JackArbiter

Join Date 07/2008

+25

[1.0] Grammar Stuff 10

Quests

There are still a few of these that I don't believe have made it in yet. Just a reminder, I know there are more important things to do right now.

Grammar Stuff 7 - CoreItems.xml

https://forums.elementalgame.com/434374

Grammar Stuff 8 - CoreSpells.xml

https://forums.elementalgame.com/434384

Grammar Stuff 9 - CoreGoodieHuts.xml

https://forums.elementalgame.com/434563

10 is quests, leaving... corerandomevents.xml and... gah... coreunits.xml (Wallsoftext.xml)

************

CoreQuests.xml

I started off placing periods after shorttextaccept and deny, short descriptions, etc., but I gave up after the first dozen or so quests. You may want to search for </short and other things like that and place periods. But at this point if I pointed out every single one this would take 3 times as long.

The very last quest seems to have the same description and choice text (except for the last line of the latter). But I may be wrong about how it gets presented to the reader.

<DisplayName>Alchemist's Offer</DisplayName>

<Description>"My lord," the alchemist begins, talking to a farmer at a nearby table.

"It's me, Jerald, you stupid scitan," the farmer says. "The troll-baiter is over there."

The farmer points in your direction.

"My lord," the alchemist begins, heading over to you. "I've an experiment, and I need sand from a sand golem. If you would be good enough to procure some for me, I can give you one of my pets."</Description>

<RewardText>Ophidian</RewardText>

<RewardImage>M_Ophidian_01_Card.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>"What have you brought me?" the Alchemist cries, "A handful of dirt plucked from the innkeeper's garden? Do you think me a fool?"

"This is from the Sand Golem," you say through clenched teeth. Everyone in the inn grows quiet.

Even the alchemist understands that he is a few foolish words away from dying.

"Of course my lord, forgive me," he stammers. "Please accept this Ophidian as a pet, it will serve you well."</SuccessText>

---

<DisplayName>Alchemy</DisplayName>

<Description>The innkeeper is admiring a set of gold coins on the bar. They are perfectly formed, and the inn's firelight dances across their smooth yellow surface, but there is no insignia on any of them. No nation appears to have printed them, and although warlords or smuggling guilds occasionally mint their own coins, they usually imprint them with their own symbol and never use such pure gold.

“They were made by magic,” the innkeeper says, “Pulled from the air as some conjure fire or wind. Can you imagine the sorcerer that can do this? He could ruin the economy of empires; he could raise armies of any size.”

“No,” you answer as you pick up and investigate one of the coins. “All things done with magic take power, and this power is more precious than gold. But still,” you say, considering, “it is a good trick. Where did these coins come from?”

The innkeeper gives you directions to local ruin where the coins were found. The adventurer that found them claimed to have seen the words of a spell on the ruin walls.</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>I will search for the ruins.</ShortTextAccept>

<Description>I'll return later.</Description>

<ChoiceText>After you kill the Air Shrills, you are surprised by a dark figure who steps out of the ruins.

“If you are looking for the coins, they are already gone,””he says.

“I have seen them,” you respond, “I've come for something else.”

“The spell then; it is of little use to me. But I will stand aside and let you go in and read it for a small price. If you will be able to summon gold, the least you can do is share a little with me, say, 100 coins, and I will need payment before you enter the ruins.”</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>K_Men_Assassin_Card_01.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Gfx\Medallions\Medallion_Frame_01.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>I am searching the ruins, I suggest you stand aside.</Description>

<PopupMessage>”I had to try,” the man says as he steps meekly aside.</PopupMessage>

</QuestChoiceDef>

---

<DisplayName>Exile of Ice</DisplayName>

<Description>Despite the warm autumn evening, this area is covered in frost, and a pillar of ice stands at the center of it. Inside you can just make out a hazy figure trapped in the ice. Etchings in the ice tell the tale of a man garbed as a high priest, the servant of a titan, who was seduced and betrayed his lord. The titan killed his priest and trapped his lover here for all time.

The ice is harder than midnight stones, and you are unable to make even the slightest crack in it. You are about to leave when a hollow voice, as if echoing from a great pit, calls out to you.

"There is a way to break Utheron's spell. In his temple there was a staff that can free me. Please, I cannot bear another century trapped here."</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>I will get the staff.</ShortTextAccept>

<RewardText>Hailstone Staff</RewardText>

<RewardImage>W_Staff_Hailstone_Icon_01.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>You snap the staff in two and for a second there is nothing but the roar of fire and blinding light. When it has faded the icy pillar is little more than a pool, and a young man stands in its place.

