The personalizing quest reward is a specialty of [highlight]Malstrom[/highlight].
Cultist of Malstrom may use the Anya quest reward (personalize) to make any equipment usable for themselves and all their Legacy.
So sadly its of no use to you.
However here's a tip for a future cultists:
Personalizing add words to an item, and so if you play your cards right and have a God or Talents that cares about "words" (Like Egyptian Descendant for example) you can make the most of Anya's reward.
Hell is other people - Sartre
No Satre, hell is Blood Maggots EVERYWHERE. That's hell.
Forge was ok. But at least with that Flawless Emerald I could craft myself some new boots (magic damage reduced) since so far I still use white Boots-Sash-Leather Gloves.
So crafting the boots and... Level 36? Damn it I'm 32!
So I went in the Chaos Sanctuary anyways, thinking I'll back out if something goes wrong.
Something DID go wrong: the last seal, those damn extra fast demons. I had to run all the way to the left of the pentagram to split them. Killed like 4 before others came back to fry me in 1 second. Whelp.
Code:
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ----- Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor * * *
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 38 * *
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 17 2 12
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ----- Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
So once again, got a little impatient, died. And yes I do have Full rejuv in my belt but my hp went down so fast ...
Time to consider what to do now.
Condolences Mezion, I always hated that seal. Sometimes I would portal back to town & make the trek back from the waypoint just to split them up easier.
So I'm finally over my disappointment of Gunvor's death and think I will give the assassin another shot. After looking over the talents again, I have a couple of questions.
Does Weapon Expert include Boots since that's what determines kick damage?
My take on Specialist is that it includes items with charges of an allowed skill. To me that is "specifically boosting a skill that you have access to". Is that your intention, or do you mean just items with "+X to a specific skill"?
1) Choosing Boots for a kicksin makes a lot of sense so I have no objection for that. Same for anyone who would make a smiter and choose Shield. It's a pretty creative use of the talent.
2) I meant it has "+X to a specific skill" of any skill allowed.
So due to my recent proper installation of 1.07 (finally, its been years since I've played that) I will make my next cultist on that version. It will be very interesting to explore the version, and the Tournament will gives me an opportunity to do so in a fun way. It might be hard since I didn't read much on it yet, we'll see.
I could have gone again with a cultist of Pherydimox, however my current Legacy is unusable in a past version (can't go backwards with items) and so I will take this opportunity to make a [highlight]Cultist of Antediluvianis[/highlight] to take full advantage of 1.07. A [highlight]Cultist of Zisla[/highlight] might have been interesting as-well for all the weird exotic items to come.
Condolences Mezion! That same pack killed Angstrom in the cyberpunk tournament. This time around, I made sure to portal out after hitting the seal and making the trek back from the RoF waypoint.
Being identical twins, Gore and Gunvor always had a special mystical connection with each other. One day Gore had a feeling that something was terribly wrong with Gunvor. So Gore went out in search of her at her last known location, the Rogue Encampment.
Upon arriving there, she was greeted by Warriv, “Welcome back my friend. Hot enough for you, Gunvor.” Gore explained that she was actually Gunvor’s twin & was looking for her. He told her of taking Gunvor to Lut Gholein, and would take her too, but would not be able to take out the caravan again until it was safe from the surrounding monsters. She said she would take care of any problems for them to make it safe. As she headed off, he told her to be careful since Gunvor had told him of her near death experience not too far from camp. She thought to herself that must have been the feeling of dread that brought her there.
Gore quickly completed the quests given to her by the people of the camp without any real threats, but decided to wait to redeem her reward from Charsi. She still had the feeling that Gunvor needed her help as well, so she went east with Warriv and the caravan. Once they reached Lut Gholein, she was directed to speak with Atma. As she explained who she was yet again, Atma said that nobody had seen Gunvor since she entered the sewers in search of the horrid creature that killed Atma’s son and husband. She then burst into tears saying she couldn't bear it if something happened to Gunvor on her behalf.
