Tag: EQ2

(( Every weekend I try to post one book from my player-written library collection for others to enjoy. You can find the library on the Antiona Bayle server, under the name of Ellithia. The home is located in the North Freeport mage tower, bottom floor where the magical housing is. If you’d like to donate a book to the collection please just leave me a message in game, and if you’re from another server I’ll make sure I send a blank book your way. Thank you! ))

The Story of Saryrn:
By Love Betrayed

Alannys

Many centuries ago, long before the gods had forsaken Norrath, there lived a strikingly beautiful young woman, beloved of Erollisi Marr. It was said that her laugh could make flowers bloom and she embraced life, full of love. Everyone spoke of her beauty and kindness, and she lived and loved to the fullest, embracing a love of food, drink, art, music–everything that life had to offer. The Goddess of Love Herself chose to bless Saryrn, promising a rare and special love, a soul mate, and giving her a vision of him.

She met him, a paladin of Marr, and they fell deeply in love and married. He served in the Temple of Marr in Freeport by day; their nights were spent entangled in each others arms in a modest little home outside the City. It seemed as if Erollisi’s prediction had come true, and for a time Saryrn was happier than she had ever been, completely fulfilled in her

life and love. Her paladin was her other half and her reason for living; and she was his–or so she believed.

As time passed and the idyllic honeymoon period faded, she began to feel as if something was wrong. Her paladin seemed less attentive, distracted, and the thought that he might have found another clawed at her tender heart. She had given herself freely, allowing herself to freefall into love with abandon, and suddenly it seemed as if there would be no one there to catch her.

Hurt and confused, she began to question him: Did he really love her? Was he happy? Was there anything else she could do to bring them closer? His half-hearted assurances did nothing to ease her mind. Her pain and distrust grew into a burden far too great for her delicate shoulders.

One morning, after he had tarried overlong at home and found himself running late, her husband left the lunch she had packed for him behind. Though her heart still cried out over his treatment of her, the devoted wife picked up the basket and went to bring it to him, combing the streets of Freeport on his normal patrol route, but he was nowhere to be found.

Finally, after searching for hours, she heard his voice, rushing to him. There he was, at a table inside an inn. A pretty young woman leaned over him, her hand on his shoulder, and her heart shattered. All of her fears coalesced into hard reality: her husband had found someone else. As she watched the two of them laughing and flirting, Saryrn realized the cruel joke Erollisi Marr had played on her, and fury filled her heart. She had given herself freely and fully, because of the

Goddess’s assurance–what a vicious trick that had been! Perhaps the Goddess had been unable to bear the adoration Saryrn had commanded, or her beauty, which had been said to rival the Goddess’s. For whatever reason, she had obiously decided that Saryrn would suffer.

Freed from the false love she had been cursed with and full of the righteous fury of a woman scorned, Saryrn plotted her revenge. She lured her husband and his new lover to  the house that had once been the scene of marital bliss and would now be their torment.

Over the next few weeks, she took her revenge on the cheating couple–torturing them with acid and flayed skin, hot irons, skewers and blades. The woman was weaker than the paladin and escaped to the mercy of death much faster than he did. Finally, he

passed as well, but her rage and pain was not satiated. She tried to move on, but Erollisi’s curse followed her.

In the next years, a similar pattern arose:
Saryrn would meet a young man, marry him, and he would betray her. She would punish them as she had her first husband and his
lover, only to fall into the same trap, set by the jealous Goddess of Love.

As the years passed and her despair grew, she slowly came to realize she was no longer alone. A voice spoke to her, calling her attention to the injustices and injuries done to her. He called himself Baraguj Szuul, and whispered to her of unbelievable possibilities and the weakness of man. His voice was soon joined by another–Maareq the Prophet. The prophet foretold her ascension into the Pantheon of the Gods. Under his tutelage, she

finally turned completely from the worship of Love and embraced the dark arts.

No longer did she dread the punishments she had to perform when someone betrayed her–
instead, she sought these transgressors out, thrilling to the sounds of anguish as she meted out her special brand of justice. With
each punishment, her vision of the future grew clearer–a place composed of the most exquisite pain. Such was the power of her mind that it took physical form: a citadel of obsidian, rising out of the agony of the world. She took shelter within its walls.

