bio_hazard wrote:Not sure about the curse detection issue. I usually just sell 1 of a batch of ammo to identify.
I forgot about that important trick! Shops would not buy ammo with cursed pseudo-identification, but I missed an opportunity to sell 1 of my batch
before Edaymar cut the trees to wait for pseudo-ID.
Yottle wrote:The Sandworm Lair is the safest dungeon to start with if you are playing ironman. A couple of checkerboard vaults will probably completely equip your character.
The DitL of Agrelaa, part 8 tells my only visit to the Sandworm Lair. The place had so much sandwall, and few monsters except 'w'. I would still need a pick against the granite walls of the vaults. I might want to go there, but the top level is level 22 and might be too deep for Edaymar.
Chapter 4: Operation OVERKILL
'It's fascinating to think that all around us there's an invisible world we can't even see. I'm speaking, of course, of the World of the Invisible Scary Skeletons.' --Mordekainen's Magical Compendum of Deep Thought
46th Yavie, 1:33 AM. Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, waits in the corridor with her lantern. To her east, she sees the granite wall, seemingly undamaged by her shovel. To her west, she knows that just beyond the edge of the lantern light, there is another granite wall.
This is a short corridor, only four squares long, in level 3 of the Barrow-downs. The monsters of this level live in sealed rooms, behind granite walls. Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, knows this, because she can do Mindcraft, and use Precognition to detect the monsters. Edaymar is an adventurer, of the class to explore dungeons and kill their monsters, but Edaymar slew no monsters at this level. Edaymar cannot breach any of the granite walls, to bring battle to the monsters. Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, knows this, because she tried to dig through the granite wall to her east, but all of her attempts with her shovel failed to make even the slightest of progress.
This is a day in the life of Edaymar, a rather new adventurer. Only three days ago, her adventure began. Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, stayed out of the dungeon for the first day, and the second day, and part of the third day. Edaymar stayed out until she had enough money to buy equipment and items. In her pack are potions to cure wounds, and scrolls to escape danger. Edaymar has used none of these items; she has used not her 2 Potions of Cure Light Wounds, nor her 7 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds, nor her 2 Scrolls of Phase Door, nor her 8 Scrolls of Teleportation. From the beginning of her adventure until now, these expensive items had no use.
Other items have a use, but not a presence in her pack. Edaymar lacks a tool to dig through granite wall. Edaymar also lacks a recall scroll. Edaymar cannot read any Scroll of Word of Recall, to yank herself out of the dungeon and return to the town of Bree. Edaymar must find some other way to escape the Barrow-downs, or she will remain forever in this short corridor (only four squares long!) and starve to death, and rot, and become a skeleton.
46th Yavie, 1:33 AM. Edaymar unwraps a Fortune Cookie, and eats.
That tastes good. There is message in the cookie. It says: Operation OVERKILL has started now. An odd name, if Edaymar underkills monsters, because she cannot reach them.
This is Operation OVERKILL, to find a way out of these Barrow-downs, and return to the town of Bree.
This corridor has no entrance or exit, so how Edaymar arrived here? Edaymar had used the Mindcraft power of Major Displacement. This power has a chance to fail, so cannot replace a scroll of escape when fleeing a battle; but now, outside battle, Edaymar has enough time to rest, and many times cast Major Displacement. Yes, Edaymar used Major Displacement to enter this corridor, and she might use Major Displacement to leave.
The problem is that Major Displacement cannot go everywhere. For some unknown reason, Major Displacement has never landed Edaymar inside any of these rooms of granite wall. Edaymar is uncertain, whether Major Displacement can land her near any staircase upward. So, for this Operation OVERKILL, Edaymar will try Major Displacement, but if that fails, Edaymar will try her shovel against the trees. A shovel is useless against granite wall, but might dig a path through the trees, and such path might reach any staircase upward.
Operation OVERKILL begins now.
