File under Funny - Kitty's Whim and Horses

It started when Kitty wanted to ride horses. So one cold winter day, we were off to ride horses on a whim. Her horse was named Star and mine was called Chico. I can managed to mount a horse and saunter around, but I am far from experienced.

Chico was a majestic, deep brown horse, standing about 16 hands. I got on him like a champ. And I sat there for about 5 minutes smiling and admiring him as he admired me.
Well, no. He was sizing me up.

First, he twitched head to hoof. Then he spun, followed by a serious attempt to throw me. Since I was still attached, he took off like bolt of lightning racing over mud and snow, on the trail and then between trees. His final trick to get me off was to crash to a stop in a shallow pond and roll.

I managed to keep my seat through all of it, including in the part where he rolled over me in 18 inches of water, mud and ice. I somehow fell backwards against Chico's rump instead of being smashed forwards onto the pommel. Then we trotted back to the barn where the rest of the group was waiting.

I was terrified. So terrified, that the grin I had on mounting him was locked on my face. I couldn't speak because I had the wind knocked out of me. The people who were expecting a complaint or possibly a lawsuit were left the impression that I was completely unfazed by the horseplay. And off we went on the rest of the ride. Me, sopping wet, bruised and bloodied; others, happy, dry, and content.

After that, I was in with her.

File under Funny - College Job

In the early 1990's, I had a "job" watching the computer rooms at my school. I didn't take much effort, either it was nailed down or too old to be of use to the average student. I wasn't required to know anything about computers. Which was good, because I didn't. 

One day, a guy who had interviewed for the very job I currently held came in the room. He knew a lot about computers and for whatever reason wasn't given the job. I think he had a relative at the school and it was a political thing. Anyone but him as show of "fairness". 

His sudden appearance set off alarm bells. He was acting oddly, fidgeting with stuff and moving from work station to work station. Since the room was fairly full, it was a distraction. If someone got up, he plopped himself in to the empty chair and fidgeted before moving on. Final, I asked him what he was doing. 

He muttered something and turned bright red. It was clear he was both angry and embarrassed. I asked him to repeat himself and he shouted "I'm cleaning mouse balls!" 

I nearly died.

Old Voln Symbol List

I was looking at some old logs and noticed one of my characters accessed the old Voln Symbol list.

For those who wish to see the old stuff:

Symbol list
Symbols known to you:
Symbol of Recognition
Symbol of Blessing
Symbol of Thought
Symbol of Recovery
Symbol of Courage
Symbol of Protection
Charl’s Throw
Kai’s Punch
Phoen’s Kick
Symbol of Calming
Symbol of Sleep
Symbol of Turning
Symbol of Mana
Symbol of Sight
Symbol of Holiness
Symbol of Submission
Symbol of Restoration
Symbol of Need
Symbol of Retribution
Charl’s Improved Throw
Kai’s Improved Punch
Phoen’s Improved Kick
Symbol of Preservation
Symbol of Dreams
Symbol of Return
Symbol of Invitation

How to get the Deeds done – Wehnimer’s Landing Temple

Deeds are critical to avoiding death’s sting. Obtaining Deeds in The Landing is fairly easy and is one of my favorite places to purchase Deeds.

The basic formula for deeds is:

101 coins for the deed plus your level times 100 plus the current number of deeds times 100.

This formula works in the Landing, River’s Rest, the Caravansary, and Icemule Trace.

There are a couple of caveats, in River’s Rest you may only use gems. In Hearthstone Manor you may use wands but no coins. In the Temple in The Landing, gems are worth triple their value. In Northern Caravansary you may only use items while in Icemule Trace you can use items in addition to wands but no coins.

In Wehnimer’s Landing, the temple accepts silvers and/or gems, and the gems are worth triple their value. This appears to be the best value for your money.

Enter the temple, go through the black arch, go through the tapestry, use the mallet to hit the chime two times then kneel. Drop your gems and coins and hit the chime again.

If you attempt to kneel before hitting the chime twice you will receive a warning. Once complete, you are escorted from the room.

Trivia 1: In the old days, there used to be ONE tapestry and people would line up to use it. You literally had to wait for others to figure out the puzzle.

