Terrdi, 14 Winter 540 (11/25/00)

The new year is here, a new decade even, as we move out of the 530's and in to the new and improved 540's. I have been spending more time hunting lately, making several trips to the Breeding Grounds, another quick tour of 'Noth, and even an ill-advised foray to the Dark Chamber (where I still can't hit those greater blue cloaks). I haven't heard of any major invasions in recent weeks, and although the full moon is coming up again soon I am not expecting a large turnout, especially since last time didn't work out well at all. On the other hand, not getting invaded by Qual or Zonk or Tenebrion has to count as a good thing, doesn't it? I have been hearing rumors lately about new trainers somewhere in the lands, including hints that there is an advanced pathfinder trainer, something that I consider wishful thinking until I see it with my own eyes. Anyway, since the Marsh Hermit looks down his nose with disdain at my meager skills I suspect it wouldn't matter to me personally if the advanced pf were to appear right in the center of town...

Sombdi, 31 Winter 540 (11/29/00)

I heard the other day that Nyssa has been promoted to "full mystic", which is something that she at least seemed to think would never happen but was certainly long overdue. And you can imagine my surprise when I came out of the library the other day and there was Algernon, he's been out of town recently for some reason. And our enemies have been more active lately, I've seen reports that there was another t'rool invasion with Qual in attendance, and I was in town myself for a small Darshak invasion that was quickly stomped despite the presence of red shirts in the pirate mob. The manager of the Puddleby Bank has stated that she will replace some of the losses that the clans suffered in the recent fiasco, although for some reason the amount reported by the bank is substantially less than that reported by the clans. I have also learned that Kamik put some money in the ZA account before the loss happened, so my earlier claims that we lost no money have turned out to be in error. And finally I did manage to show up for at least part of last month's "full moon" raid on the Orga Camp, if we can call it that, there were only a few exiles there, and we weren't able to keep track of the entrance to OC2. At one point we did get in, but without enough healers to raise the bolted and establish a rod we didn't get very far.

Terrdi, 42 Winter 540 (12/2/00)

Many of the top pathfinders that I know have been talking of little more than the rumors of an advanced trainer, which some have said might be located to the east, perhaps beyond the Greymyr Village, the current limit of our explorations. Not being a PF myself I'm not fully informed on why so many people are convinced of this; I've been told by those "in the know" that the Marsh Hermit has dropped some hints, but then he is a bit crazy after all these years of living in the swamp and says a lot of wacky stuff. On the other hand, you have to wonder if better pathfinding skills might be the key to opening up new areas that are currently blocked; we already know that Wisher's Gate is just at the limit of the best current PF's, and you have to wonder about the dead end at the other side of Alchy's Folly, which Yor has spent so much time investigating. Now Sleipnir is trying to organize a massive search of the GMV in hopes of finding the rumored trainer, starting the day after the upcoming full moon. I'm a bit dubious myself, especially since we know there are "timed" paths that only open at particular times; the area is so large it is impossible to cover the entire area at all "interesting" times of day, month, or season, so I suspect that even if the rumors are true it may take us some time to finally discover the one small path that leads past the GMV.

Fordi, 51 Winter 540 (12/4/00)

I didn't miss the entire "full moon" raid this past month, but only just; I showed up outside the Orga Camp just as things were winding down, and helped whack a couple of 'locks and a ton of shamen inside the camp. Exiles told me that the raid had succeeded, and that Malkor was able to enter the "power room" and obtain one of the strange stones, but I gather that things didn't go well on the way out and at least some people ended up departing. These battles must be taking their toll on the orga forces, but they still have plenty of strength to throw against us when they get their dander up. The search for new paths to the east that took place later came up empty, at least according to everybody I have spoken to so far; but again, perhaps we need to be looking at a particular boulder at a particular time of the week in order to see the hypothetical path. And exiles have been searching for their animal spirit guides recently, there was a tor that was following Axell around for a while; according to Ma Tota my spirit guide is a goat, which seems vaguely insulting somehow, especially since I haven't been able to find the "right" goat anyway and have been well nibbled as a reward for my search.