Edaymar casts Major Displacement. The magic takes her from that corridor, and lands her in a new corridor, but this corridor is only two squares long, north to south, and her lantern lights the entire corridor, and sees the granite walls at both ends. This is a useless corridor, with no way to any staircase upward. Edaymar rests, to recover her mana.
----
Edaymar casts Major Displacement. This new corridor seems long, and raises hope. Edaymar casts Precognition, and a room of monsters and traps to the west, and another such room to the north. Edaymar tries to rest.
You hear a door burst open! Edaymar continues to rest.
You hear a door burst open! You hear a door burst open! Has someone detected Edaymar, whose abilility for Stealth is Excellent? Edaymar rests, and recovers her mana.
Edaymar walks west. This corridor ends at what seems to be a rectangular perimeter hallway around a large room. The outer wall is granite, but the inner wall is permanent. Edaymar follows the hallway counter-clockwise, but stops before a trap. Edaymar returns clockwise, but sees a monster, and this is her first encounter with a monster at this dungeon level, Barrow-downs 3. The monster is beyond the light of her lantern, but with her infravision, Edaymar sees a Black naga (level 3). Edaymar prays to Manwe Sulimo, and holds her Sabre (1d7) (+2,+4).
Edaymar takes normal/normal tactics, and melees the Black naga over many turns, but the Sabre barely scratches the naga, while Edaymar loses one third of her HP. Then Edaymar, through her Mindcraft, sends a Neural Blast at this short range.
The Black naga cries out in pain. A second Neural Blast.
The Black naga cries out in pain. The Black naga crushes you. A third Neural Blast.
The Black naga cries out feebly. The Black naga flees in terror! A fourth Neural Blast, at a range of 2 squares.
The Black naga collapses, a mindless husk. Now Edaymar takes the loot, a Soft Studded Leather [5], and retreats away from the perimeter hallway, and rests.
This is Operation OVERKILL, which might involve overkilling the monsters of at least one room, because of Edaymar.
Edaymar, with full HP and mana, returns to the perimeter hallway, and continues clockwise. Some Yellow jelly blocks the hallway, so Edaymar attacks with her Sabre. The Yellow jelly poisons Edaymar, and drains 2 mana points, but dies to several hits from the Sabre. So Edaymar retreats, and rests, as her body overcomes the poison.
Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, returns to the hallway. Then a Novice mage steps through the open door in the western side of the inner permanent wall.
The Novice mage hits you. You cripple the Novice mage. The Novice mage flees in terror! The Novice mage hits you. It casts a spell, burning your eyes! You are blind! Edaymar tries to flee.
You miss it. It hits you. It tries to cast a spell, but fails. You cripple it. You have killed it. It hits you. You have found 40 gold pieces worth of copper. It hits you. Edaymar moves away, and increases her speed to running; but before she turns the corner, she blindly throws a Flask of oil behind her.
You have 10 Flasks of oil. The Flask of oil finds a mark. It screams in pain. The Flask of oil disappears. Then Edaymar turns the corner, and begins to flee.
You can see again.
Now Edaymar sees the three Novice mages who give chase, and begins to throw Neural Blasts, and also thrust her Sabre. Edaymar slays the three Novice mages, and also one Manes, and rests in place, then advances toward the door.
More monsters wake, but Edaymar fights them near the door. Edaymar kills another Manes, and one Snaga (level 6), but there are more Snaga, and they are tough, so Edaymar runs away. She flees east through the path, and stops where the path becomes a staircase down. There she rests.
Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, advances while running. Edaymar sees the Snaga ahead, because they carry lights, and Edaymar throws some Neural Blasts. Two Snaga die, but Edaymar rests for mana. When her mana is full, a Novice warrior, carrying another light, comes into view. More Neural Blasts slay the Novice warrior, and another Manes.