Trivia 2: The Caravansary sells a Ruby for 5000 coins. By the formula, one Ruby will always be enough for one deed for characters 100 levels or less and having less than 48 deeds. For the 49th deed, you need to drop one coin and for each deed beyond that you need to drop an additional 100 silvers. This is only possible at the temple not the Caravansary’s deed shrine.

Game Mechanic Shafts

Sorcerers are known to have one of the cruelest game mechanic shafts – low strength and/or constitution and a requirement to tote a ton of kit to work spells. Many spells require some sort of component: 740, 735, 725, and 714 just to name the major ones. Bottles, rune stones, ink, paint brushes, pens, chalk and so on.

For this reason, I role play a slightly built sorcerer with glasses and robes. No one should be surprised when he rummages in his backpack for a bottle or sack for some found prize instead of wielding a weapon.

This isn’t the greatest mechanical screw in the game. I think the record holder is the old Tapestry in the Temple, Wehnimer’s Landing’s. Back in the day, the Tapestry was a unique item and space. One character at a time could enter that part of the Temple. So, queue it up and play nice for a deed. Yes, one deed because you were pitched out by the acolytes, just as you are now.

This mechanic was removed years ago, but I still recall the wall of text and line of characters waiting their turn.

Back in the Rest

I finally reactivated my account and now have my main character, Magarven back in River’s Rest.

A lot has change since I left three years ago. Sorcerer’s have Balefire (713) and a new version of Nightmare (713). I managed to curse myself right in front of a bunch of trolls. Actual trolls, tomb trolls.

Years ago, I used to be a master of this area. I would lay down a cloud of Nightmare and then rely on Maelstrom (710) or Pain (711) to wipe out the trolls. That doesn’t seem to work anymore. The trolls have far too many HP. Perhaps they were tweaked or perhaps I am rusty. In any event, I discovered that the lower levels of the Citadel are more to my liking.

As a Volner, I am enjoying the changes to the Order. Symbol of Mana is much better and Symbol of Seeking is amazing. The ability to seek out undead and teleport there from any monastery is wonderful.

As I explore all of the updates, I hope to see you in the game.

Premium Account Mistakes

With a premium account, there is an option to select a starting town. This is a wonderful tool for new adventurers, but there is a tiny bit of trouble with such options. Every character starts at level zero and certain towns do not have alternatives to Thrak’s curtain or running messages.

Obviously, this is a function of game design meeting a newer game system. As it stands, I have a new cleric trying to level up in River’s Rest. It isn’t working well, but I am going to make it work, no matter how painful.

Every area has options that work, albeit slowly. I will try out the Adventurer’s Guild and foraging to get those points.

For some sage advice to hunting The Rest, try Starchitin’s guide.

GameHosts and Bloodwood Wands

Two epic saves in 24 hours.

First, I armed my level zero cleric with bloodwood wands to level up twice in River’s Rest. That felt awesome.

Second, when I switched to Premium, I reactivated every character on my account. Some of them, such as Battery Joaness I had played over a decade ago and was unwilling to reroll. Since it had been so long since her creation, I had no idea where she was ‘born’ and could not locate her locker. Short of traveling to every town guess at her locker location, I did an assist.

The happy ending is all I have to do is check the locker manifest in Four Winds to find the lockers location. No guessing at all. Silly that I had to assist instead of figuring that out for myself, but if it works, I should share it. I am glad the GameHost didn’t laugh at me.

The last time I did an assist, I had just received an enhancive device that pushed my stats so high that I have an 11 spirit. Having been killed recently, I was running around with 1 spirit point and took off the device. I believe I was going to cast 405 on it to see if it was ok. Guess what happened? And guess what happened when I put it on and it suddenly failed?

Fun, but I hope a GameHost has an epic laugh log from my experience.

How to Get the Deeds Done – River’s Rest

Deeds are a little unusual in the Rest. Just like everything else, eh?

There are just a couple of steps:

Kneel
Look in Pool
Look in Pool
Touch Pool
Put gems and/or shells in the pool
Touch Pool and be transported
Touch Flower
Get Seed
Plant Seed

In the Rest, I am not sure if gems or shells are tripled as they are in the Landing. I have not tried coins, so attempt that at your own risk.

