Poesy: Clan Hunt and Passing the Second Circle Test

Terrdi, day 8 of Winter, 549

Well, today at the clan meeting I think it must have been Rincewind's turn at show and tell. When I came to my senses after jumping off the cliff to the WoD meetin' place I saw him playing with a giant blue flame. He's got it trained a treat I guess 'cause it was dancin around where ever he told it to go. He even let me stand it it! It kind of tickled a little bit, but it wasn't at all hot. What a strange thing.

Rincewind also showed us his purgatory pendant, what a pretty thing! And his blue tor shell he said he won at auction a while ago. I bought some auction tickets for a tor shell just the other day, but I don't suppose I'll get it.

Which reminds me! I've heard rumors on an enchanted breeze that the next set of bard auditions will be soon and not "soon"! (Poesy scratches her head) I hope that means what I think it means.... Boy I've got some work to do! I was recently thinking that I'd audition using a violene, then I switched to the bagpipes, now I think I'm back to the violene.

After the meeting we decided to hunt the Rocky Cavern so that Kiriel could practice bricking Wyrms for the 5th circle fighter test. It was a fun hunt, I don't think I've ever hunted Wyrms before... I remember a long time ago being shown the entrance to the wyrm cave, and how I thought I would never be strong enough to hunt in a place like that. Well, I guess time changes things. I think I've been exiled for wow... a Puddle-year and a half... Sure doesn't seem like it. I suppose if I spent more time out of the library I would be an even better fighter by now, but I'm not driven like some of the other exiles seem to be.

And then came the best part - I passed the 2nd circle fighters test! I didn't think I would, last time I tried, oh, a season ago probably, I didn't even scratch the ferals, but recently I've been noticing I can hit them, so I figured it was time to try again. And I passed! There was a tricky bit, where I wasn't hitting the ferals at all, but then my vision cleared and I was able to poke them with my rapier some more. When I struck down the first feral, I think it must have been the first feral I ever soloed, I learned something from it, and found myself able to fight more effectively. Before I killed the last feral I had the presence of mind to switch to my trusty axe... As I was on red, I suppose it might have cost me the battle, but passing the circle test with a rapier? What kind of weapon is that for a dwarf? I'd been using it to tag before and didn't think of switching it before the test. But I whipped it out for the final blow and WHACK! There went the feral and Honor congratulated me.

I was touched to find Kiriel and Nunul waiting for me outside the test chamber. They and half the people in the lands congratulated me, an' I was a happy dwarf. Then Kiriel and Nunul introduced me to the second circle trainers. I was surprised to see that they all already knew me. I had heard that Evus discused his pupils with most of the other trainers, but I didn't think I really rated that kind of attention. I'm ashamed to admit that I always confuse the subjects of Darkus' and Detha's training, so I'm a little surprised they were as polite towards me as they were.

After Kiriel and Nunul left me to kick pebbles around the 2nd circle room and talk to everyone, I had a massage and a steam bath. If I knew they gave out free massages in the second circle room I probably would have been concentrating on passing that test a lot harder!

Poesy: Freedom!

Sombdi, day 4 of Winter, 549

I finally got out of the library! OH it felt so GOOD!

Ahem. I admit that it was my fault, I didn't see the little tiny sticky that Joe the Librarian had stuck to my comfy couch. When I woke up one day to find meself shackled to my couch I dug around a little bit and found it crumpled up inbetween two of the cushions... It said something like "Your days are numbered dwarf! Pay me now!" But that clearly didn't do any good since I didn't see it. Ah well. After finding meself shackled I promptly packaged up me bill with payment for the next four puddle-years and had Wheatstone walk it over to the bill box in the lib. What I should have had him do was find Joe and box his ears! The scoundrel took an entire Zodiac to unchain me! I'm still workin th' blood into me foot.

(Poesy shakes herself all over) Anyways I had a good little romp. Nothing terribly interesting mind you, no dragons here. (Although Wheatstone tells me he fought some blood wyrms the other day! And where was I???) Wheatstone came along with me to make sure I didn't collapse to a rat in my feeble state. (No exercise for a zodiac I tell you!) Although it turned out Wheatstone was the one who fainted first, but I think it was that funny spinny fish shaped like a balloon he insisted on eating before we left the lib. I poked at him for a while, but finally I found the vial of fishoil in his pocket and that woke him up. I figured if that didn't work then I was gonna start using it to finger paint the top of his head. Whee!

We met a nice new exile Lukee who told us he came from another world, I wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but he seemed normal enough other than that. He was a thoom! I like thooms. They're so squidgy. :-) He was workin on a rat quest so we left him be after raisin him. Too bad I didn't think to get a sketch. Rusty I tell you!