Edaymar steps through the open door, but that is where the Skeleton orc ambushes Edaymar. So Edaymar tries to hack and back, but both Edaymar and the Skeleton orc lose about one third of their HP. Then Edaymar tries a Neural Blast, but:
The Skeleton orc is immune! So Edaymar tries her other Mindcraft attack, Pulverise. The first bolt hits, but the second bolt fails to form:
You failed to concentrate hard enough! Edaymar lacks enough mana for a third bolt, but the Skeleton orc is near dead, and seems dazed. So Edaymar approaches and destroys the Skeleton orc with her Sabre. The Soldier ant behind the Skeleton orc soon dies. Edaymar flees again, and rests again.
Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, returns to the open door in the western side of the inner permanent wall, where are the monsters.
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Neural Blasts and Sabre strikes! The adventure slays a Snaga, a Manes, another Snaga, a Novice mage, a Large kobold, another Snaga. Then Edaymar flees, because two Novice mages approach.
The Novice mage casts a magic missile. Edaymar takes damage, but at Fast (+3), she tries to gain more distance.
The Novice mage casts a magic missile. Edaymar has 22/94 HP and 11/19 SP. Two more magic missile spells might slay Edaymar, and end this adventure. So Edaymar reads one of her 8 Scrolls of Teleportation.
----
You have 7 Scrolls of Teleportation. Edaymar lands in another corridor, and returns tactics to normal/normal. Precognition shows some monsters, but not too close, so Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, rests.
This corridor is safe, but it has two ends, both at granite walls, but no staircases. Operation OVERKILL now encounters the familiar problem from the beginning of the operation, which is to be in a corridor with no exit from this dungeon level of the Barrow-downs.
So Edaymar casts Major Displacement. In the map of her mind, Edaymar appears near the room with the perimeter hallway, but outside the hallway, to the north, in unknown corridors. This is where Edaymar finds and kills a Mangy-looking leper, to unblock the path. The corridor has a 3-way junction, and leads to three ends, all with granite walls. Then Edaymar sets tactics to normal/slug-like, to search for any hidden doors, but there are none.
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So Edaymar casts Major Displacement. In the map of her mind, Edaymar appears near the northeast corner of the perimeter hallway, but outside the outer wall, in unknown corridors.
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After she maps these corridors, an idea enters the mind of Edaymar, to use her shovel to dig a path from these corridors, to the corridor that connects to both the perimeter hallway and a staircase down.
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With slow but significant progress, the shovel chops the trees, and the way is open.
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Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, steps into the familiar corridor. Now the two Novice mages remain in the corridor; but Edaymar has full health, and can fight without reading another Scroll of Teleportation. Edaymar encounters and kills one of the Novice mages, and discovers another staircase down.
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Edaymar seeks the other Novice mage, whom Edaymar discovers and slays.
The Novice mage collapses, a mindless husk. Your light is growing faint. Your light is growing faint. Your light is growing faint. Edaymar sees 97 turns of light in her Brass Lantern, but uses a Flask of oil, so the lantern now has 7596 turns of light.
Because the two Novice mages are dead, so Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, returns to the open door in the western side of the inner permanent wall. The only monster is one Yellow light, which wanders, but chases not Edaymar. Now Edaymar refuses to step beyond the door, because there are traps. So Edaymar closes the door.
Operation OVERKILL does not end until Edaymar is outside the Barrow-downs, and returned to the town of Bree. The only way to exit the Barrow-downs is to go up, but the only staircases here go down. An idea enters the mind of Edaymar, to go down now, and go up by some other way. So Edaymar now descends from dungeon level 3 to dungeon level 4.
----
Barrow-downs 4
You enter the next area. You have a superb feeling about this level. Compacting monsters... 46th Yavie, 6:54 AM.
Morning has broken.
Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, continues beyond the end of the staircase, into a corridor. The corridor forks, and one path ends at a granite wall, but the other path goes parallel to a granite wall, and ends at another staircase upward, so Edaymar ascends.
----
Barrow-downs 3
You enter the previous area. You have a superb feeling about this level.
The corridor ends at a gap in the granite wall, so Edaymer enters some room. There is battle against a Lemure (level 8).
You have destroyed the Lemure.