Once Atma stopped crying, Gore headed down into the sewers in search of her sister, fearing the worst. Then somewhere on the second level of the sewers, an overwhelming feeling washed over her and she knew Gunvor was in mortal danger. She picked up her pace, and somewhere on the third level she came across a room filled with skeletons, zombies, and a truly horrid creature that Atma described. She saw the crumpled body in a back corner of the room and realized she was too late to save her sister.
Instead of letting vengeance overtake her and rush in to avenge Gunvor’s death, Gore lured small groups of monster out into the hall to dispatch them. She knew it wouldn’t do anyone any good to end up lifelessly crumpled on the floor next to her sister. Her patience paid off, and she avenged her sister’s death by finally killing Radament.
After it was safe to do so, Gore went to see her sister for the last time. Knowing that Gunvor would want her to continue the fight against evil, she gathered up all of her equipment she left behind to aide her in the battles to come.
Just to make sure, it was my thought that the talent Boon opens up Venom, but will it also allow Blade Shield?
I had forgotten about the Anya Personalization “trick”. Thanks for the reminder. What qualifies as a word for the “Any item with the words:” rule? Say that Bat is allowed; which, if any, of these names would work: Bat-trix, Man_Bat, Tabatha?
For your questions:
1) Yes Blade Shield is fine.
2) Anything with that word clearly on it, so for your examples:
- Bat-trix - is fine (or BatTrix, Bat_trix, etc.)
- Man_bat - is fine for the same reason.
- Tabatha - wouldn't be fine since the "bat" is sort of hidden in there and not a proper word.
As long as the word and its "meaning" is relevant, its fine. Just like you can wear "Gorefoot" unique because its literally Gore + foot.
Same for the Maleficium talent giving access to:
+ Darksight Helm (unique)
+ Dark Adherent (set)
+ any personalized item of Mr_DarkElvis
Edit: I am experimenting with 1.07 with the set of rules for [highlight]Antediluvianis[/highlight] and was considering what to do eventually for a descendant character. However, as I am rereading the rules, I realized something:
Code:
Equipment: (Descendant)
+Any past jewelry.
+Any runewords.
+Any past socketed unique items.
+Any past magic & rare items.
That last part (Any past magic & rare items) is a WAY too wide category of items. They can simply be shopped/gambled and then moved forward to a future version. This is not what is intended and not in line with the whole "past Legacy finds and creates powerful items under their Gods guidance and keep them treasured for descendant to come" theme. As such, I will "nerf" this to:
+Any past [highlight]crafted[/highlight] items.
This way, the player actually as to experiment with 1.07 crafting recipes and it keep things interesting and fresh, without allowing a billion of item to become usable. Fortunately this "nerf" only affects me right now so you guys should be fine.
Currently chilling near the fireplace in act4, pondering what to do.
Act1 was pretty fine. Merc and golem did the most. Iron Maiden helped vs Andariel.
Act2 was somewhat similar. Lv1 Poison Explosion did a good job for Arcane and up. Once again, Iron Maiden did the job at Duriel, but god damn he was hitting fast.
Act3 was mixed. The shamans were out of control. I wasn't expecting them to be the minions of that guys in lv3 Flayer Dungeon (forgot his name).
I was trying to upgrade my armor, saw some of the best magical armor ever. At least Berserker dropped in the Spider Lair, which was surprisingly appreciated.
The Heirophant were seriously out of control. Oh my, almost died when entering Trav to a group of minion+special. Screenshots really dont do justice to their group blizzard spamming.
Meph & council weren't so bad, even easier than the Heirophants.
Act4 is starting to slow me down (no wonder since I'm low level, thanks to no /p8). Also why is it always full of maggots, why!
Forge was okish.
After resurrecting my merc a gibillion amount of time at river, I've finally ran out of money. Kind of interesting since in act3 I was over the limit all the time and needed to gamble. I guess I need to farm a little so that my wallet can catchup, and find more suitable gear. I'm starting to use Iron Maiden more and more since enemies are just breaking my merc and golem in no time, which kills them faster than Amp damage. Can't wait for Poison Nova, Revives or Lower Resists...
