Emeraldwind Chronicle - Development of A War Machine! Part 12

Created May 6^th, 2001. The plan was to show up all of the Mage hot shots saying that a single magic school (in this case, War) with Mana Conversion was not only a stupid idea but would fall short in the long run. To add insult to injury, the idea of a mage with Arcane Lore instead of Creature was also thrown into the mix. As of March 11^th, 2002, not only were they proven wrong, but their faces have been rubbed in the same dirt grave they were digging for me. Emeraldwind is complete, at the level of achievement I originally set out for. And nothing can stop her now. She will keep moving forward until the day Dereth breaks apart and they have to run for the Vaults. 

From level 55 to 60. Adventure. Nothing but plain out adventure. With Creature magic in tow, I lit the Obsidian Plains up with fireworks. Marae Lassel. Those Vapors never saw me coming. Aerlinthe. The bandies are screaming to their comrades about the blue mage that could. Singularity Caul. … well, ok, I haven’t taken a trip back but I’ll go back one day. But I’ve been everywhere I can go… done as much as possible. And that brings us to my new level. The level of achievement.

“Hey, Lumpy, want to head out to the Plains and get me to the 60^th rank of achievement?” I was sly in my demeanor as I pulled my calling crystal up to my emerald eyes. He stared back non-chalantly, combing back the hood of his green robe. 

“Sure. Nothing better to do. Where do you want me to meet?” 

“The bottom of Subway. We’ll buff here and head out.” 

“Be on my way.” 

With my Mana Conversion, I showed Lumpy what a true expert could do, finishing my buff cycle twice before he had finished his once. He hates it when I show off like that. I conjured up the Obsidian Repository portal, and we jumped in. Just for reference, I can no longer go into the dungeon but the exit portal is tie-able and it’s a portal I plan on NEVER losing. 

Things started out simply. We hunted on the tops of the blackened area… but then I had the bright idea of jumping down and going through the valleys… besides, I had found just the other day that the valleys seemed to be much better experience per minute than the plains area. We headed down and began to tear apart the landscape.

Anything that we could find. No fire wisp was safe (especially not at 10k or so). Just a fine example of blasting the crap out of everything.

We danced with drudges. Quite a number of them. Sometimes they wanted to do the War and Life inept two step but I had to change the dance with my own “Eat the Gem, Blast the Kitty” that I had learned awhile back. Or times I didn’t care and just blasted… like I always do. 

Winding our way through the valleys, we started to come out of the Obsidian Plain’s shadow. It can be a harrowing experience for any adventurer, but we made it to the snow covered caps of the further mountains.

Team work was the key. Lumpy would set them up. I would knock them down. His study in the School of the Heart lead him to some fascinating spell nomenclature (namely level 7 vuln spells), which allowed me to use my primarily school to see how much tusker fur burnt when applied correctly to corrosive fires. They didn’t seem to like that much, and we didn’t like the smell, but we sure did like to hear them scream. Aren’t we sick children?

This here is a picture of Lumpy looting a chest from some poor sleeping Virindi. See, when Virindi sleep, they are usually sprawled like that… yes… with their mask broken… yes… yes… move along children (have to TRY to keep this G-rated). Of course Lumpy got crap scrolls… he doesn’t have the luck I do. 

So we continued on. Diamond Golems wanted to be our friends but, sadly, I had to tell them that we had other friends to make. Still, they gave me a present.

But I just couldn’t accept it. Sorry Mr. Golem, but maybe next time I can take it home with me. 

So we kept on going (wow, we’ve been at it for awhile huh?) … and finally met some lugians. Now let me tell you a little bit about them… they were great. Funny, courteous, but one big problem… they stank. So I said “How about we use some of this patented lightning clean that I bought at the store the other day?” And they agreed.

So I got up close and gave him a scrub down while Lumpy kept his distance… yes, they stank that much. And after we were done, they had a present for me. So I closed my eyes and then…

They showered me rainbows!! How sweet of them! 

In all seriousness, it took only an hour to finally make level 60. With the help of Lumpy, I was well on my way to being the happiest mage in all of Dereth. I finally achieved everything I set out to do. 

It truly has been a long road. From my meager beginnings at Eastham (remember the mana potions I kept! Haha, the days!) to those long stretches in Geraldine Constulate… to even longer stretches in Asteliary, the road has been very long. But it’s been good to me. Mage Armor, Staff of Clarity, Quiddity Orb, level 6 jewelry and clothing, and anything else a young mage could want has fallen into my lap at a rate that I never thought possible. And there have been so many people who encouraged me, helped me, gave me a shoulder to cry on when I thought everything was gone. I want to thank each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart. (I’ll list all of the ones I can remember at the end) 

So what are my stats looking like now? Let me show you (and, unlike last journal, I actually have both sets this time around)

As you can see, I rose my Strength. I needed to for some comps… when you’re given 60 Platinum Scarabs, they have to go somewhere! Also, My Focus and Self are both (or almost) at a nice even 220. Of course I will continue to raise them indefinitely. All of the buffs come from the following sources: Mage Armor, Focus Stone, and Elysa’s Favor, as well as Focus 7 and Willpower 7. Mage Armor gives me the Strength bonus, Focusing Stone… the extra Focus bonus, and Elysa’s Favor gives me the health bonus.

