A Constellation of Prizes

I almost called yesterday's post "Please Stand By...", but just waiting for the Mad Monster Spawns wouldn't have done any good - scrolling back through the GM-spam that SirGalahad and ColonelScarlet received overnight was the message "We apologise for the missed events today, for the inconvenience, expect a special event tomorrow." This new event was to be announced in the feedback thread for this week's events.

SirGalahad didn't have a perfect overnight levelling session, as the death mask lancer managed to move so that a supporting pillar got in the way, leading to an "attack blocked" message. He lost a few hours to that, though, presumably because he was so close to the pillar, the horse didn't get hungry during that time. ColonelScarlet got his pink drake to level 37, though, at breakfast time, so it is just about ready for Kaerella to take it over. She's not that level yet herself, but should be by the time she leaves Prokion Temple behind.

The morning session in Prokion Temple, on Tairen-5, starred Memree and Kaerella again, with Kae beginning her gathering of an unused skill point stash from the start of level 27. Memree added 29.12% in level 36, earning 403 guild points for Discipline, while Kaerella gained 23.49%, and 58 guild points. They each got 250 skill points, on top of, for Memree, a couple from the low-level Mad Monster Spawn yesterday. So, Kae can expect just over a thousand sp from her current level, with subsequent levels hopefully giving slightly more.

Over lunch, SirGalahad got his horse into level 32 at last; ColonelScarlet did a little bit more work on his pet pink drake too, before logging out to let Kaerella's Cariae cleric incarnation come online.

I suppose I had to try, before the quest expires, which I assume it will do when Kae reaches 60 - but it turned out to be a mistake. "Seal Death Knight" proved to be just as deadly for Kaerella at level 59 as it had been at around 50, despite horse buffs and mana shield. Down she ran through Maargadum Jail, past where SirGalahad would have been if she was on the same server - and even though he is only level 52, the Death Knight just hit too hard, too fast, so that even constant applications of Great Healing potions couldn't keep up.

Probably if I'd used level 12 or 14 magic attack and defence minerals as well, I might have just squeaked through, but as it was, the Death Knight ended up with about 30% health, and Kaerella ended up using a resurrection scroll, and very wisely respawning back upstairs rather than down in his lair.

So, after that it was time for more sensible work, which meant that Kaerella headed for Dratan, and her semi-private spot with the "other" elite sphinx speer man and his friends. Over the next two and a quarter hours, she earned 37.21% experience, and 62 skill points, taking her stash back over the 11.5k mark. Her drake SirFrancis gained 1770 pet points, too.

The food break had to be taken slightly early, so that I'd be back in action for the Parade on Auzura-4, at five o'clock UK time, hosted by [GM]Noboru. One of the transformation scrolls she used didn't, as far as those watching were concerned, transform her into a savage-looking beastie, instead she retained her usual shape, but was only about ten inches tall. She jokingly took exception to Kaerella (who around those parts is a level 67 archer) calling her "tiny", so I changed the description to "petite". As usual plenty of firecrackers were grabbed and let off, and lots of transformation scrolls grabbed too. I used a sasquatch one, and then a jaguar one, both of which I think worked normally - there were a couple of people moving around as red cubes with little arrow-lines coming out, though.

[GM]Noboru was also hosting a "Pharaoh's Treasure" event two hours later; I used the intervening ninety minutes mainly to move loot across from my event-attenders to my merchants, which always takes a surprisingly long time, though Memree on Tairen did have to quickly use 20 tool aids and hammers to mine some more quality stones for SirGalahad, who, not surprisingly after all his recent work, was running low. I just managed to get him back fighting his death mask lancer in Tairen-4's Maargadum Jail before the various coordinates for the "Pharaoh's Treasure" were announced on Auzura-4. With a little bit of teleporting around using the Juno NPC scroll I managed to check out four or so of the locations, but found only sphinx fighters and sphinx speer men - but I wasn't too far away from the winning location when [GM]Noboru announced it, and got there in time for quite a few waves of loot to be grabbed.

While [GM]Noboru was generous with what she had filched from the Pharaoh, there was such a good turn-out that I didn't actually end up with all that much stuff - just 2 skill point boosters, for example, though a bit more of the other items. She had said earlier that she'd try to discover what the "special event" to compensate for those missing MMS monster-fests would be, but didn't have anything to report. And, as last week, she hinted that she would see us at the "Storm the Castle" later, even if we didn't see, or recognise, her!