Merdi, 71 Winter 540 (12/9/00)

Winter is already drawing to a close, which can only mean that spring is almost here at last. The last "full moon" of the season is coming up, and as usual I will be missing the action, but I expect that there will be another attempt to thwart the orga's "magician" and obtain another of the strange stones from the power room. I have also heard reports that Tenebrion has been having some sort of problem with his army, rumors have it that the Darshak are behind the rebellion, although I half suspect that this is just a trick by Tenebrion to further confuse the general Puddleby populace. I've been doing some more hunting at the Lily Pond, where even the fiercest cave mahas are now hittable (if you swing at them often enough...), and I even got to help out a bit in the Rocky Cavern against some blood wyrms. I've been trying to work up my courage to fail the fighter test again, but it seems sort of pointless until I can hit that greater wraith at least occasionally. And beer ingredients are back in style, I know several exiles that are studying the ancient art of brewing, and demand for the raw materials has skyrocketed; it makes me wish I had held on to my extensive collection after all, rather than cashing it in as soon as the brewery opened.

Soldi, 88 Winter 540 (12/13/00)

Along with half the population of Puddle I went to watch the big Dunsilar battle between the Dwarven Militia and the Order of the White Elephant. On first sight I was thinking that DM was going to be able to put up a good fight, given their substantial numerical advantage; but OWE is an extremely strong clan, with several fourth circle fighters and healers, and the DM were unable to bring their superior numbers to bear on the strongest fighters, but instead engaged them one on one. It's hard to use surround-and-whiff tactics in the arena anyway, due to the danger of hitting your teammates, and as the fallen count grew it became clear that OWE would prevail. It was the largest arena battle I have seen, a good time was had by all, and afterwards the DM provided many casks of beer. I have been getting more hunting in lately, including trips to the Savannah, 'Noth Island, and even the Dark Chamber. I have heard that the "full moon" raid last month ended in frustration, as the illusion walls proved too difficult; at the moment I'm hoping I can make it to the next one, which should attract a large crowd again.

Gradi, 7 Spring 540 (12/15/00)

The true extent of Tenebrion's perfidy is becoming apparent, not only is he conducting dangerous experiments with the Purg pendants that could threaten the altar itself and possibly reopen the riptures that we closed with so much effort in the War, but it has now been revealed that his Keep is located just a short boat ride from Puddle itself, closer even than 'Noth Island! Now he claims that he is going to make separate deals with each of the clans, a blatant attempt to drive wedges between the exiles, further weakening us in our efforts to survive the continuing assaults by the orga, the Darshak, and the T'rools. I can only hope that the stronger clans see this deception for what it is and refuse to aid Tenebrion. Now that a landing has been found near his Keep we should consider building an outpost there as well in order to contain his undine slaves and to keep his rebellious guards in line. Of course, in the meantime we have to keep our eyes on the orga, especially since the first "full moon" of the spring is coming up, and I'm guessing that there will be a good turnout this month.

Merdi, 23 Spring 540 (12/19/00)

My plans of making the "full moon" raid and the "Deathmaster" contest fell through after all, and I missed out on both. Despite my absence (or perhaps because of it) both events were highly successful, with Aki able to enter the "power room" and obtain a stone, and with Kojiro able to whack down Klur in the fastest time. On the other hand, Aki has posted a message confessing that the stone shattered the first time he tried to use it, which seems more than a little harsh, but is in line with the usual challenges a Mystic faces every day. While all this was going on, I have been spending my few precious hours out of the library searching for goats, which Ma Tota claims can teach me something; mostly I've learned not to let them nibble on things and that they are awful pushy (I guess others have said the same about me). I know that some exiles have managed to find their animal guides, but so far the teaching goat eludes me. On the other hand, I'm gaining valuable shepherding skills.

Fordi, 80 Spring 540 (1/2/01)

I have been spending even more time than usual in the library, which is pretty hard to do; but I did manage to stumble out of the dusty stacks a few times to take part in a hunt or two, including a tour of the Snaggy with the Rat Bastards, where we met several very mean furies and even poked our noses beyond Wisher's Gate (very briefly). I have heard that the "full moon" raids have continued with mixed success, the last one turning in to a bit of a disaster due to a massive death vermine swarm. There are rumors about that Tenebrion is still trying to divide the exiles by making deals with some of the clans, while Yor is reporting that Votenkath now has some undine servants guarding his castle on 'Noth Island. It seems strange that the wizards Votenkath and Tenebrion both have the power to control undine; is there a connection between the two that we don't know about? And once I even got a chance to chat with Geraldus, who is not a wizard but is still the leader of the Zouclougeist Alliance, and has been spending even more time than I have in the library.