As you can see, I’m working with some very nice numbers here. They will be even nicer in the levels to come. My bonuses come from Mage Armor, Focusing Stone, the appropriate Level 7 spells (I didn’t cast Arcane Lore 7 for this picture, however). I also am not equipping any cantrips (though I have some nice stuff saved that I’m going to dye), such as Will and Focus Minors or Majors. 

So far I haven’t found anything that I have too much trouble with. Bane grievers can give me a headache but a couple bolts and they’re down. Otherwise, the only way I can get into a bind is if I’m inepted. When that happens, I eat a Gem. I have to learn my Dispells soon, however. I’m casting nothing but level 7 spells now, since I have all of the level 7s I need and use. Like always, I don’t overbuff and my cycle only takes me 2 minutes to do. Of course, I have level 6 jewelry that I equip. The fact that my protections will never wear out unless I lose the charge makes me happy. Rebuffing includes a couple creature spells and my item spells, along with Blessing of the Executor. Rebuffing takes even less time than an initial buffing cycle. That’s one of the reasons I started this character. 

My plans are to complete quests I’ve never done before… and there are quite a number of them. Mainly because I haven’t had anyone to go with… but I hope to be able to go on these quests with my monarchy now. Maybe I’ll write a journal about those exploits… everyone needs a good quest exploit journal. 

And now to the hardest part of this journal… saying goodbye. Not just to you but to someone very special to me. You all might have known that since the beginning Dirk Phoenix has been a very big part of my life and my character. He was the original person who gave me encouragement and helped me through those harsh first 16 levels. He was also the same person who gave me my Mage Armor and a lot of the things I now own and love. He was by my side through thick and thin, helped me with everything he could. But Dirk Phoenix is no longer with us in the original incarnation. The game got too repetitive for me, too much… and he had to leave. So I had to say a final farewell to Dirk. He wasn’t in-game when I did it… but… Dirk, if you ever read this, thank you for all of your help… seriously. You have no idea how much what you did for me means to me both in the sense of the game and in the sense of real life. You really are a true patron and friend and I will ALWAYS be proud to be your vassal, even when I’m not really your vassal. 

I had to find a new patron in my monarchy and no one held that title better than Sushimoe. He’s not only helped me, he’s adventured with me when there was no one else and he knew he had better things to do. He’s given me things that would take me years to acquire (60 Platinum Scarabs for one). And he’s just been an all around great person. So I felt honored that he would have me. The ceremony wasn’t all that grand… it required us meeting in Arwic to make the exchange official. I have a few pictures below to commemorate the moment (only a few boxes to show me breaking and swearing).

This is what I looked like before I broke from Dirk. Dirk rightfully deserved that 9 million experience I produced him over the life of my character. I now wish I had risen my Loyalty to obscene levels just for him… sadly, I no longer can do that.

The hardest part is saying goodbye.

But no better person could have replaced Dirk but Sushimoe. Thank you both for being patrons I’m proud to have. 

And now I must say a goodbye to all of you. It’s been a long road (I keep on saying but that road WAS long, I swear) and it’s at an end (in some ways). I’ve lost some people (vassals and patron), I’ve gained many new friends, and I’ve learned a lot about the game and world that I’ve come to love ever since I started playing it in Beta 2 back in October of 1999. I’ve had more fun than I probably should be allowed to have and I’m going to keep on having that fun until the day Leafcull crashes, burns, and explodes into a million pieces. And I want to thank everyone who’s ever read my journals, ever @tell’d me in the game congratulating me or giving me encouragement, or ever supported War Mages. It’s meant an incredible amount. 

So, in closing, I want to say thank you again. I’ll still be out there being my Jewel-wind self… in fact, if you ever see a name like Jewel-wind, expect that it might be me and ask! I have other characters I like to play too!  So… goodbye… happy hunting… happy mana converting… happy war magic blasting… happy… happy gaming… sheesh! 

Oh, like I said, I wanted to list my thank yous for all of those I can remember… if you’re not on the list, please know that you’re not forgotten… I just… can’t remember it… bleh: 

Dirk Phoenix, Sushimoe, Chin-wa, Dizzarian, Darkken Rahl, Shota the Sorceress, Seventhwonder, Tesai, Lumpy, Haven, Kristopher, Saladin al-Yaraq, Altizar, Dark Red Bear, Mandishar Lograthsun, Zanten, Sister Immacolata, (I suck at this)… and I know there are others… when you draw a blank like I just did, you tend to forget so many people… but you’re not actually forgotten, just… hiding in my brain. But thank you everyone… seriously. Thank you.