Edaymar tries to rest, but suddenly, a
Phantom (level 36) appears. Though the Phantom is invisible, Edaymar can see the Phantom, because Edaymar is a high-elf.
The Phantom touches you. You feel your life draining away! The Phantom touches you. You feel your life draining away! The Phantom misses you. <2x>
Edaymar panics. She had 1063 experience points, but now she has only 589 experience points. This loss drops her character level from 10 to 8. ''No battles to the death are recalled. An unholy creature of darkness, the aura emanating from this evil being saps your very soul. It moves quickly. It is invisible. It is cold blooded. It is an immortal being. It can touch to lower experience (by 80d6+), and touch to lower experience (by 40d6+).''
Edaymar ponders to run back to the staircase, and return to Barrow-downs 4, but Edaymar thinks that the Phantom might be too fast, and might take all of her experience points! So Edaymar reads one of her 7 Scrolls of Teleportation.
Edaymar rests in the new corridor, then explores. The corridor is long; Edaymar uses Neural Blast to kill a Small kobold. Meanwhile, Edaymar hears the bursting open of doors. Then Edaymar suddenly gasps, because south of her position is a group of monsters, including an
Ancient gold dragon (level 41) and a Phantom warrior (level 8). The dragon might end the adventure of Edaymar, unless it cannot pass a wall; but the Phantom warrior might pass a wall and cause trouble, unless it does not wake and notice Edaymar, the high-elven priestess.
Edaymar continues west through the corridor, and shovels away a pile of rubble, and discovers a staircase down. Edaymar returns east, hoping for a staircase up, but only finds a room. Edaymar sees a Kobold holding a light, and a Skeleton bubble. Edaymar suddenly remembers that the Phantom (who takes experience) was near this room. Edaymar immediately flees west, and departs down the staircase.
----
Barrow-downs 4
You enter the next area. You have a superb feeling about this level. Barrow-downs 4 is a different dungeon level, which might not have any Phantom to steal the experience points fromm Edaymar, the high-elven priestess.
The goal of Operation OVERKILL is to escape the Barrow-downs, but progress has been terrible. Edaymar went from dungeon level 3, to dungeon level 4, to dungeon level 3, to dungeon level 4. Edaymar yet has plenty of supplies, but worries about finding any way to dungeon level 2.
Edaymar finds one room, here at dungeon level 4. This room has another perimeter hallway, with an open door in the south side of the inner wall. A Lost soul (level 7) attacks Edaymar. Two hits from the Sabre destroy the Lost soul, but not before the Lost soul cuts the wisdom stat of Edaymar from 20 to 19.
Edaymar fights a group of Manes at the door, but takes too much damage, and (by normal/running tactics) flees. The Manes follow, but Edaymar runs up a staircase. She stays not to clear the monsters from the room.
----
Barrow-downs 3
You have a superb feeling about this level. The end of the staircase reveals an open arena level. A Small kobold Archer (level 2) becomes an immediate threat, but Edaymar throws a single Neural Blast, and the threat dies, and Edaymar rests.
Precognition shows many monsters a large group of monsters to the south, but Edaymar walks west, following the edge of the level, seeking the next staircase (because in the Barrow-downs, the staircases tend to appear at the edges of each level). Edaymar passes a staircase downward, but continues west, and turns south at the corner of the level. Meanwhile, Edaymar responds to the ranged attacks of a Radiation eye and a Novice priest, by killing both with Neural Blasts. Then, along the western edge of the level, Edaymar finds and takes a staircase upward.
Edaymar thus loses an opportunity to explore this arena level; but Edaymar would prefer to leave the Barrow-downs, completing Operation OVERKILL, instead of losing more experience points to another Phantom.
----
Barrow-downs 2
You have a superb feeling about this level. The staircase ends at another open arena level. So Edaymar walks clockwise and turns south along the eastern edge of the level. Doors burst open, where Edaymar can hear but not see; but Edaymar ignores the noise, and seeks a staircase.
Soon after Edaymar turns the corner tothe southern edge of the level, Edaymar finds and takes a staircase upward.