Merdi, 3 Summer 540 (1/5/01)

Summer is here, the year is half over, and the pace of developments is picking up. There have been at least a couple of "events" reported in which a number of mystics sensed strange power surges from Purgatory, after which several healers discovered that their purg pendants were out of operation for a short time; Callia reported on one such event in the Fishwrap, and Robin Greyhawk observed another. The pendants seem to be having all sorts of troubles lately, Axell's was flickering, and it seems that they can be broken as well; Tenebrion is rumored to have broken at least four of them, much to dismay of the Masters in the healer hall, who did not know such a thing was possible. Tenebrion is claiming that his "experiments" have nothing to do with the "events", but it seems to me that you don't have to be "toes" with Master Mentus to see that there is likely to be some connection there. All of this makes it even more important that we keep those pendants out of the hands of Tenebrion, but there are more rumors that at least one clan has made a peace treaty with him and is possibly even supplying him with pendants (I'm hoping that one isn't true).

Then just the other day I ran into a group that was heading to the mysterious location where a strange cloaked figure has been offering to forge a "bloodblade" for certain exiles that meet his criteria. (Appropriately enough Tuzar Bloodblade was in the party.) I tagged along to observe this rather disturbing process, the details of which I won't go into; suffice to say Skirwan obtained a bloodblade, and when he held it he began to bleed quite copiously, losing his health to the point where he could no longer move on his own, but could still be healed by Tuzar. I was not judged worthy to obtain a bloodblade (probably because I'm clearly too sensible to wield something that inflicts damage on my tender self) but I have been told that several exiles have them now and are training in their use.

Lundi, 7 Summer 540 (1/6/01)

Well, I've been complaining about not getting to take part in an Orga Camp raid lately, but this month I was out of the library the day before the full moon and was the first to the Camp. We slowly accumulated a small but dedicated force, and with only four healers we managed to take OC1-3 without much problem. We then faced the prospect of entering OC4, and quickly realized that we didn't have sufficient forces, and now more exiles were arriving in the lower camps and requesting entry. I took part in a couple back raids to reclear OC1 & 2 and get more people in, and finally we thought we had enough to go on, but it was not to be, we just couldn't get the rod established and had to keep falling back to OC3. As noon approached we were reduced to chaining out the fallen and trying to raise the heavily bolted, and we were just heading for the exit when the hour struck and everybody near the OC4 entrance suddenly started falling to flames. By some awful magic the flames cast by the shamans were now burning much stronger and did not go out, so we continued to take damage even after we fell. I managed to set myself on fire almost immediately, but a number of brave exiles were clever enough to survive flame-free until 'locks started popping in and flinging bolts at them. Deadmeat tried to chain a bunch of us out through OC2, but (as usual) it was now full of junk and we ended up in a big pile. I decided to take the easy exit through Purgatory (still only number 28), but rescue efforts continued on into the night, and when I came by the next day there were still fallen in the camps. Lucky for us the shaman fires had weakened to their usual strength, and we were able to retake OC2 and rescue the fallen the old-fashioned way.

Fordi, 32 Summer 540 (1/12/01)

Once again I've been falling behind on my journal, not really any excuse except that not all that much seems to be going on at the moment. We had a chaos storm, but other than some rumors about decreased bounties for 'dews and 'noths I haven't heard of much in the way of actual changes taking place. I have been on some exploring expeditions, some hunting trips, and a rescue or two, but things seem to have settled in to a bit of a routine. The full moon is coming around again, but after last month's bitter defeat I'm not sure of the wisdom of making another attempt without more substantial forces on hand. I also know of at least one recent attack by exiles on Tenebrion's keep, but I gather that the assault did not go well. Oh, I did get another chance to chat with Ma Tota, but she is still fixated on the idea that I need to bring her a goat, which despite my best efforts I have been unable to do. It's almost enough to make me start trying the next Fighter Circle test again...