Oh and I tried to make a runeword: Bramble. Thank god for ATMA auto-backups cause I thought it was working fine, so I muled it on Owen after creating it on a lv1 test character, which resulted in corrupting Owen... But luckily, a backup fixed the problem. Got scared there for a moment. I get what you mean pharphis, I can't manipulate them at all in ATMA. I'll still test it some more on test characters later on to see if I can at least use them if I never touch them in ATMA.
Bonus: Neoncats! Seriously, it seems like a lot of champions are very flashy with these graphics.
Code:
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor * * *
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 48 1nm 63
Owen Cat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 23 4 38
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 19 2 12
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 17 2 12
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor * * *
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 48 1nm 63
Owen Cat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 23 4 38
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 19 2 12
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 25 3 26
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
Lycaon finally finished Act2. Things started to slow down quite a bit before I reached Arcane Sanctuary, but I luckily found a 3os Thresher so I figured, I better put it to my stash waiting for a chipped skull to get some life leech out of it. Well, found 29 cold res jewel, was about to stash it, accidentally put it in the Thresher. Damn. Oh well, still, I can put in the skull once I find one and maybe wait for Tal rune. Started moving around my stuff and boom, flawed emerald into the Thresher. At this point, I put the Thresher away to Cube and then I found a chipped skull immediately in Arcane Sanctuary. It's not an optimal Merc stick, but it works for now.
Duriel, oh god. Pain in the ass. First try, I just couldn't do much as I was just chilled all the time. I just used Save and Exit to figure out a strategy against him, didn't even realised that I could have TP'd So, bought few thawing potions to get some cold res going on, used my saved skill points to Rabies, so effectively made a decision to go Fury/Rabies with this druid. I tried to gamble some gloves before I realised that at lvl24, my only chance of getting anything I can equip is by getting a rare with Blood text, Life leech suffix is apparently available only after lvl26 Well, all things went well in a way as the 4 pairs I bought, included Death's set gloves. After that, ran back to Duriel and tried again. It was just slow, but drinking thawing potions and a full belt of health potions, I managed to take out Duriel. I would post a screenshot of Duriel's dead body (and the yellow, worthless loot), but Imgur has not been cooperating with me the past few weeks, so I need to find a new image hosting service.
After killing Duriel, I travelled to Act 3, finished the first quest, went and picked up Khalim's eye and ran to Lower Kurast as I was starting to feel really weak, so I need a place to run and level up. Fortunately, Lower Kurast waypoint is right next to where that Super Unique (Thorned Hulk, what's his face) spawns, so I'll start running him for at least a level or two, while popping open chests and stuff in Lower Kurast before continuing with questing. Rabies is quite fun actually in Act 3, so many of those small ratmen, which run around everywhere, spreading that poison. It's not too effective unfortunately, but it is definitely fun!
Act 2 gave me two set items, neither of which I can use. Also gambled quite nice looking lvl15 gloves, but again, can't use them on this character
Code:
Angelic Sickle
Sabre
One Hand Damage: 3 - 8
Durability: 23 of 32
Required Level: 12
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 25
Fingerprint: 0x33970439
Item Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+75 to Attack Rating
+250% Damage to Undead
Set (2 items): 75% Enhanced Damage
Set (3 items): +30% Increased Attack Speed
Death's Hand
Leather Gloves
Defense: 3
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 6
Fingerprint: 0x48a0e331
Item Level: 26
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Poison Resist +50%
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
Set (2 items): +30% Increased Attack Speed
Soul Touch
Leather Gloves
Defense: 3
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0x70984caa
Item Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Increased Attack Speed
+15 to Attack Rating
Cold Resist +18%
Fire Resist +10%
Poison Resist +17%
+1 to Light Radius
I'm past due for an update. I've been playing Derevus every other day or so since the start of the tournament. As soon as I was able to, I bought myself a White Scepter to replace my fists. It felt strange playing a paladin without using any auras at all. Level 12 saw the first point go into Charge, my first usable skill. A nice helpful damage boost and useful utility. Skill points continued to get dropped here for more damage, the rest going into the prereqs I need for FoH + synergies.