----
Barrow-downs 1
Looks like any other level. Operation OVERKILL finally takes Edaymar to Barrow-downs 1, so near to the surface; but the corridor forks, and each path stops at a granite wall! So Edaymar retreats through the staircase, returning to Barrow-downs 2; but the staircase has a magic, and twists in strange directions, and though it is the same staircase that took Edaymar from an open arena at Barrow-downs 2, it returns Edaymar not to the same open arena. Instead, the steps end and Edaymar sees a flat corridor.
----
Barrow-downs 2
You have a superb feeling about this level. The flat corridor of Barrow-downs 2, after only three squares, merges into a perimeter hallway. Edaymar sees the outer granite wall, and the inner permanent wall. Here are
many monsters (screenshot).
Some monsters come out already from a gap in the west side of the inner wall. There Edaymar does battle. She throws Neural Blasts, while running away from approaching monsters, and she regains experience level 9.
The battle is easy, until a Novice warrior stuns Edaymar, though the stun seems to have no effect. Then Edaymar quaffs one of her 7 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds. This potion only heals a slight amount of damage, after the monsters get their hits while Edaymar swallows the liquid. Then Edaymar flees through a jumpgate, and tries to rest.
Resting on a Void Jumpgate is too dangerous! So Edaymar steps off the jumpgate and rests. The Edaymar returns through the jumpgate. Now Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, stands on the jumpgate and fights! But whenever she wants to rest, she drops through the jumpgate and rests next to the other end of the jumpgate. By this manner, Edaymar slays many monsters.
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A Black orc (level 13) does so much damage that Edaymar uses one of her 6 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds, then flees.
Suddenly, during the battle, one of the Neural Blasts from Edaymar becomes a beam, and passes through several monsters.
The Black orc resists. The Black orc screams in pain. The Black orc flees in terror! It screams in pain. The Manes cries out in pain. Ufthak of Cirith Ungol is dazed. The Phantom warrior is immune! The Snaga cries out in pain. The Snaga flees in terror!
Now Ufthak of Cirith Ungol is among the monsters.
A strong orc guarding the pass of Cirith Ungol. He is mortally afraid of spiders: he was captured by Shelob once, but escaped when she forgot completely about him. He moves at normal speed. He usually appears with escorts. He is a mortal being. Nothing is known about his attack.
Then Edaymar continues to exploit the jumpgate, because none of her opponents has the idea to travel through the jumpgate, where one would attack Edaymar, and prevent Edaymar from resting. So one end of the jumpgate remains safe for Edaymar. The other end of the jumpgate remains deadly for monsters who oppose her. Edaymar defeats enough monsters to regain character level 10.
There comes an extreme situation, where Edaymar must arrive through the jumpgate, takes hits from two Phantom warriors, attack only once, then flee through the jumpgate. To gain speed, Edaymar drops some loot at the far side of the jumpgate; this speeds her from Fast (+2) to Fast (+4), with her normal/running tactics. The fact that Edaymar can heal faster than Phantom warriors can heal, eventually decides that Edaymar is the victor.
The Phantom warriors all die, plus some other monsters die, until Ufthak of Cirith Ungol comes to melee Edaymar. Now Ufthak can do 40 HP of damage per turn, which is too much! (Such damage drops Edaymar from 94/94 to 54/94 HP.) Edaymar cannot hit Ufthak, before fleeing through the jumpgate!
So Edaymar moves to coward/running tactics. Now Edaymar comes through the jumpgate, and faces Ufthak. (But Ufthak is also too stupid to follow Edaymar through the jumpgate.) Edaymar wants to use the extra AC from coward tactics to withstand the attacks of Ufthak, then to launch a Neural Blast at short range; but Edaymar does 36 HP of damage, and Edaymar flees through the jumpgate, without attacking. Ufthak has saved the life of the monsters behind Ufthak, because Edaymar now quits the battle, and leaves Ufthak to live.
