EQ Chronicles: Questing
A simple desire to spend time in a new zone unmolested by passing evil guards led my Bard on a new quest to gain an item to solve the problem, which led him on a quest to gain another item in order to gain the first. Nesting questing is an EQ speciality and can result in some rather interesting adventures.
[October 5]
So I’d been raiding a bit and it was very instructive, but I still had the nagging issue of faction to address. I wanted to hunt in the OverThere as the XP was very good and people in the zone were at a level where they knew how to group. During the 20’s I learned reasonably quickly that grouping with selfish or unskilled players got me killed quickly (mobs generally go for singing Bards before anyone else). So OT was a boon I didn’t want to miss out on. The thing was, I was good. The goons (guards) who wandered the area were of an evil faction. So they killed me. Often.
You see my problem.
Luckily, there was a solution. It so happened that a nasty little ghoul Assassin Froglok over in Lower Guk dropped a mask of deception that turned whatever Bard (or Rogue) wearing it into a Dark Elf. DEs are evil and so anyone who saw a mask-wearer assumed them to be such. As an added bonus, it boosted Charisma by 13. That represented a massive hike in the Bard’s main stat, which directly affected how often song effects were resisted by mobs. For all those reasons, I had to have it.
After a particularly vicious smack down by one of the goons (see previous entry Factioned), I decided I needed the mask pronto and set off for Lower Guk. The good think about (Upper) Guk is that it is for the most part populated by slightly ridiculous giant frogs called Frogloks. As I had never been responsible for one of them dying, they didn’t hate me. They were “dubious” but not “ready to attack”, which meant while they wouldn’t help or speak to me, they would let me pass through their territory unharmed. Even if they hadn’t I would have been alright as my invisibility song fooled them.
Not so with Lower Guk, which was inhabited by the undead (it’s an ancient and ruined part of Guk, so it makes sense). The undead, being part of the Netherworld, see straight through invisibility rendering it useless. They also don’t like anything living. All of which placed me in the unusual Bardic circumstance of being powerless. Nevertheless, I zoned into Lower Guk and looked around the edges. The initial Frogloks were all living and tolerated me, so I went further. Hey, there’s two more.. hang on.. they’re ghouls, and they’ve seen me. Run! If I can just make it to the zone I’ll be fine *crunch*, where were those stairs *crunch*, there they are *crunch*, almost there… hey hang on, I can’t move! *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* …
LOADING. PLEASE WAIT…
Ghouls have a snare spell which stops you moving (”roots” you) for a period of time. Very handy to know. It came too late, but it was useful new information nonetheless.
After some surreptitious corpse retrieval (the ghouls had retired back into their dungeon) I messaged my guildmates to see if anyone was interested in spending some time in Lower Guk with me. An hour later a dozen of us began an impromptu LGuk raid. Ah, the joy of guild life. Due to the unplanned nature of the excursion we were without the usual healers and backup. This was immediately costly. Staring at the frozen corridor walls on the other side of the world in Thurgadin, I berated myself yet again for forgetting to get bound locally before attempting dangerous action. A benevolent high level cleric took pity on me - four times to be exact - and I never did have to attempt a naked run from Velious back to Antonica. Thank the Maker, I say.
However, in exchange for her services the Cleric also received the first mask the Assassin dropped. Only one Assassin appeared that night, so at the end of the evening I was thankful but maskless and still completely visible to ghouls. My guild promised to return the next night to help me again (bless them), but I wanted to hedge my bets with a backup plan. The Assassin was often camped by other groups hoping for another piece of treasure he sometimes dropped, and some of them didn’t want or couldn’t use the mask. That meant if I could get past all the ghouls to the room where he spawned after someone else had killed him, I could loot the mask painlessly. There had to be a way to remain undetected by ghouls.
Of course, there was. Invisibility to Undead is a rather useful spell. I just didn’t know anyone who could cast it on me, and didn’t want to have to worry about the spell lapsing before I made it out to safety. So opened upon me another entire area of EverQuest I knew nothing about. Potions.
It turns out Shamans, as well as being pretty nifty buffers, can if they choose gain the skill to fashion magic potions giving the effects of many spells. Usually these potions are sold in 10 dose bottles. They are expensive to make, and exorbitantly costly to buy. But in the name of independence I needed some, so off I trotted to the East Common tunnel trading Mecca to find a Shaman who would sell me some. I was on a quest to gain something to help me fulfill a quest to gain something else which would help me do something else entirely.
You see the pattern emerging.
Rather quickly I found a capable Shaman. However he needed to go elsewhere to get the ingredients. A port and some Selo’s accelerated running later I was in the frozen Barbarian city of Halas watching as my Shaman friend fashioned Invisibility to Undead potions. Then he told me the price.
200pp each.
Gasp! After 33 levels of thrifty Barding and some enormous donations from friends I only had 300pp in the bank. I expected expensive, but didn’t think it would break me. Of course I should have asked the price first, but I was new to all this. After all the effort I could hardly refuse, so I handed over 150 platinum pieces ( he generously knocked 50pp off the price because he liked my guild) and left with a fresh 10 dose bottle. A long run later and I was back at LGuk and ready for the action.
All of which, ironically, turned out to be unnecessary. My guild turned up in droves that night and together we razed the zone to the ground. When the Assassin showed up he went down far too quickly, and he was carrying a mask. My quest was over.
Back at OT, not only was I on passingly friendly terms with the feared guards (*doffs helmet* “Hey General”), I could actually bank in the evil city. Very convenient if you need to sell or get rid of coins weighing you down and filling up your inventory. To that end I also discovered the power of my faction song. After playing it I was not merely tolerated, but regarded “amiably” which meant I got the best prices from merchants. Pretty ironic when the merchant enthusiastically handing over the extra cash was standing metres from the same guard who broke every bone in my body only the week before. Yep, the DE mask is a very handy item for the Bard.
And there just happen to be several more that turn you into other races…
posted by monty · at 8:34 am · filed under EQ Chronicles