her again soon either as a quest-mate or a questie. All in all, a lot of fun. I loved the NPCs, I’m proud of the story I told, I’m thankful to my “co-workers” and players alike. It was four months, but the three of us set out to tell an epic story, and I really think we did. I can’t wait to hear everyone’s thoughts on it all. And Characters too look forward to who will be returning in either later Wren Quests or Other Zepher Storylines©: XX (2 quests at least), Phil (1 quest at least), Vipera (1 quest at least), Mallelio (1 quest at least), Felton (2 quests at least), Hans (3 quests at least), Poletad (4 quests at least), Ella (possibly one quest) I will be posting the Side-Quests in the quest thread tomorrow! I'm going to go celebrate this being done by getting awesome burgers!

"I do not take offence Thothwick, but it appears that your friends would see me crowned. I do not know how to be an Emperor, but I will learn. I will, however, do what Thothwick knows to be just. I am an older man, and have served my country all my life, taking no wife and having no children to call my own. I will go to the U'Kin district and find U'Stus' closest adviser, and I will name him my successor. I may not be a U'Kin myself, but I will pave the path that is required. When Ella takes over to Severus, and when my young U'Kin takes over for me, a new age will certainly dawn in Dastan. An age you will have helped to create." "Victor, it is my pleasure to accept you as the third Emperor of Dastan. Let's start talking ceremonies. The two men walk off. Mallelio walks up to the heroes and shakes each of their hands solemnly. "Thank you, and may we meet again." Mallelio also makes his way back into the Palace. Ella gives Nyx a big hug, shakes Thothwick and William's hands, and pecks Atramor and Tarn on the cheek with a kiss. She then smiles wanely and follows the rest of the Dastanian nobles into their gutted palace. "Well, I think we know by now we will be seeing you soon enough. Give the heroes our regards, and keep an eye out." The heroes nod, and are ushered down to the carriage that will take them to the coast. They glance back one last time - dragons soar, and the city stands gleaming. The Party: Thothwick (Professor Flitwick) Level 19 Rouge Power: 27 Defense: 0 Health: 30/30 Gold: 857 Equipment: Sabre (WP: 8), Cultist's Hat (regular attacks do Damage to Undead), Fire Amulet (Artifact, Accessory, each attack causes double damage to enemies weak against fire) Inventory: Whip Chain (WP: 6), Shuriken (WP: 5), Bedroll, Telescope, Dragon Scale Nyx (Pandora) Level 21.66 Battle Mage *Immune to Asleep-effect* Power: 34 Defense: 0 Health: 31/31 Ether: 19/26 Gold: 290 Equipment: Book of a Thousand Creatures (WP: 13; each roll has a 1/6 chance to summon a creature to aid the hero), Shiny Helmet (+1 max Health), Sandman's Parasol (immune to Asleep) Inventory: Dawnstar II (WP: 9), Healing Staff (WP: 5; healing effect), Wooden Shield (SP:2), Ruby (Fire), Amethyst (Darkness), Topaz (Lightning), Sapphire (Wind), Emerald (Wood), Garnet (Earth), Scroll of Weakening, Potion, Remedy, Tonics (2), Grand Tonics (2), Holy Bomb, Bones (5), Ether Core, Bedroll, Explosive Staff – WP: 12 (Does 1/2 damage to all enemies on a successful hit (normal damage to targeted enemy) and 1/2 WP damage to self on a roll of 4 (disregarding SP/row)), Bomb XX, Dragon Scale Atramor Gibbin (CallMePie) Level 21.33 Witch Power: 31 Defense: 0 Health: 24/24 (-14 for remainder of Quest) Ether: 6/10 (-9 for remainder of Quest) Gold: 402 Equipment: Ratsbane (WP: 10; +2 Health on successful hit; Fire, Ice, Earth, Wind), Witch's Talisman (Poisoned attacks become Badly Poisoned), Ancient Crown (gives target the Cursed-effect on first hit of battle) Inventory: Black Katana (WP: 8), Staff of the Elven Warlock (WP: 5; Wood), Grand Tonic, Fire Bomb, Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Blindness, Bomb XX, Dragon Scale Tarn Valco (Rumble Strike) Level 17 Barbarian Power: 30 Defense: 2 Health: 274/24 Gold: 138 Equipment: Lion’s Heart (WP: 13, Stuns target on successful hits), Sand Worm Hide (SP: 2), Amulet of U'Kin Nobility (Non-Artifact Accessory, Grants Diplomacy to wearer when addressing a U'Kin) Inventory: Helbaerend (WP: 10; Water, Ice, Lightning; Hollow Blade: Remedy), Fauxthril Spear (WP: 6), Shovel, Pickaxe, Dragon Scale William Harkenshire (VolcanicPanik) Level 15 Ranger Power: 20 Defense: 0 Health: 1/20 Gold: 370 Equipment: Repeating Crossbow (WP: 5, may not be upgraded; Fire; Hastened), Horse Inventory: Hand Cannon (WP: 5; Lightning, Wood), Chimera Armor (Torsowear, Suitable for Knights and Barbarians, +2 SP, +2 Health), Lion Knight Shield (SP: 4; unsuitable), Sapphire (Wind), Remedy, Smoke Bomb, Mead, Smelling Salts, Skeleton Decoy, Venom, Elven Bomb, Magnifying Glass, Bedroll, Pickaxe, Shovel, Bomb XX, Dragon Scale As the heroes sail away from Dastan, Vipera broadcasts one final message into their minds. <May the Dragons set fire to your heart and fly it away.> As they leave Dastan, all the heroes can't help but wonder if Dastan will ever really leave them. THE QUEST WAS A SUCCESS!