At the safe side of the jumpgate is a wall that protects Edaymar from the monsters, and two staircases; but both staircases lead down. So Edaymar passes down from Barrow-downs 2 to Barrow-downs 3. Edaymar would have returned to Barrow-downs 1, but Ufthak threatens the only staircase up, so Ufthak is the only reason that Edaymar goes down.
----
Barrow-downs 3
You have a superb feeling about this level. Operation OVERKILL returns to the dungeon depth where the operation began.
Edaymar travelled from Barrow-downs 3, to Barrow-downs 4, to Barrow-downs 3, to Barrow-downs 4, to Barrow-downs 3, to Barrow-downs 2, to Barrow-downs 1, to Barrow-downs 2, to Barrow-downs 3.
46th Yavie, 1:46 PM. For more than twelve hours, the exit to the Barrow-downs has eluded Edaymar, the high-elven priestess. This all happens because Edaymar forgot to buy a recall scroll.
Edaymar can choose to backtrack through the staircase, and return to Barrow-downs 3, but Edaymar instead advances into the next room.
You hit the Brown mold. The Brown mold releases spores at you. You are confused! The Brown mold releases spores at you. The Mindcraft power, Pulverise, would have been better than the Sabre. Edaymar loses her sense of direction, but accidentally steps away from the Brown mold, beyond the range of the moldy spores. Pulverise kills the mold. She rests, then tries to explore the room.
Edaymar tries to fight a Metallic blue centipede, when a Greater basilisk (level 42) suddenly ambushes Edaymar!
The Greater basilisk gazes at you. You resist the effects! The Greater basilisk bites you. You are poisoned! The Greater basilisk bites you. Edaymar has 58/94 HP. Edaymar reads one of her 6 Scrolls of Teleportation, and the scroll removes her from the terrible Greater basilisk, and drops her in an unfamiliar corridor.
The poison reduces Edaymar to 29/94 HP, until:
You are no longer poisoned. Then Edaymar rests, because this corridor fortunately has no monsters to threaten her. In this corridor, Edaymar finds an abundance of staircases. Then she climbs one set of steps.
----
Barrow-downs 2
You have a superb feeling about this level. Beyond the top of the steps, the corridor ends at a granite wall. Edaymar returns down the steps, but once again, the staircase has a magic, and twists in strange directions, and fails to return Edaymar to any familiar place.
----
Barrow-downs 3
Looks like any other level. Beyond the bottom of the steps, the corridor continues for a great length to the south. The corridor through a gap in a granite wall, at a dark room. This room encloses a fortress. Inside the room, but outside the south side of the fortress, Edaymar meets Mughash, the Kobold Lord (level 7).
Strong and owerful, for a kobold. He moves at normal speed. He usually appears with escorts. He is a mortal being. Nothing is known about his attack.
With normal/running tactics, Edaymar runs away from Mughash, but throws Neural Blasts.
Mughash, the Kobold Lord says, 'I may be a kobold, but I can beat you!' Edaymar flees out of the room, through the long corridor, but Mughash chases Edaymar, and takes damage from the Neural Blasts.
Mughash, the Kobold Lord looks confused. The chase stops, but Edaymar continues to attack Mughash. Meanwhile, another kobold follows behind Mughash.
Mughash, the Kobold Lord grunts with pain. Mughash, the Kobold Lord hits the Large kobold. The Large kobold dies. Edaymar continues to attack, until she has no mana. Now Mughash tries to flee, but Edaymar holds her Sabre and chases; but Mughash stays far ahead, and enters the room, while another Large kobold forces Edaymar into a fight.
Edaymar backs into the corridor, and the adventurer and the kobold fight one-to-one.
You hit the Large kobold. The Large kobold misses you. The battle continues, and Edaymar loses about 40 HP, but regains 2 mana. When the Large kobold decides to flee, Edaymar uses those 2 mana to send two Neural Blasts. The first blast kills the Large kobold, and the second blast hits Mughash. Then the Sabre cuts Mughash in half.