Gear was quite easy to acquire. + Light Radius spawns early on all armor slots and these were easily shopped. Gambling went into the usual gloves and boots for MF (a VERY useful mod to have as a legal gear mod).
Kept creeping backwards as I engaged two boss packs past the first set of stairs. Used the exit once to get things topped back off and went right back down. Not too bad.
After dealing with that situation, I was rewarded with a unique. It gives + light radius and went to Hannah for a while. Things continued into the Monastery where I definitely noticed my poor Scepter was past its prime, especially when facing off against Champion/Boss archers and vampires. Kept going at /players8 anyway, using lots of Charge to help out.
There was a well-placed Poison Resist shrine in the second level of the Catacombs, which made this fight super easy. Andariel gave me my second unique item, but this one could not be used.
Out of habit I replaced my rogue mercenary with an Act 2 mercenary. After fighting a couple of mobs in the sewers, I realized I can't have any auras unless I'm using a magic/lightning attack. So I decided to go Abbot for the rest of the sewers before I rehired an Act I mercenary.
Slvl 1 Holy Bolt was nothing to get excited about. I decided to put some skill points here, realizing Fist of the Heavens without a Holy Bolt synergy meant very, very little AoE damage to undead. Just means I'll have less skill points to use to pump up my Charge.
After Radament was defeated, I went back to Act I and hired Basanti, the fire rogue. Took a few visits to the Countess to grab two Ral runes with were socketed in a Hunter's Bow along with one of the two Els the sewers thankfully gave us. The second El rune got used to make a 'Steel' Flail. I was very happy to ditch the white Scepter.
Beetles were one of the few pains in Act II. So much lightning everywhere. Took to charging them, then backing off before the bolts would release. The Maggot Lair in particular went slowly as I went back to town for more healing potions after killing about 6 beetles. Some of them were taken out by Basanti instead.
Nokozan Relic has + light radius and should prove to be very handy against Diablo and his Balrog minions.
The most fun use of Charge was this:
Nothing feels better than charging Claw Vipers before they charge you. I left this one for Basanti to handle, however.
The first false tomb I went in was the large map with Ancient Kaa. Lots of rooms with 3 or 4 unravellers meant dragging skeletons out to kill them out of range before taking on the big bad guys. Open wounds on the Steel flail meant I could basically play ping pong with these guys until they started bleeding to death.
Since I took the Prismatically Obsessed talent, I've been placing 2 points in Vit and 1 in each of the rest each level up. My blocking was pretty crappy because of this, so I started to double up on Dex instead. Before taking on the true tomb and Duriel, I tried shopping for a Mechanic's Bone Shield of Deflecting to help out against Duriel and until I find a Shael Rune to make Rhyme.
40 minutes of shopping Drognan yielded this result. My first successful shop of this item. I'm just glad the first one I saw didn't have only 1 socket. I had cubed up to a regular Diamond and took a few trips back to the Cold Plains until I found a Gem Shrine to at least make it Flawless before socketing the shield with it alongside another El rune.
The Durielfight was slow, but steady. Only requiring a few healing potions. I decided against charging him, reasoning that his charge hurt a lot more than mine. He fell and left me some useless junk.
I've collected Khalim's Eye so far and will be heading back to the Great Marsh to continue my journey. So far every gear slot (except the weapon on my switch) has been filled. All of it save the shields, weapon, and belt are sporting MF for a total of 144. I've found 3 Cleglaw's shields, 2 Cathan's Rings and Meshes, and a handful of others, totaling 17 S/Us. Sadly no Angelic pieces and nothing else useable besides the Amulet I have in my in-game Stash and the Pluckeye bow that I've gifted to Sol. No luck gambling a good rare circlet either. Just using a magic circlet of fortune (23%) until Alkor coughs up the good stuff. One level away from Fist of the Heavens, probably a few levels away before I actually start using it and re-hire an Act II merc.