Terrdi, 44 Summer 540 (1/15/01)

The "full moon" raid on the Orga Camp did not go at all well this month, much as I had feared; I showed up late, and discovered that the small band of exiles had made the attempt only to fall in all of the various parts of the Camp. Sor, Heyboy and I tried to clear OC1 so we could get at at least some of the fallens, but there were some nasty rages and a number of 'locks, and most of the exiles still walking around had gone off to 'Noth Island to try and rescue Achates, who had departed from the OC only to find himself popping out of Purg at the altar there. After a while we managed to recruit some more help and get OC1 clear, but OC2 was wall-to-wall lightning bolts and I'm afraid most of those in the upper camps ended up departing. The very next day I was back in the Orga Camp, this time to tag along on a mapping expedition heading for the Orga Outback beyond Wisher's Gate, where Lorikeet has been working on a public map of the area, which makes the Snaggy look like the Orchard. This was my first time beyond the Gate, and my first encounter with the orga hatred, which is so tough that Gurgi couldn't hit them reliably even with boosts from Zorton and Sutai. But we had a big group of strong exiles (apart from yours truly) and were able to wall the hatreds up in kudzu while Thuja bricked them. And then just the other day I was walking back from the TGBG when what should see but my goat! Yes, there she was in all her glory, and after I fed her some oats and sugar cubes I had been holding for just this event she followed me everywhere as we searched (in vain, I'm afraid) for Ma Tota. I left her stabled in the farms, and promised to return again once I found the elusive animal master.

Gradi, 64 Summer 540 (1/20/01)

Well, I'm afraid my goatherding efforts have come to a sad end, it seems that an unknown exile came across my goat in the farms and killed it immediately; Ma Tota was horrified when I told her. She's thinking about giving me a new task, but I'm not sure what my chances are, it seems to me that finding both beast and master at the same time will be very difficult given my frequent trips to the library. In an attempt to forget my goat-related troubles last week I went to 'Noth Island with a group of strong exiles and hunted 'dews for a while; we squished a large number of them, including lots of pallidews, and produced just buckets of the now worthless 'dew juice. Rumors have it that Votenkath is angry at the exile community for killing off his captive undine (I'm still not sure where he got them, perhaps from Tenebrion?) and is refusing to pay us more coins. There has also been much speculation about the reason that 'noths also produce "juice;" my theory is that 'noths are some sort of creature that has had a 'dew implanted in it so that Qual can control them, and when we slay the 'noth the resulting "juice" is that of the inhabiting 'dew. And then I missed the "full moon" raid this month, but Axell told me that it didn't succeed, and the day after there were still a bunch of 'locks outside and inside the Orga Camp, which I got to help clear out. It seems to me that our record with Orga Camp assaults is on the decline lately, there just haven't been enough exiles willing to make the attempt.

Gradi, 85 Summer 540 (1/25/01)

Most people seem to be wearing new outfits after the recent chaos storm, and there is suddenly a great deal of trade in pants, shirts and berries; everybody, that is, but the few of us who have maintained the same "taintless" outfit since the War and thus have no extra clothing in their inventory at all. It now turns out that everybody who has been here since the war can wear their "blues" again, and many are choosing to do so; but I suspect that this is a passing fad and that in a little while us "bluebies" will become rare again. I have been spending quite a bit of time hunting in the Savannah lately, and also some more trips to 'Noth Island and even back to 'Noids for a brief nostalgic bug-bash. In the Savannah my encounters with the mahas are usually quite short and result in a quick kill, but every once in a while I run into a somewhat meaner cat (or several at once) and end up flat on my back waiting for Thuja to come rescue me again. Still, the coins are good and there are many vermine to snack on between mahas. And looking at the calendar I see that the full moon is coming up in a few days, I wonder if I can manage to sneak out of the library for that, since I expect a better turnout this month.