After tooling around South Forest for a very short while, (neither Wheatstone nor I has any skea, and it got pretty depressing), we headed over to east field on our way to the Undine Hut. There were quite a few undine just running around the field. Foolishly I stopped to take this sketch, of course I got distracted for several vital seconds and only came to my surroundings quickly enough to notice myself falling to the ground. Sigh.

Luckily I'd decided to try taking out some Mystic Insurance earlier in the day, and let me tell you the stuff works! :-) Shortly after I'd fallen I got a jingle from Laiy asking me if I needed any help. Wheatstone struggled for a while trying to keep things under control, trying to both run monsters and heal me with his moonstone, while I appologized for being such a dorf, but that really wasn't working. I was doubly upset, since shortly after I had fallen to the Hooded Corpse I noticed Lukee fall to a vermine, but couldn't do anything about it. Thwap! Bad Dwarf! Thwap! Sigh.

I guess Laiy must have decided that we needed help wheither we were going to admit to it or not, or Wheatstone SS that we needed help, because Falinus trecked over to East Field and got me up in a jiffy. What a nice fellow. (He said he reads my journal! Whee!)

We were going to hang around and peg the undine off one at a time, but Wheatstone, ever more perceptive than I noticed that there was an Agratis online so we trecked over to the fairgrounds to see if we could chat them up. :-) Unfortunately by the time we got over there they were gone. I did however discover Gubara, who was happy to tell me about both the most esteemed and reviled citizens in Puddleby. Apparently Census is both one of the most esteemed and reviled citizens of our little mud puddle. (Poesy scratches her head.) Yep, that seems about right.

I was about ready to head to the lib to sleep, but Taryn was looking for some company to take a new fellow, El'kar, into the Myrm Hive or somewhere else more exciting than the rat towers. I saw Falinus snoozing in town center, he didn't want to come along, but he did kindly offer mop up service if we all should fall to the fiercly munching mandibles of the Myrms.

It was a good little hunt, with most of it devoted to lectures of Puddleby etiquette, fighting technique, possible future career paths and which weapons are best for tagging. I hope we didn't overwhelm him. Wheatstone being the good Windy Thoom that he is offered our new friend a pair of pants and an Orga Eye. Slimy thing. (I wonder if Viagra eats those too?) I suppose really they're probably more squidy than slimy, just like Thooms! :-)

Which reminds me of something I've been thinking about. There was a thread in my clan's forum about giving new exiles too many things... El'kar had an Axe! I don't know if he had a sunstone... But it was about how if you give a new exile everything, then there's not really anything for them to strive for, no reason for them to get out of the lib... I'm going to have to think about where the ballance point is. It's sure fun to give them stuff though! But does it make it less fun for them?

Poesy: Drake Den and Huntin' Bears

Merdi, day 15 of Autumn, 548

Today Wheat and I and Baraboo and Viagra met to go on a hunt somewheres. Before we got out of town center though, we were invited on a trip to the Drake Den on Fire Island by Kiriel. If we'd realized right off that it was an exploration trip, not a hunting trip we probably would have declined. I like exploration normaly, but I'd come out of the library specifically in th' mood for a hunt. With good thwacky monsters I can hit at least 50% of the time preferably. But it sounded interestin.

Bein a dwarf I have an eye fer beautiful an well-made things, and an eye fer patterns. (Sure, laugh at dwarfs an beauty, I may not be much ta look at, but I kin appreciate it, an even bein young I've done a fair bit o' chasin metal an shapin stone.) So I was taken with th' sketch on th' left there of th' tree. I thought it was kinda interestin how th' exiles all aranged themselves ta mimic the shape o' the tree. Caught me notice, part o' th' patterns of all things. (Poesy scratches her head) Whell, lookin at it again, maybe it looks more like a mushroom.... Could be th' beer....

Then we set off ta th' interior o' the island. I'd never been here before, so my eyes were kept wide lookin about. Pretty soon we ducked into a cave, ah th' delicious dark. I don't quite understand how Peony doesn't like caves... she was complainin ta me about th' twisty clefts she had ta squeeze through recently in th' passes. We had ta do quite a bit o' weavin through twisty paths ta get ta th' inside o' Fire Island, but I thought it was kinda relaxin. A body could get lost in there pretty quick though. An I can see why Peony wouldna want ta be in a place like that when th' earth was shakin.

Eventually we got out o' th' twistiness into some real caves. Mighty toasty too. It being my first time here, I was suprised by th' little Voolcon criters. They do seem pretty harmless, although they chitter an awful lot like rats. Huntin with Viagra was quite interestin, she seemed ta want to eat everything! I learned from her instruction though that rats are really pretty tasty. I suspect she eats 'em raw, but I like 'em better singed over a lava pool or fire. Bein my current lowish level I also discovered that I learn quite a bit from killin th' fire rats.