She slowly left her mortality and memories of that life behind. Moving through the dreams of mortals, she lured more and more transgressors to her Citadel. Here, surrounded by minions she created and the two who had helped raise her to this place, she finally

ascended to her rightful place as Saryrn, Goddess of Pain and Mistress of the Plane of Torment. This sent shockwaves through the pantheon and though the light gods used her
as an example of why the gods should not meddle in the affairs of mortals, in their wisdom the dark gods disagreed, seeing the new Goddess as the perfect way to extend
their power in the realm of Norrath. Innoruuk, Cazic-Thule, and Bertoxxulus–the Dark Triad–quickly embraced her, drawing her into a Pact.

Saryrn’s Plane is crafted entirely of black obsidian, beautiful and stark. The moans and screams of the tormented rise in unison as a choir and the air itself will burn one’s lungs. The land is in a permanent state of twilight and one may see the Goddess Herself wander the Citadel and outlying area, tending to the tormented Herself. Those Blessed with her

touch may suffer a moment or an eternity, according to Her glorious whim, and all fear Her and know Her Name.

Blessed be the Goddess, and a curse upon Erollisi Marr–in her jealousy she sought  to destroy one whose beauty outshone hers, but in the end she failed, elevating Saryrn far past her mortal existance, to herself walk among the Gods as equal.

((A Saryrnite’s view of the Lore of Saryrn’s Creation))

I have no shame in admitting that I enjoy achievements. I like these extra little goals that players can work towards, and while I don’t spend ALL of my time hunting them down, I like the fact that it’s just one more aspect that’s been added to games to give them another dynamic. When I get to a ‘what do I want to do today’ phase of my gaming I’ll typically spend a little time working through a few of the easier achievements while I figure out what I want to do for the ‘bulk’ of my play time. As I’ve already mentioned (numerous) times before, I’m one of those gamers that doesn’t like to do one single thing day in and day out, I switch around a lot. One day I’ll do nothing but crafting and then another I’ll run through old quests, and yet another I’ll spend hunting down appearance gear. It’s great.

It’s easy to work on exploration achievements while I’m hunting down shinies, so that’s what I’ve been doing lately. I’ve been looking up some collection quests (mostly tomes) where I’ve only needed one or two pieces, and wandering around for hours hunting down those elusive question marks and fluttering pages. Exciting? Well, that depends on how you like to spend your time. No, it’s not really that exciting, there’s no real fear of death or being swarmed by mobs when I’m wandering through a lower level zone, but it’s still fun.

Yeah, things are a little quiet game-wise this week (and this will continue into next week) as I work on my Beckett deadlines. After the 5th you can expect posts to move back to their regular scheduled program *grins* I’m sure everyone is just super excited about that. Well, ok maybe just me.

In the mean time, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself, and I’ll see you in Norrath (and numerous other places).

Dasie (templar pictured above) was lucky enough to get her first piece of T4 gear last night, some boots from Miragul’s Planar Shard. No, I didn’t raid with her, but the boots weren’t needed by anyone else so I was allowed to scoop them up. I’ve pretty much ‘decided’ (as much as I ever decide anything) that I’ll be playing the templar when Sentinel’s Fate comes out (at least on the Oasis server) and it’s made focusing much easier. She doesn’t have 200aa yet, so I’m working on that as I make my way through achievements, and harvest.

I spent most of yesterday (off and on) wandering through Pillars of Flame which is an absolutely incredible looking zone off of Sinking Sands. I love exploring. It’s one of my favorite things to do in any game, whether I have been to the zone before or not. There’s always something that I haven’t looked at before, and something I notice that maybe I didn’t see the first 100 times through.

Games that act as visual treats for me are keepers. No, that’s not ALL I need in a game to keep me there, but it’s one of the higher factors. If I’m looking at a game that’s visually appealing to me chances are I’ll stick around longer and see past the ‘bugs’ that may be there (ie: Vanguard any one?) more so then a game that just doesn’t appeal to me on that level.