Gradi, 2 Autumn 540 (1/27/01)

As usual I need to be a bit more careful what I wish for, as things rarely turn out the way I expect them. On the last day of summer I made my way to the Orga Camp just as a large group of exiles was clearing out OC2 on the way to OC4 for the "full moon" raid. OC3 was cleared even more rapidly, and after a couple of trips in to clear the junk near the OC4 entrance we pushed the rod forward, only to be overwhelmed when a fury made an untimely appearance near the rod. A more-or-less orderly retreat took place, reinforcements were brought up from OC1, and our next assault quickly cleared out the remaining locks and grabbed control of the pit area near the hidden power room. For a while we seemed to be in good shape, knocking off the 'locks at a good clip, but then the super-death-vermines started popping in, healers started to fall, and another retreat was ordered. I made the mistake of being brave and trying to cover the retreat, in the process learning the valuable lesson "don't be last in line when running from 'locks." Many strong healers and fighters did make it out, and they were able to link up with more reinforcements from OC1 to retake OC4 and rescue the fallen from the previous attempt, including my poor bolted self.

Some of the healers had noticed that the super-death-vermine spawns didn't kick in until all the 'locks near the pit had been killed so we changed tactics and set up a rod to absorb the bolts from the few 'locks north of the pit area, only whacking those further south and the occasional backspawns. This put considerable strain on the healers, who had to maintain the rod, heal the fighters of their bolt and flame damage, and dodge the occasional death vermine. We fighters just had to run to the nearest 'lock or DV and whack away, while the mystics...well...did whatever mystics do. Finally the moment of truth arrived, the big blue magician popped in at high noon, and we discovered to our horror that he was protected by some sort of illusion shield, even the powerful Gurgi couldn't swing at him, much less kill him. Along with the invulnerable magician came wave after wave of 'locks, and their bolts quickly overcame the rod, after which it was only a matter of time until the last exile fell. It was a terrible end to a magnificent battle, and I feel particularly sorry for Nyssa, who was standing by waiting to enter the power room only to have defeat snatched from victory at the last moment. I can only hope that we find some way to defeat this new illusion shield, or all further attempts at the power room are doomed as well.

Merdi, 18 Autumn 540 (1/31/01)

There has been a bit of discussion of the recent fiasco in the deep Orga Camp, and the consensus seems to be that the wily magician needs to be given a bit more room to materialize before we rush in to whack. I'm not sure that I want to be there when this theory gets tested, since it's very hard to make sure that all of the exiles understand the tactic of hanging back when the magician first appears; also, it's not clear to me how far back we have to hang, and how long we have to wait before the whackage begins. Perhaps if we set up some strong rods a bit to the south with the fighters right behind them, then once the magician stops flaming we sweep up and finish it off. In the meantime things are going on over on 'Noth Island, I heard Qual taunting the exiles over the sunstone the other day, and I've heard that Votenkath is talking about paying bounties on 'noths and 'dews again, although he still doesn't trust us exiles, which is fine, since I (at least) don't trust him at all, the only real virtue that I've heard of him is that he doesn't like Qual (but then who does?) From my point of view both Votenkath and Tenebrion are entirely too chummy with undine to be treated as our allies and friends.

Gradi, 30 Autumn 540 (2/3/01)

Here we are a month into fall already, with the end of the year rapidly approaching. I was out of the library during the "full moon" raid a few days ago, but was unable to go in to the deep camps with the main assault force (I was really tired and kept falling asleep), where things seemed to go a bit better than the previous month but still not all that good. From what I could tell from the sunstone chatter they were leaving the 'locks alone and rodding like mad, but the magician's illusion shield again thwarted victory. This time the group was more cautious, and some exiles even managed to get out after the rod broke and make it all the way back out to OC1, where a few latecomers were keeping the zerks in check. I wasn't able to stick around for the (now traditional) rescue, and I know that some at least did depart, but I hope that most ended up avoiding a trip to Purg. The day before the full moon I was also fighting orga, this time at Wisher's Gate, where a couple of hatreds and a bunch of 'locks were causing problems, especially when the only pathfinder able to open the Gate fell on the wrong side; poor Entil had to depart to help with her own rescue. I was able to help clear junk and chain a few people out, but it's still going to be a while before I'm much good against the big red orgas.