Log begins here:
[River’s Rest, Spring Rest]
All about, leaves and small twigs litter the forest floor, but at the forest’s edge, in this clearing, brush marks in the soft dirt show the care that someone takes here. A pool of clear water dominates the area and feeds a small stream which meanders southward beside a small path.

At the edge of the clearing, two large stone pillars mark a pathway west.

Warm sunlight filters through the trees and seems to invite the weary to rest here in peace.
You also see a long pier.
Obvious paths: east, south

>kn

You kneel down.

>look in pool

As you gaze into the pool of water, you feel a sense of well-being steal over you. Your reflection gazes back at you, solemn yet serene and inviting.

>look in pool

Briefly, you glimpse the image of a one-armed man, reaching out to you and smiling as if in invitation.

>touch pool

As you touch your reflection in the pool, it shimmers and fades away, leaving you gazing at a glittering mound at the bottom of the pool.

>get she from back

You remove an emperor’s crown shell from in your oilcloth backpack.

>put shell in pool

The scent of herbs and flowers seems to drift on the air as you drop the emperor’s crown shell into the crystal clear water.

It falls from your hand into the crystaline water of the pool, gently disturbing the surface of the water. An image of a one-armed man appears on the the water and he is smiling at you.

>touch pool

As you touch the pool, you hear a whispered voice saying, “You are welcome to my garden.” The old man who keeps the pool neat and clean wanders in and gathers the things you have dropped into the pool. He smiles broadly at you and as he does, a feeling of vertigo overcomes you and the world about shimmers and fades.

When your vision clears, you find yourself in a garden and you take a deep breath as you look around curiously.

[River’s Rest, Garden of Life]
A riotous display of flowers and herbs of every description assaults your senses.

Most seem to be in full bloom, but here and there you spot a plant ready to seed, ready to give back to the land that which it has taken. Standing next to one such patch of flowers is a one-armed man. He wears a medallion depicting Imaera as she tends a garden that is so beautiful it makes the one you stand in appear quite drab. She appears to be planting seeds and strangely, she seems to be smiling at you.
Obvious paths: out

>touch flower

As you gingerly touch the flowers, a single ripe seed falls to the ground. As it does, the one-armed man smiles at you and seems to nod approvingly.

>get seed

You pick up a ripe seed.

>plant seed

You scramble to your feet.

Walking to the garden’s edge, you spy a bare spot, and lean down to gently press the seed into the rich soil. As you straighten up, a faint image suddenly appears beside the one-armed man. She smiles at you and softly says, “As you have honored the life of this garden, so shall I beg of Lorminstra that she shall honor your own life.” Her voice fades into a rustle of flowers as a small breeze brushes your cheek. When you look again, she and the one-armed man are nowhere to be seen.

Counting Coup

Last night, I was cleaning up some old logs and found my first adventure into The Marsh Keep Area.

Jersea, Moswell, Gutios, Armundia, Sorlu, Spingwell, Khiya Lurrah, Ponrick, Husark and I left the Common’s in search of a mythic fortress in the bog. Following Sorlu, we took a minor detour to Niima’s shrine. Then we promptly got lost.

We were attacked by Necrotic Snakes in the Ghastly Swamps. That doesn’t happen any more, the swamp is just outside of their range now. I am proud to say I am the first Rester to kill a Necrotic Snake. I was also the first to injury a Chimera, which ran for it’s life.

A few minutes later, I got lost and ended up in a running battle with a Tomb Troll Necromancer, a couple of Flesh Golems and a few Tomb Trolls. Fortunately, the group came back for me and handily defeated the Trolls in a truly epic rescue.

Jersea took up the lead as a bard and lore sang many new finds. She pulled knowledge and details unimaginable to us.

Moving deeper into The Keep, we found the Flooded Chamber. The pool with turned out to be an impassable barrier to me. I wished the others well and took up the rear guard position. Armed with a flask, some pretty old songs and my staff I managed to hold the Chamber against hordes of Trolls. I was focused on holding on, I missed the signal. The rest of the party escaped back to town.

My fault, entirely. I went down fighting an uncountable host of Trolls. The rest of the gang escaped back to town.