You hit Mughash, the Kobold Lord. Mughash, the Kobold Lord says: '3... 2... 1... Liftoff!' You have slain Mughash, the Kobold Lord.
There is an open door in the north side of the fortress, where Large kobolds now come out. The battle is tough, and Edaymar uses 2 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds. Edaymar closes the door to the fortress, explores the outside of the fortress, and ignores the fountains, but grabs some loot. Then Edaymar, the high-elven priestess, flees from a group of Phantom warriors (level 8).
But Edaymar runs everywhere, and the running tactics reduce her stealth from Excellent to Bad. So the monsters inside the fortress hear the high-elven feet, and wake up. Then a Dark elven mage (level 10) comes out a hidden door, and threatens Edaymar. Edaymar switches to coward/running tactics, but cannot outrun the Dark elven mage, who repeatedly attacks. The weight of the loot reduces the speed of Edaymar from Fast (+4) to Fast (+2).
The Dark elven mage casts a spell, burning your eyes! You are blind! It mumbles. You are hit by poison! You are poisoned! As Edaymar runs, the poison goes away, and her eyes recover. Edaymar quaffs a Potion of Cure Serious Wounds, then reads a Scroll of Teleportation, then rests.
Edaymar returns to normal/normal tactics, and walks east through the new corridor. This happens to be a system of corridors, with many dead ends. So Edaymar uses her Mindcraft power of Major Displacement to escape.
In the next corridor, Edaymar encounters a Phantom warrior, but falls through a jumpgate to escape.
You fall into the void. Brrrr! It's deadly cold. The other side of a jumpgate is always safe!
Edaymar sees her mistake. At the other end of the jumpgate,
monsters surround her (screenshot). These monsters immediately attack the adventurer. One of the adjacent monsters is a Death sword. Edaymar has such bad luck, to find a jumpgate to such an awful place. Death swords, though they never move from squaer to square, can attack quickly and do much damage. This particular Death sword slays Edaymar before the high-elven priestess can have another turn.
I split my brain, melt through the floor.
You are carrying: 2 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds, 4 Scrolls of Teleportation, 2 Scrolls of Identify and
a Spectral Fauchard (1d10) (+5,+7). That last item would have been useful.
Operation OVERKILL ends, by killing Edaymar.
----
'"You sold an Elven Robe [2,+5] (+1 to stealth) for 4 gold. Yippee!" Oops. I decide not to buy it back for 23681 gold.' --Kernigh about
Wicilib, high-elven priestess of Eru, 17 October 2006
I lost another one of my ToME characters in the Barrow-downs!
So terrible is that place. The Barrow-downs have killed more of my characters than any other dungeon. Onucred and Agrilinn both died "in a plain of grass north of Bree", and Wicilib died in a lost temple of Eru Iluvatar, but Kaecan died in Barrow-downs 1, and Bendatram died in Barrow-downs 2, and Cadoloth died in Barrow-downs 3, and many other adventurers died in the Barrow-downs.
My last character, Agrelaa, succeeded in the Barrow-downs; but he remains my only character to reach Barrow-downs 10. Though the
Adventurer's Guide to Middle-earth describes the Barrow-downs as 'a safe and simple dungeon', the Barrow-downs seem to be the most dangerous place in the game.
The Barrow-downs became more dangerous when I enabled ironman_rooms for Edaymar. All the rooms became fortresses of monsters behind granite walls. Where a door went open, the monsters came out, but Edaymar never came in, because of the traps. I call them fortresses, but other players call them vaults, as if they store items and equipment. The pack of the dead Edaymar contains many drops from monsters, but no objects from vaults, except perhaps few objects from Barrow-downs 1.
It is fascinating, but frustrating, to think that all around the Barrow-downs is a world Edaymar can not and never see. I am writing, of course, of the world of vaults not entered, monsters never reached, objects never taken; the world of Nexus quylthulgs and Ancient gold dragons, if not any Invisible Scary Skeletons.
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