Code:
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 48 1nm 63
Owen Cat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 23 4 38
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 25 3 26
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 29 3 24
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 19 2 12
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
Wow guys, great progress! For me it's pretty slow going right now. One reason being that I did a lot of shopping (Light Plated Boots, 2os Flail, 2os Splint Mail). I forgot how time consuming that can be. It seems that boots are the last items to populate at Fara's. However, I lucked out on the boots & chest with the first non-magical to show up being superior for both of them. The flail became Steel, & the armor is now Stealth. I stopped for the night after reaching the Canyon waypoint.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For those with the Boon talent, if you haven't done it already, I went through the list of runewords looking for Magic Damage Reduced and came up with the list below. It will take a while to find the runes for most, but Stealth is within reach. Runewords unlocked by the Boon Talent: Black, Memory, Radiance, Stealth, White, Rain, Prudence, Sanctuary
@Brak You know, you're right. I feel totally silly now that I didn't even realize that. Well, that should make the rest of Act III and onwards a bit easier. Time to stock up on those mana pots...
@Dazliare If you're looking to make any runewords that use up to Io (or Lum if you cube the Ios), then she'd be worth the farming. She CAN drop up to Ko, but that's much, much rarer since it's part of her normal drop and not her special rune drop.
So I just realized that I've been missing out on an opportunity afforded me by this tournament, so I've decided to start capitalizing on it. Read on if you dare.
The writing bug has been biting me recently and since I plan to play all seven classes for this tournament, I realized I had the perfect opportunity to exercise my atrophied writing muscles. All future updates for Derevus and other classes I play will be given as a story.
Since there are three difficulties to play through (should they live that long), I decided the easiest way to tell their stories three times was by using different formats for each difficulty.
The story in normal difficulty will be told through personal letters. The mercenary for the character will likely take a backseat here if they don't plan on keeping the Act I mercenary (mostly so that the next format makes sense). Nightmare difficulty will be told through the journal of the character's mercenary. Hell difficulty will be more of a storybook format written in the 3rd person point-of-view of the character. As the difficulty level progresses, so too will the length of these stories (but don't worry, I won't try to subject you to anything novel-length). Of course, the characters may not make the full journey, but then some texts have been passed down that are incomplete.
Each class I play will have some relation to each other, not necessarily familial, and will feature introductions by a single narrator throughout. I hope you will enjoy the stories as they play out. I'm not trying to overshadow anyone else or 'steal the show.' This is just a personal challenge for me and the best way to get feedback is by sharing.
Soren's mother died last year. Drela, Soren's grandmother, had given her the news along with her mother's last letter home. For eight months they had a letter nearly each week, telling them of her perilous quest fighting the evil forces of Sanctuary. A cultist of Sol and a skilled sorceress, she had been tasked by the High Cultist to answer the plea for help from some mystic. A heathen mystic. Soren still remembered her mother's reaction when she read the summons from the High Mystic. It was unadulterated laughter.
"He wants me to go rushing off to save some unbeliever? How ridiculous!"
Apparently the situation was more dire than her mother believed. She came home after visiting the High Cultist with a much more bleak expression, and would not answer Soren's questions about the matter. She merely packed a few essentials and exchanged a few quiet words with Soren's grandmother. Before leaving, she gave Soren a quick hug and told her, "Take care of Grandma while I'm gone. I'll write you and let you know that I'm okay. Pay attention during your lessons and try harder to please Instructor Varen."
The last caused Soren to frown. Each member of the family was bound to Sol and was expected to develop their magical talents in order to serve Him. Instructor Varen was her tutor in the magical arts and was frequently displeased at Soren's inaptitude in this area. Failure to serve Sol was not taken lightly. Varen frequently berated and belittled her when she failed.