For the record, I heard that the prize was a book.

Gruesome Feast

I was fighting a Flesh Golem and took it down as a Tomb Troll Necromancer entered the room. Instead of attacking me, it did this:

With a ravenous glint in his eye, a tomb troll necromancer pounces upon the body of a flesh golem and begins feasting on its abdomen. Within seconds, the golem’s midsection is torn asunder and the troll necromancer looks up from his meal with gore dripping down his face. A tomb troll necromancer looks much healthier after consuming his gruesome feast!

I’ve never seen that before. And really don’t want to again.

Hording Gear

After years of hoarding, I finally have a character that can use some of my accumulated gear. Ryvell, my cleric has a matching pair of maces:

You remove a sigil-etched black Ora mace from your silvery leather sheath.
You remove a white Ora mace from you black leather sheath.

I need to get better sheaths, but for a 6th level cleric, follower of Zelia, these weapons are perfect.

Astronomy, Elanthian Style

Elanthia is interesting. This world is set in what would be our Middle Ages or slightly before, yet they have developed astronomy due to the weird nature of their satellites.

Examine Stars:
You gaze up into the sky and see a broad field of lights…
An elaborate and expansive pattern of twenty-one stars shines directly overhead through the darkness of the night sky, forming the serpentine coils of a magnificent drake, its raised head framed by a dark indigo nebula. Every star within sparkles with a brilliant silver hue, highlighting the twinkling outline of the regal creature as it drifts its way through the darkness.

Examine Lornon:
You gaze up into the heavens scanning for the moon Lornon…
Lornon drifts through the upper sky as a full perfect circle. Whorls of darker hue shift slowly across the icy disc, their rhythmic swirling nearly blending in completely with the blackness of the sky.

Examine Liabo:

You gaze up into the heavens scanning for the moon Liabo…
Liabo isn’t anywhere to be seen right now.

You gaze up into the heavens scanning for the moon Makiri…
Makiri isn’t anywhere to be seen right now.

You gaze up into the heavens scanning for the moon Tilaok…
Tilaok isn’t anywhere to be seen right now.

No only does the planet have four satellites, they move. The moons play a great part in the history of Elanthia, Lornon is the most prominent moon and the home of the evil Arkati. Liabo, the largest moon, is the home of the good Arkati. Tilaok and Makiri orbit Liabo, not the planet.

In the distant future, Makiri will plunge into the surface of Liabo in a titanic cataclysm. Once a month, Lornon is tinted blood red. The cause of this is unknown. In the distant future, the moon always appears red.

It appears that the world of Elanthia is shared by three game systems – DragonRealms, Gemstone IV and Dragons of Elanthia. Gemstone IV takes place many years before DragonRealms and who knows when Dragons of Elanthia takes place.

Black Ora Weapons

My sigil-etched black Ora mace is sort of a disappointment. I thought it would flare, but it doesn’t because it has been uncursed. Pity.

However, today Serendipity was able to ensorcell it. Right now I just have a level one temporary ensorcellment, but soon I shall have a permanent cast on it.

Strange tactics

Gemstone IV has a lot of depth. There are many classic tactics you can use, such a parry tag, combat maneuvers or spells to slow opponents down.

However, the are some more subtle  tricks built right into the game. For example, going prone before an elemental wave hits will not hurt you. The same for shield bash. It is also unlikely that you would sucked into an implosion.

Going prone affects affects both offense and defense by 50 points. Choose carefully.

Sometimes, a minus 50 is better than vaporization.

Other tricks include the basic warding check. If an  opponent has Fasthr’s Reward running casting a low level warding spell can trip the Reward, ending the spell. For example, Dark Catalyst costs 19 points to cast and is really expensive to cast against Reward. Blood Burst costs one point and has the same chance to trigger and eliminate this defense. Other good choices are Corrupt Essence against spell casters and Spirit Barrier against swingers. The nice thing about these cheap spells is that they can trigger the Reward even if the creature is not subject to the attack type.

For example, Purified Citadel Heralds are immune to Blood Burst due to their undead status, but Blood Burst still forces a warding check. This effect is the same as casting Limb Disrupt on a creature with no limbs, you can succeed in overwhelming their TD or Target Defense, but that success will not effect a creature with no limbs.