To get into th' drake den we had to traipse across a lava pool... You'd think given the number of dwarfs that we exiles would have enough engineerin talent ta build bridges over stuff like that!

Once into th' drake den, there didn't seem ta be much there. Apparently folks were wanderin around an lookin fer new paths out that they hadna found yet. Seems they had a pretty good reason, lundar could sense that there was a drake somewhere on the snell, but we couldna find a path to him anywhere. Maybe there's a long way ya got ta go around, summat like in the Myrm hives which are also pretty twisty, or maybe there's a secret crack no-ones found yet... or mebbie ya needs 5 cross-shared full mystics ta open a door in the middle o' the floor, an if ye go downs there yer instantly teleported ta dwarven paradise! Naw, prolly not.

Anyhow, folks kept runnin around and starin at th' walls... I got pretty antsy. Viagra decided she'd had enough o' starin at rocks with nothin ta chew on in sight, and left th' den ta go back into th' room o' lava pools what we'd come in by. It sounded ta me like she was havin an awful lot o' fun in there, and me sense o' adventure and curiosity over rode me sense o' prudence an I followed her in.

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten about the lava pool by th' entrance, and I didna make it more than 8 steps or so before I was fallen just on th' edge. Even if I'd made it one more step though, I don't expect I woulda lived much longer anyway, judgin by th' string o' firey beasts Viagra was leadin around on a string, and I wouldna had enough health ta make it across th' lava twice ta get back inside an healed.

Perhaps I shoulda regretted me rashness, but I have ta say I had more fun watchin Viagra runnin around wit all o' th' flames than I had watchin folks starin at rocks. I haven't gotten any pathfindin skills meself, so there wasn't anything ta do in there. Unfortunately Viagra ruined her play with da firey toys ta try ta rescue me, an fell herself. I suppose th' rats got their revenge by chewin on us, fer chewin on them. Heh, turnabouts fair play.

I dinna remember th' rest very well. When everyone had gotten their fill of starin at rocks they came out ta get us, and discovered even with th' five or so healers we'd brought along that Viagra an I were far past recovery. I told them I was happy ta depart, I dinna want ta break up any more starin at rocks they might want ta be doin. They insisted on chainin me along with them though, and not bein one ta argue about that I jest kinda drowsed through th' rest o' th cave as they dragged me an Viagra around, I had plety o' thinkin ta do bout other stuff. Perhaps yer thinkin that I shoulda been doin that earlier then, instead o' fallin in lava an chargin inta danger above me head, an yer probably right, but I dinna ken, an I'm not sure I'd really do different again. Hearin a battle a little ways away is an awful temptation ta a dwarf in th' mood fer thwackin stuff.

Finally I awoke ta find meself bein dragged through th' ocean, and was soon in town center. I was glad, cause it seemed Santie Chicken 'ad been lookin fer me as he had discovered diggin through th' bottom o' his bag a present wid me name on it. After most everyone in town center had chipped in ta get me back on me feet (I'm sure glad ta be exiled in such a friendly place!) Santa Chicken gave me my present and I gleefully ripped it from it's wrapper ta discover a cluster o' lilaberries! What a present! I thanked him heartily, an I'm awful glad that Mobius didna keep such a kind old soul fer himself, but generously exiled him so's we can have such wonderful Bawkmas treats as he's allus comin up with. I'm not sure what to do with the lilaberry though, I'd really like ta dye somethin fer Peony, since she's allus thinkin about her cloths, but I'd like ta get her a sunstone first. Maybe I'll sell th' lilaberry, maybe I'll save up ta be able ta dye somethin with it.

After I was up we finally got to go on our hunt. We started out in North Forest, and got quite drunk on Herpatid poisons! That was pretty amusing, but after a while it got a little dangerous! It's quite hard to clear out a swarm of herpatids without fallin over drunk! The cats were plentiful too though, which was nice. Eventually, after we were tiered of reeling from th' herptidys we sallied off to th' bear caves. We spent a good long while in there thwacking bears an snakes an those annoying little buggers of bats. I made enough coins on that hunt that I think I kin finally afford ta get Peony a sunstone o' her own, if that suspicious guy hoppin about th' farms is still sellin em fer a reasonable price.

When we were finally tierd of whacking bears, which took quite a while, we went on a brief rescue, wandered over to th' lake fer a moment, and then headed back ta town center, where we ran into a Thoom council line. Thooms are such handsome fellows! Especially Wheat. I headed of ta th' lib then, while Wheatstone an Baraboo spent some time Thooming with th' council.