"I mean it, Soren. I know you don't like him, but if you have any ability in you at all, Varen will be able to bring it out in you. You MUST not fail him in this." Her mother's look was stern, her blue eyes icy cold. After a moment, that passed and her features softened into a small smile. "You're my daughter and you're very smart. You'll be more powerful than me someday."
"Fat chance of that," Soren grumbled.
Alesta, her mother, chuckled merrily. "Trust me, you will. Just ask Grandma how I was when I was your age. Everyone thought I was hopeless, too. Give it time, dear, and all will be well. When I come back, show me what you've learned."
"When will you come back?" Soren asked.
Alesta sighed, hefting her travel sack over her shoulder. "I don't know, hopefully in a couple of months. Now, I must get going if I'm ever going to escape your endless questions." She gave her daughter an evil grin and a quick hug. "I love you, Soren. Look for my letters."
With that, her mother left. Soren held her mother's last letter negligently, barely realizing it was there as she stared westward, the direction her mother had left those eight months ago. "I don't want to be better than you," she said softly, tears falling down her cheeks. "I just want you to come home."
* * *
It had been a year and eight months since Alesta had told her daughter that someday, Soren's power would be greater than her own. It may as well have been yesterday for all the progress she had made since. Instructor Varen told her it was because she lacked the concentration necessary to hone her mind's ability to manifest her thoughts into pure energy. He'd taken many different routes in her studies, attempting to find a method that would work. His newest course of instruction consisted mainly of studying the life works of many of Sol's reknowned cultists. He began with the Epistles of Derevus.
Varen handed her the worn, leather-bound book. It was barely larger than her hand and not very thick. "This is a primer, Soren. We're taking a break from the mental exercises for now. Despite your complete lack of any demonstrable ability to make yourself useful, your mother was a dear friend of mine. I know today marks a year since she passed, and-"
Soren's voice was thick with fury. "Don't you dare talk about my mother! Curse me if you will, call me all those horrid names you're so fond of, but do not...ever...speak to me of her."
Varen paused, taken aback. Soren had rarely talked back to him, even with the admittedly harsh way he treated her. She'd grow sullen, throw things occassionally, but she had never spoken to him with the kind of venom she had just now. He didn't know how to respond. "What? How dare you speak to me like that!"
Pushing back her chair, Soren abruptly stood up and stormed out of Varen's lecture study. Ignoring the curses yelled at her back, she flung open the door at the entrance hall and ran across the marshy field that spread before Varen's estate. Ten minutes later, mud splattered on her dress and skin, Soren sat crying with her back against a willow tree a few miles from her home. She still held the little book tightly in one hand, the other covering her face.
When dawn had broke that day, Soren had gone to her mother's grave at the cemetary that lay beside High Cultist Skorin's castle. The cemetary held all those who had died in service to Sol, the Sky-Eater. She had placed a locket on the headstone and silently stood vigil for a few mintues before speaking. "You always believed in me, mother, even when no one else would. I vow to live up to your dreams. To one day be more powerful than you...to...to..." Clenching her hands tightly, she finished speaking through a tight, dry throat. "To kill all those responsible for your death. Every single one."
Drying her eyes under the willow tree, Soren finally opened the book. She'd do whatever it took to appease Varen the next day, accept whatever punishment he doled out. She'd read his stupid books and work harder at his stupid lessons. She had to learn. She had to find the secret to unlocking her power. Once that much had been done, then she could do the rest on her own.
The first page was horribly smeared. Time had not been kind to the paper, either. It was deeply yellowed and stiff, the creases turned into dark cracks.
It is with great sadness that the sages have been unable to locate the rest of Derevus's letters to his son. They were not part of the estate that passed from his son to the church and so, have been lost with time. All correspondences to his known friends and family have proved fruitless. Despite this loss, the Epistles of Derevus still have much to teach the followers of Sol. His steadfastness of faith, his unrivaled chivalry and kindness, and (most importantly) his sheer magical ability to call down the very judgement of Sol Himself has, to this day, never been matched.
Updates will hopefully occur about once a week or so and progress may not be super fast, which suits me fine as I've got a couple of other projects going in D2 as well.