After the game was done patching first thing in the morning, I logged in my Inquisitor to see how the xp changes affected her. When I had logged her out previously she was just a little into 75 (and I was excited about being able to do TSO instances for shards) and when I logged in yesterday she was 147% through her level. I decided to complete a level 1 collection quest (since she had completed none) and she dinged 76, and 47% through that level. That character is on the back burner for now while I concentrate on my templar, but it was still nice to get some ‘free’ experience due to the changes in the curve.

Aside from that, it was a fairly quiet day! I spent some time doing the Moonlight Enchantments that are in game, got a few new shinies, which is always wonderful.

I hope everyone else has a fantastic Thursday, no matter what realm you find yourself in. Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath!

Sentinel’s Fate is about a month away, give or take and I’ve started preparing for the expansion on a few characters that I think may be ‘mains’ in the future (I’m attempting to limit myself to 1 per server that I play on currently, which means 3). One thing I’ve decided to start doing is stock pile shinies. Not just stock pile, but collect as many as I possibly can (there are plenty that I’ve never completed) and get them ready to turn in when the expansion goes live. There are a lot of people who have the same mind set as me, and that also means that shinies are going to be selling VERY well for the next couple of months. They always do when a level cap increases, people are always looking for ways to gain extra experience and alternate advancement.

I’m also trying to get ready on the crafter front. That means ensuring I have enough supplies to get from 81-90 although there’s a chance I could simple do the TSO crafting quests in order to get the levels at a low cost of no fuel. Since the new level cap is going to be 90 and not 80, I’m going to be losing the 50% bonus that my characters currently receive for both crafting and adventuring, and I’ve been looking for other means of obtaining bonuses. Potions is a major one, and there are potions I’ve yet to claim, as well as rewards from LoN that I haven’t bothered with yet. There are also those recruit a friend mounts that offer a 10% adventure bonus to people in group that I plan on keeping handy, not to mention that all important vitality, and the five and six year veteran rewards that replenish that vitality once a week.

How are others preparing, if at all? Any words of wisdom to share with readers on how they can better themselves in preparation for Sentinel’s Fate? Let me know in comments below!

Even after playing for over five years, there are still things I’m learning about EQ2 every day – and I love that aspect of the game. I love that things are constantly changing and evolving, and that while I do know a lot of things, I certainly don’t know everything.

Like yesterday, I learned that there’s a way to tell whether your harvesters are done collecting or not. I suppose I just had not looked at them close enough. When they’re waiting for supplies to come back, they pace and tap their foot impatiently. Once the supplies are back (or when they’re not currently assigned to harvest goods) they stand still. No more guessing whether or not the two hour time limit has gone by before you hail them and send them in search of more goods.

There are a lot of other little tidbits of information that don’t exactly come readily available to some players, a few that stick out in my mind I’ll post here. If you know of another little ‘did you know’ bit of information, then please feel free to leave it in a comment below! It’s always great to share these pearls of wisdom.

– Did you know you an assign chat channels to whatever number sequence you’d like? Making sure that the number you want to use is not taken (/channellist) you can /setchannelnumber old new (where old and new are the actual numbers) and re-assign them to your preferences.

– Did you know there are ‘new’ wizard spire options for travel? When you’re standing at a spire move to the center and look up. You’ll see a spinning vortex that (when selected) lists other shattered lands locations not previously listed. Wizards also have these locations attached to their spire spells.

– Did you know you can easily search for shinies on the broker by opening your quest journal and the broker (keeping both open) and simply clicking on a piece you’d like to search for from the journal? No more having to type out long names of collection pieces. Nice!

– Did you know that you can mentor someone in your group without them being in the same zone as you? Simply type /mentor when you’re in a group with them and it will pop up a window for you to select from.

– Did you know there are more then two ways to stop mentoring someone? You can leave the group (or they can), you can type /unmentor, or you can right click on your name on the UI (not the one in the group window, but the one in the target window) and select the unmentor option.

There are plenty of other wonderful pieces of information out there, and I love the fact that I’m still learning.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself! I’ll see you in Norrath.