Tag: EQ2

Yesterday was one of those very busy days in EQ2. It was wonderful, because they don’t happen too often for me. First of all, I teamed up with Kasul from Nostalgia, and he and I (as my coercer mentored) finished off two heritage quests for the guild, the guise of the deceiver, and the fishbone earring. Nostalgia 2.0 dinged 11, 12, and 13. Kasul also killed the tide octopus in Cove of Decay granting him the polished granite tomahawk and a bunch more status.

Once that was done I headed to a few instances, to check out SOE’s recent update that allows you to get guild status on completion of an instance. In other words, the final name gives status now. I did Obelisk of Blight just for fun (the entire run took 15 minutes with three of us) and Crypt of Valdoons. Instances barely anyone adventures in any more. 1203 guild status or so was the reward. Crafting would have been faster.

After those two quick instances a group was formed for Vaults of Eternal Sleep, in Jarsath Wastes. Nothing of significance dropped (besides the mobs) but it was still fun.

After that I headed to the newly revamped Runnyeye – and was sorely disappointed. There were no deaths the entire time (not that I wanted any) except for one pull on the final x2 mob (and we had no mezer so we tanked all the adds plus the x2 at once). The key to the encounter is simple – cure. That’s right, in order to make this encounter infinitely easier healers just have to do their job and cure every single dot that lands on the tank. If you leave a dot on there for longer then the .5 of a second it should be, you’ll wipe. Cure them instantly though and the encounter is smooth as pie – with no enchanter.

The list above is all the loot we got in Runnyeye aside from the final encounter that dropped a fabled bracelet for melee. Arysh looted it all – and promptly transmuted every single piece.

Ouch.

It was either not an upgrade for anyone, or it was a piece of caster gear and we didn’t have a single caster in group. We didn’t see a single master spell drop, and the whole zone left me feeling as though I was power leveling an alt through the original Runnyeye rather then exploring a new dangerous zone. Of course, I was with a team of mythical / vp geared people. Shadowknight tank, a templar, swashbuckler, dirge, assassin, and myself as warden (the only one there still wearing treasured and only level 79). Take your ‘average’ EQ2 player and I’m sure the zone is a lot more challenging.

What did make the zone fun for me were the two quests within it. Too bad they’re not repeatable. You get two house items, the fun bowl of eyes pictured above (more like a pot in size now that I think about it, a cauldron) and a hanging eyeball that I placed upstairs in the garden, because doesn’t that location just scream ‘giant eyeball goes here.’

It was still a great night, and I had a lot of fun. Remembered why I enjoy the game. Tonight is Nostalgia night, and I’m looking forward to that. No reason why I can’t play both games as the whim takes me. I did also managed to get Silhouette a few crafting levels (Ok, by a few I think I mean one) which was nice. The carpenter has been on hold for so long now. Time to get cracking so I can get all sorts of new house item pretties made! Her 5-room Gorowyn house is decidedly empty.

GU 46 came out yesterday in EQ2 and wow was it a big (great) one. I always talk about shinies, and for most people that means new weapons and new armor. Not for me. Nope. It means house items and new quests. So while the update introduced new quests and world events, which also reward some very amazing things – I’m going to talk about the house items in true Stargrace form.

The first one above is “Fae Tavern Shelves” and you can right click that awesome house item and have it pour you a drink. It’s the perfect size for any home.

Oh – wait. Where does it come from?!

That’s right. What wasn’t mentioned in the patch notes was that they added RED shinies to four zones. These shinies you can ONLY see while wearing your crafting epic. Finally. A reward for the crafters. The shiny pieces are lore, so don’t expect to go out harvesting these by the buckets. They also respawn VERY quickly, so if you’re worried about crafters gouging you, don’t be. I saw a few pieces going for not even a plat – and since word is not really out about these shinies yet, expect them to go lower and lower.

The four zones these shinies come from are Barren Sky, Loping Plains, Steamfont Mountains, and Fens of Nathsar. There was talk of another collection being found in Bonemire, but I have not seen any proof of this in the short time I ran around the zone and browsed the forums.

The piano looks much like the blue shiny reward from Mistmoore castle – but this one of course is darker in colour and it also plays music. Each time you click it to play a song, music notes rise out and your house will be filled with various tunes.

My favorite item from the red shiny rewards – is the Norrathian Star Chart. Combine this item with the globe that you can get from faction, and the star chart you can get from blue shiny rewards in Ak’Anon, and you’ve got yourself a nice little set up started.

These house items are completely separate from the other house items added to game – the rewards for doing the storm quests and turning in certain amounts of tickets. I haven’t even looked into those yet aside from the initial quest which opens up the repeatables. No doubt I’ll find time to write about them, too.

Now I have to find room to place all these red shiny rewards. Then decide whether or not I want to do the quests again on an alt so that they too have the rewards. Remember not only does Stargrace own a 5-room Qeynos house, but so does Arysh. Petites owns a 3-room Kelethin home, and Silhouette owns a 5-room Gorowyn home. . . . .

Crazy? Naw..