Malstrom, the God of Chaos and Trickery, presided over the void since the beginning of time. Appearing first from the void came Erebus (darkness) and Nyx (night). All else remained empty, silent, endless dark. It was perfect.
It was not, however, meant to last. Malstrom's reign was corrupted when Light first pierced his unending veil and brought with it, order. Malstrom was furious at the perversion of his perfect state of Chaos, but there was little he could do to stop it as he simply did not have the power. He was an old God and was not prepared for this new surge of power from the Light. All he could do was sit back and watch as his perfect mass of blackness faded and twisted, eventually giving rise to the Heavens and the Earth. Sanctuary, they called it. Meanwhile, he had been relegated under this new era of order to occupy only the space which seperated the two, a far cry from the all-encompassing reign where he began.
There was still hope, evil was a strong seductress after all. The land of Sanctuary had been overrun by demons, and was at risk of having its last bastions of good become abolished forever. While this certainly pleased Malstrom, he had bigger plans. It was not enough for the world to simply be converted to a state of evil, he wanted it gone altogether and to once again return the universe to it's most primal state - pure Chaos. There was still a problem, though; evil was hard to control, difficult to corrupt, and near impossible to eradicate if it got a strong enough foothold. If he was to truly command the universe to his will once more, he couldn't have Sanctuary fall.
He held council with his only two creations which he could trust, Erebus and Nyx, and they forged their final plan. If he was to truly take control of his domain once again, he would have to do the one thing he had been fighting ever since the Light came into being. He would have to first restore order to Sanctuary before he could dismantle it.
The 7 offspring of Erebus and Nyx would each disguise themselves as mortals and vanquish the evil from Sanctuary, one by one asserting their dominance over the land under the guise of saving it. Only once his seven descendants each held the highest posts would Malstrom have enough leverage and power to abolish the Heavens and the Earth and restore the void, and Malstrom himself, to its former glory.
First to take on the hordes of evil would be Geras, the God of Old Age. Malstrom was still weak, and didn't have any connections to the material world, and thus had nothing with which to supply his army. Geras, being the eldest of the chosen ones, was the only one with the knowledge and wisdom to control natural beings and thus was the only one with the resources to take on the throes of evil at this stage. Once he had amassed some wealth in the material world, his brothers and sisters would follow.
[highlight]Geras, Cultist of Malstrom
Talents: Charms Expert, One With Nature, Pride, Specialist[/highlight]
Geras entered the mortal realm and began his journey by tossing his club and buckler, as they were not favored by his God, and set out into the wilderness to punch some monsters to death until he could raise some summons of his own (One With Nature). He didn't typically like getting his hands dirty like this, so as soon as he had the strength he bought himself a plain white Large Axe which Malstrom approved of. Between the axe, Raven and Poison Creeper, things progressed quite smoothly.
Soon he had reached level 8 and hired Annor the Cold Rogue at the young level of 3. She will be accompanying him for the duration of his journey, and she was immediately put to the test by going after Blood Raven. He was getting mighty sick of lugging around that heavy axe, so when his first chipped topaz dropped he made himself his first useable bow(thanks to the Pride talent).
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Soon after this he dropped another chippie and made an identical bow for Annor.
The pack took a brief pit stop to run the countess until both the archers reached level 19 and could fill the remaining holes in their bows with Rals. Things took off from there, with the two of them basically two/three-shotting everything in their paths. Before they knew it they had reached Andariel, and the fight was on.
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The minions went valiantly forward and bit at her ankles while Geras and Annor stood back and whittled her down. The drop had nothing that either of them could use, so they boarded the caravan and set out for the desert.
[highlight]Geras the Hunter/Summoner Druid with Annor the Cold Rogue - lvl 20, Lut Gholein - 10 points[/highlight]
Code:
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 48 1nm 63
Owen Cat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 23 4 38
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 25 3 26
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 29 3 24
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 24 2 18
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 20 2 10
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
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