Old Golems used to be puncture immune; it is the exact same situation, you can hit them with an arrow but it doesn’t do anything. This has been remedied my changing Golems to “puncture resistance”, so current Golems aren’t a good analogy any more. Certain creatures are completely immune to magic, trying this stunt is a waste of time. Vvreal and Constructs come to mind.

Rock is paper vs cold and fire

An ingenious attack method built right into GSIV. Cold and fire spells against stone creatures cause extra damage. Casting Dark Catalyst against stone trolls or giants causes their skin to crack to horrific effect. The temperature differential adds another round of damage a moment or two later.

This is different than the standard Fire Spirit against trolls. That merely slows or stops regeneration for a time. The temperature differential is extra damage. This is a good thing because that stone skin is as tough as metal.

My pet theory - Monster Combat Tactics

I have a pet theory. If a creature can’t hit you with weapons, it switches to magic. If that fails, it will try combat maneuvers.

This is roughly how a combat maneuver appears to a sorcerer.

At level 60, I can’t help but notice how often Hisskra will attempt their dart maneuver or how shield bashy Tomb Trolls can get.

One of these days, I will roll up a swinging type character and take them to the Tower or Keep to see if they get the same effect. At level, I suspect that cman’s are just one tool. When fighting at a disadvantage, cman’s will be used to affect characters.

Remember, this is just a theory.

Decaying Citadel Guardsman Plasma Attack?

The Rest is always full of surprises. 

>A decaying Citadel guardsman raises her red steel Hammer of Kai high
above her head and begins twirling it around. Faster and faster it spins, causing radiant white flames to fly out in all directions and shower the room in motes of searing plasma!

One of the brilliant white motes heads right for you!
A mote of radiant white energy passes harmlessly by you!
Roundtime: 3 sec.

I suspect this would hurt. I have no idea what it would have done to me. 

Slate Wands - Old Equipment

I have a couple of old slate wands in my locker. I wonder if these are rechargeable.  

>analyze wand
You analyze your slate wand and sense that the item is free from merchant alteration restrictions.
You get no sense of whether or not the wand may be further lightened.
>analyze other wand
You analyze your slate wand and sense that the item is free from merchant alteration restrictions.
You get no sense of whether or not the wand may be further lightened.
>pre 405
You gesture and invoke the powers of the elements for the Elemental Detection spell…
Your spell is ready.
>cast at wand
You gesture at a slate wand.
The essence swirls as it flows in a fog of chaotic patterns around the wand.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
(Forcing stance down to guarded)
>pre 405
You gesture and invoke the powers of the elements for the Elemental Detection spell…
Your spell is ready.
>cast at other wand
You gesture at a slate wand.
The essence swirls as it flows in a fog of chaotic patterns around the wand.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

They don’t play nice with 405 like a Thanot Wand so I don’t know how many charges they have. 

>cast at wand
You gesture at a pale thanot wand.
You sense that the wand is a magic item that holds the spell “Limb Disruption” with a fair amount of charges.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

A hit, a palpable hit.

I am off hunting swordsmen, so of course I can only find heralds. This morning, I decided to ensorcell my baby blue kakore runestaff. It was a good choice. 

>incant 719
You trace an intricate sign that contorts in the air while
forcefully invoking Dark Catalyst…
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at a putrefied Citadel herald.
CS: +325 – TD: +280 + CvA: +17 + d100: +48 == +110
Warding failed!
… and hits for 11 points of damage!
A putrefied Citadel herald is suddenly engulfed in flames of pure
essence!
… 25 points of damage!
Flames incinerate right leg to the bone. Not a pleasant sight.
It is knocked to the ground!
… 15 points of damage!
The Citadel herald’s left arm trembles with the cold.
… 20 points of damage!
Heavy shock to left leg. Gonna limp for awhile.
… 25 points of damage!
Strong blow to chest!
You feel 5 mana surge into you!