Lundi, 57 Autumn 540 (2/9/01)

It's been a long month without any journal entries, not that I haven't been busy, what with keeping the Savannah clear of mahas and the Lily Pond clear of swamp ferals. I've also managed to make a few trips to 'Noids for old time's sake, although it's just not the challenge it once was, and one trip to try and help with a rescue in the Dark Chamber, which is still a bit too challenging for the likes of me. Last week I spoke with Babajaga about developments on 'Noth Island, and she told me that the talented Elenis has spoken with Votenkath at some length and learned that he is seeking a mysterious artifact called the "Separ," no doubt having something to do with V's previously stated objective of "separating" the 'noths. V also implied that the 'noths and the 'dews are both chips off the same block, perhaps even parts of some super-juice conglomerate, which is in line with my own speculations on the subject. And what would a month be without an Orga Camp raid, this time I showed up near noon on the "full moon" day and was surprised to find that the raid was just getting started; we rapidly moved through OC1-3 and entered OC4 shortly after noon, but lack of coordination between the two rod teams and the fighter escorts resulted in fallen healers and we were twice forced to retreat back to OC3, the second time with Axell, J'jh and Trys too fallen to raise with the available talent. At this point several of the stronger exiles suggested we give up for the month despite the fact that there was still quite a bit of time left before midnight, but since we were short on healers we really had no choice but to retreat to OC1, at which point we lost enough exiles to make further efforts moot. It is clear that we need a bit more organization up front for the next raid in order to avoid a similar result; it's just too bad that I'm a member of the most disorganized clan in Puddleby (and for good reason too)...

Gradi, 65 Autumn 540 (2/11/01)

As usual I've been pulling long hours in the library recently, but I did wander out of the stacks yesterday and discovered that an unusual item was going to be auctioned off; Muzea, who works at the Puddleby Museum, was going to put a space in the exhibit hall up for bid. A large number of exiles were on hand to watch the festivities, and several items were auctioned off while we waited to warm up the crowd. Then Muzea put up the token representing the museum space, and it immediately jumped up to 1,000 coins bid...and then sort of stuck there for a while, with people making rather small jumps on the total. I didn't have that much on hand, but I took advantage of the cashier now located in the lobby to withdraw a few coins from my account and dashed back in to find the bidding at the 1,700 coin level. I waited until the call of "going once" was made, then put in my own bid of just under 2,000 coins, and much to my amazement my one and only bid stood and I was awarded the prize! It was a bit of a shock, and at first I didn't know what to do when Muzea approached me, but after some consideration I have decided to set up a Foundation and open the exhibit space to open competition, with a 1,000 coin award for the winner. With all of the talented artists in Puddleby it will be hard to decide on a winner, but I will just have to do my best (and hope I don't offend anybody)...

Terrdi, 80 Autumn 540 (2/15/01)

Well, the year is rapidly drawing to a close, and with it the deadline for my art contest; I'm a bit surprised that there hasn't been more interest, so far I've gotten only one submission. Maybe everybody is just too busy with other concerns, I have heard from Babajaga that the Pogue Mahone clan has discovered a path beyond the outback, to a place that's "worse than Hatred's Hollow" (not somewhere I'll be visiting soon); the J'Team has reported that Tenebrion continues to fiddle with Purgatory Pendants, without (it seems) really knowing what he is doing; and I myself have been hunting in a number of places I haven't been for a while. Early in the month I went out to the Greymyr Village with a group of strong exiles even managed to scratch a few 'myrs; I learned both the "Sylvan style," where you lead the 'myr until it chucks a rock, then whack away, and the "Zo style," where you just start whacking and let the rocks fall where they may. Raiine has reported that the darshak have been active again; I came out of the library last week to learn that there was a battle on Ash Island, where there were some super-darshaks that required an army of fourth-circle fighters and healers (and probably mystics, too) to bring down; I whiffed away for a while, and when the supers finally fell some of us went off to the horde and finished off the red shirts there. And just today I took part in a massive hunt on 'Noth Island, the 'dews and xars were falling like leaves, and we had only one really bad incident involving a whole bunch of pallidews which Urgelt managed to turn around with some quick chaining and expert trapping of 'noths. And finally my studies with Master Evus have finally reached the point where he has noticed my devotion to his methods, a proud moment in any student's life.