“Mayong’s Cruelty: the Drachnids”

From the diary of Najena, Tier’Dal sorceress.

It was in the beginning of the apex of my career of sorcery when I accomplished what I still believe to be my prized achievement. They were beautiful beasts with carapaces that gleamed so black they seemed to be cut of obsidian, multi-faceted eyes that could not even begin to comprehend, and they were many hundreds, possibly thousands, of times the size of their much smaller cousins: the black widow spider.

They were beautiful, deadly, and my creations.

Once I had discovered the secret of raising these magnificent beasts, I sent some as gifts to those I admired. Among these individuals was Mayong Mistmoore. Seeking to curry his favor, and to let him know exactly how capable of a sorceress I was, I sent him one as a gift.

Imagine my surprise when he sent it back, irrevocably changed. And my poor emissary, L’Dalt, butchered for his experiment.

What had left as two different beasts returned as one. He had grafted the head and torso of L’Dalt onto the body of the spider, and the two walked as one. L’Dalt’s personality and memories seemed to have been lost in the shift, but his cunning and magical powers were still there – capable of being carried to and utilized wherever the body of that spider could take him. It was a truly formidable combination.

I couldn’t help but feel a hint of amazment and respect for Mayong’s ingenuity. At the same time, however, he had stolen my design and used it to his own ends. The thank you note he sent, “Thank you for supplying Mistmoore with suitable raw ingredients for true servants”, mocked me. I vowed to learn all I could of these creatures and create something better.

I studied these creatures, which came to be known as Drachnids, after Mayong began to release them into Norrath in packs.

They settled into small, neatly organized colonies. The young males spun the webs, and the young females caught food for the nests. The business of the mature males was always elusive. They seemed to be carrying out orders, possibly of Mayong’s, but to what ends? I could never tell. The mature females fought for dominance in the position of nest matriarch. These Widows fiercely protected their station and killed the younger females that might challenge them. It all had a beautifully simple design to it. Mayong was truly a genius.

My studies ended when I was discovered. Trapped in their webbing for days, I nearly went mad from hunger and thirst and finally, out of a purely desperate attempt to live, I managed to use my magics to get free. I evaded all who pursued me, though I know I am truly only alive today because I never had to contend with any mature Drachnids, and hid beyond their borders.

Before I was to truly escape, however, I confronted Mayong. He seemed to be waiting for me, on the edge of their territory, and his face was without pity, or humor as I approached. I outlined what had happened, expecting, well, I am not sure what, but something from him. He, however, only coldly acknowledged that his creations seemed to be establishing themselves well and learning to act together.

When I told him exactly how offended I was that he cared not for what had nearly happened tome, he merely stared at me and informed me that the only reason he had called off the mature Drachnids was because I had played a small role in their creation. I felt foolish then, incredibly so, for imagining he would be angry at his creations for capturing me. If anything, it was a testament to their prowess, and had doubtless pleased him. He told me then that my boon had been expended, and that I should not lurk around their nests anymore. Next time I would not likely find so fortuitous a path to safety. Nearly every hour of every day, I think of something I should have done or said to prove to him that he had crossed the wrong sorceress, though the truth was that I said nothing to him. I only ran away in a wash of emotions I do not care to admit to having felt.

Once back within my own dominion, however, I began to plot.

I designed newer, more ferocious creatures to match and surpass his own. He, I vowed, would feel that same fear and humiliation I had, and I would not rest until he had been shamed.

I am still striving. I have created creatures from all manners and pitches of nightmares, but none seem to have quite such deadly perfection as those beasts.

I will find one though. It is only a matter of time, and then Mayong Mistmoore will regret what he did to me, and regret having ever made the Drachnids.

By my blood,

Najena

Sorceress of the Teir’Dal

Thousands of years ago, a group of brilliant iksar druids sought a power unlike any other possessed by their people. They tapped into a deep, ancient power that drew on a very different aspect of nature.

This power is the root of decay – truly a mixture of nature and shadow power. Where most natural power gives energy and life and growth, this power sucks it away. Some powers of wardens and furies draws on this in small doses, but none plunge straight into it the way that these iksar did.

They might have had the world at their feet if the nature of the magic hadn’t slowly drained them of their mental power. They fed more and more on it, and as they did, they lost more of their mental acuity and of their physical form.

Soon, they had little more will or reason than fungi, and their bodies had grown to resemble their intellects;ashen skin covered in slime-like glaze. A small growth, protruded from their head, and as time passed, it swelled and swelled until it resembled a mushroom cap.

Today we know these beasts as the sporconids, and they dwell in the much near Dragon Drool Lake. Though they may resemble giant mushrooms, they have a measure of sentience, and an undeniable power at their finger tips. Fortunately, they don’t have the guile to harness this power fully.

And so we see what can result from harnessing a power that is not fully understood. What might have been a world devastating force became the idle plaything of a childlike, simplistic race of swamp dwellers.

Should the sporconids ever once again realize what they have in their hands, and find a way to apply it fully, all of Norrath might be on their knees before them. Fortunately, they would need an intellect magnitudes greater then their own to do so.