Necrotic energy from your kakore runestaff overflows into you! 
You feel energized!
Your kakore runestaff flares with a burst of flame! 
… 15 points of damage!
Burst of flames chars neck a crispy black.
You hear a sound like a weeping child as a white glow separates itself
from the Citadel herald’s body as it rises, disappearing into the heavens.
A putrefied Citadel herald writhes on the ground then spits, “This
cannot be defeat…” before lying motionless.
The very powerful look leaves a putrefied Citadel herald.
The white light leaves a putrefied Citadel herald.
The dim aura fades from around a putrefied Citadel herald.
A white glow rushes away from a putrefied Citadel herald.
A putrefied Citadel herald seems slightly different.
A putrefied Citadel herald seems hesitant.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

I tagged him with DC which triggered a flare from my kakore staff and then an ensorcellment flare. I wish someone had been there to applaud. 

Runestave Collection

Magarven is lucky. He has found three rune staves in three weeks, bringing his collection to 4 four.

He first is a blackened orase runestaff, which is +20 and ensorcelled.

The second is a deringo runestaff that carries two different enhancements. It adds +2 to my mana and +6 to Dexterity. It has an odd bonus of +14. It is currently fully charged.

The third is a baby blue kakore runestaff, which adds to my mana regeneration. It is also ensorcelled. This one has bonus of +9 and flares with fire.

The last and most recent discovery is a banded faewood runestaff. It does not appear to have any special statistics other than the +20 to defense.

Pretty soon I will need a golf bag for all of my staves.

Tips and Tricks – Enhancives

There is a quick trick to figuring out if an item has a temporary enhancive bonus. Take it to the Adventurer's Guild and attempt to recharge it. Not only does this detect an enhancive you might not know about, he will tell you if it is full or not.

River’s Rest and Dust

I was wondering why there was so much dust in River’s Rest. It turns out that River’s Rest is modeled on Andalusia in Spain.

Andalusia is a Mediterranean climate and experiences both torrential rains and cool dry spells. This was revealed by Scribes on the forum.

Perhaps the image on the left is the hills where the Kakore was harvested for my runestaff.

I think it is wonderful.

The current descriptions go back to Bradach and Jineer. They gave the town a dry and dusty flavor, with vague hints of Middle Eastern Culture. I would describe it as Moorish, but Middle Eastern fits, too.

Another possible Easter egg in the town is the inexplicable model ship available at Bertha’s. It might have been modeled on the ship in MYST, however no clear evidence of this exists. There is a couple of ships in the River’s Rest environ’s, so this could be completely independent of the MYST ship.

Gemstone IV help doc

This is a level and creature tracker. The key at the shows experience points for levels. Write you level number in the box with 100. In the boxes to the left add one to your level, to the right subtract one.

The two squares are for ticking of 25 or 100 creatures. You can use the experience key to determine how many critters you need to kill per level.

When I get around to scanning, I will added it to the Artwork and Maps page. 

File under funny - Between the Sheets

When the children were old enough, I decided they could earn an allowance by doing chores. My daughter immediately claimed making the bed was a chore. I decided to run with that one and handed out fresh bedding to all of the children. They were to strip the bedding, toss it down the laundry chute and make their beds.

My daughter finished in record time. My boys on the other hand had some trouble. I found them sitting on the top bunk scratching their heads over the sheets.

Thoughtful head-scratching.

I explained the fitted sheet went on the bottom, the top sheet of course went on the top. They didn't look too impressed with my explanation, but climbed off the top bunk and went back to work.

I checked back a little while later and found two happy boys, sitting on freshly made beds. Ah... if only everything was so simple.

At bedtime, I noticed two sheets neatly folded on the desk. The boys were already falling asleep so I did a cursory check. Yes, both boys had fresh bedding that matched what I gave them. Perhaps we had 3 sets of the same sheets. Stranger things happen around here.

The next morning, my wife watched as the boys made their beds and discovered the extra sheets.

She called me in and asked, "What did you do?"

Flummoxed, I shrugged.

She explained to the boys: "That's ok, but when you make a bed, you put two sheets on each bed."

The boys protested. "Dad told us to put the top sheet on top and the fitted sheet on the bottom. So we did."

My wife replied "Yes..." and cracked up. They put the top sheet on the top bunk and the fitted sheet on the bottom bunk.