The Auzura "StC" was due to start at eight, so there wasn't any time to do anything else, really. Elfnastysfriend, a mage who I think I have teamed up with a time or two at Mad Monster Spawns, is now a gamesage, and at about 7:45 began an "unjumble the words" mini-event on Auzura-5 in Merac Village, and since Rage was there, on the way to the Castle, I got involved. The first phrase to unjumble was "Niosctu of file", and while I did say "Suction of life" first, I'd not noticed that the answer had to be whispered, so Gemmatria got the prize.

The second phrase Elfnastysfriend gave us was "Krma fo Perdsia", and I got in first with "Mark of despair", and as my reward got 5 Chicken Noodle Soup (increases experience earned by 20% for 5 minutes), 5 red chocolate (increases physical and magical attack power and moving speed), and 5 Watermelon (150% experience for 10 minutes). Third came "Ravian bore", which stumped us all. It was some sort of robe, obviously. Eventually Elfy gave us the hint that the first letter was "A" - and I was able to jump in with "Arvina robe". This time I got 6 experience scrolls (which also give 150% experience for 10 minutes), and a super skill pill, which gives double skill exp for an hour.

That would have been enough anyway, one doesn't want to hog that sort of event, but it was almost eight, so after thanking Elfnastysfriend again, I said "Time I headed for the Castle - I hope other people will be coming", and teleported down, with a couple of minutes to spare.

There were, thankfully, rather more people there than last week, including a few from the main Auzura guilds, but we were still short of enough high-level players. We just had an anonymous and invisible Aeria employee in charge, but whoever it was did a better job of things than last week. I started off by attacking the male assassinbugs, which are green-named for Rage, but there were so many of them that, as well as using medium healing potions, I did have to run for it a time or two, before some other people helped to pick a few off. The group steamed ahead, and got through the thorny mantises, anubis archers, barren eises, and jumping devils quickly enough, but the anubis spear men (as they are higher level, they know how to spell "spear") were rather slow to go down. I did tank a zamara, but luckily my evasion stats kept me safe just long enough.

I was using a lot of mana, with Snare and plenty of Flame Arrow, and we were getting through the anubis spear men, hell-otuu, and dark harpies, but not fast enough. We had a ten-minute warning... and then, with still a few anubis spear men and hell-otuu left, and probably one ot two sphinx commanders in the inner courtyard, our time was up, and the monsters immediately vanished, including the ones we were actually fighting at that moment.

Luckily, the GM decided that our efforts should be rewarded. "You didn't finish, but there's a constellation prize outside the castle! Thanks to those who participated in StC!" And a starry consolation prize it was, those lovely thickly-packed circles of the usual Hands-loot, so that Rage was able to grab 20 small HP recovery and 18 small mana recovery potions, 5 large defence and 8 large attack potions, 6 item drop and 4 skill point boosters, and 10 tool aids. And, thanks to occasionally clicking on the "pet item pickup" button I did pick up a little cash along the way, and level 71 knight Pormudus Pants.

"Welll, a better turn-out than last week, but we need more high-levels", I said, and a few people agreed. There was a proper advance announcement - but the scheduling of Elfnastysfriend's event was a little unfortunate, we could have done with her, and some of her audience, down at Merac Castle helping us. Still, at five tomorrow there's the European version of StC, also on Auzura, with either [GM]Noboru or [GM]Valsharyn, and the turn-out should be better then.

Auzura's StC had clashed with the Tairen one - and at ten o'clock both Cariae and Katar were scheduled. So, I opted for Cariae, and Barbarienne, after being disappointed yesterday after turning up for the high-level MMS, got her chance for some action. When she arrived outside the Castle at eight minutes to, there were a number of people already waiting - including [GM]Stratos. It was quite a contrast with Auzura - there, Rage, at level 73, was a top gun, but here Barb, at level 101, was just a bit player, these were obviously high-level people - and, with plenty of announcements of the upcoming event, more people kept arriving.

The Castle-storming was incredibly speedy, and I concentrated on artillery support, though I tanked a zamara, which again didn't land any significant hits. It took us about six minutes to reach the inner courtyard, I think at least one sphinx commander had been there but it was just a stain on the cobbles when I arrived. Stratos spawned three darkmind terrains, though - but once they had been downed, the event was over, and soon the announcement came to rendezvous back where the road from Merac starts to widen out.

Knowing this particular GM's tricks, I re-applied horse buffs when I arrived. The loot-spawn was as small as the number of people was large, and I was pretty lucky to get both an item drop booster and a large attack potion. And then three purple dragons were spawned, to finish the festivities... and by a quarter past, the event was over.

The compensatory "special event" turned out to be two hours of 50% extra skill exp - starting at midnight, UK time, so of no use to me. SirGalahad is going to be offline by then, the computers and modem need their beauty sleep occasionally, but his horse did manage to reach level 33 before logging out time.