"Thank you," he says. He has short, curly blond hair and wears a tunic that may have been stylish in another age. He carries a staff that looks to be made of the same ice as the pillar. "I cannot repay what you have done for me; please take this staff - and you would do well to avoid Utheron. He will not be happy that you set me free."

"Many things have changed," you reply. "We are well past fearing the titans."</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>This ancient temple appears to be empty. But there is an item of value that has not been stolen; a staff lies upon an altar decorated with serpents, and even from the temple entrance you can feel the heat emanating from it. As you draw close, the serpents begin to move, hissing and bursting into flame.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>M_Ignys_Card.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_17.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>I will have that staff.</Description>

<Description>I'll return later.</Description>

<Description>I will break the staff.</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Allies</DisplayName>

<Description>"This land is forsaken," the village elder says. "I have tried to form a village here, to provide care, safety and meals for the few that follow me. But we are little more than fatted calves for the bandits that hunt us. They consume more of our wheat and eat more of our lambs than we do. I have failed."

The elder considers his empty cup before continuing. "If you can stop these bandits, what remains of my soldiers will join you." </Description>

<RewardText>Group of Archers</RewardText>

<RewardImage>W_Shortbow_Icon_01.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>You return to the village, but the news of your victory has already reached them.

"Thank you," the village elder says, "I was a fool to think that I could protect these people. We will join you if you would have us."</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>It isn't difficult to track down the bandits, and they don't stop you from walking into their camp and approaching the ramshackle throne of their leader.

"Speak," the captain commands, "or do you have a humble pie in your throat?"

"I've talked to the village elder, and I've agreed to clear you from these lands," you say. "You can either leave, or I will string you up for your crimes."

The bandit captain laughs. "Don't look at a gifted horse, or it will never boil." The bandits around him begin to reach for their weapons. "Flee, or I will make you as dead as a whistle."</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>B_Highwayman_Card_01.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_17.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>You're horrible at clichés. I should kill you for that alone.</Description>

<PopupMessage>"Slither away with your yellow tail," the bandit captain calls as you walk away.</PopupMessage>

(PLEASE consider removing “or it will never boil”, just leaving the part about the gifted horse. This is ok, but it gets too over the top with the “or it will never boil” part. I thought this while playing the game, not just reading it here.)

---

<DisplayName>The Heirloom</DisplayName>

<Description>A woman stands, unmoving, outside her small home. It isn't until you get closer that you realize that she is standing at a crude grave. She doesn't say anything at your approach and for a few long minutes after. Then she spits on the grave and turns toward you.

"What have you come to take; I have nothing left," she says.

"I am sorry for your loss," you say.

Her eyes go vacant again, then they snap back. When she notices you eyeing the grave she says, "I didn't know this one. Three men... creatures... came to my house and attacked my husband, Neville. He was a strong man once, able to take branches off an oak with one swing of his axe. But that was years ago."

<ShortTextAccept>I can avenge your husband.</ShortTextAccept>

<ChoiceText>There is howling coming from the cave, like an animal being torn apart. But the noise provides enough cover for you to slip close and look inside. There are three figures in the half light of the cave: two that you almost mistake for corpses except that they keep a watchful eye on the third. They wear ragged white gowns, and their skin is ash gray.

The third figure screams and chops at his own body with his axe, but his body is well past bleeding. As you watch he chops through his neck, stifling his cries and finally dropping him to the ground. Then in a few minutes the screams begin anew, and he rises from the ground like an old shipwreck being dragged off the ocean floor.</ChoiceText>

<Description>I'll return later.</Description>

</QuestChoiceDef>

---

<DisplayName>The Arctic Wolf Cloak</DisplayName>

<Description> An old man works outside his hut, scraping a wolf hide on a fleshing beam. A few other hides hang taut on a wooden frame nearby.

“You look to be a talented furrier,” you say as you admire the man's work.

“This part is easy,” he says, “the real trick is in enchanting the cloaks to protect from cold.”</Description>

<ChoiceText> He stops working and regards you. “I would make one for you for free if you bring me three wolf pelts. Or I will sell you one for 80 gildar.”</ChoiceText>

<Description>I will collect the wolf pelts and return.</Description>

<Description>I will pay the gildar. (-80 Gildar)</Description>

<Description>Kill the man and take the cloak.</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Restoration</DisplayName>

<Description>An old woman sits stirring the contents of a kettle on a large fire. Her hair is gray, long and unkempt. She wears dark robes that have had so many patches applied it almost seems like she is wearing a quilt. Despite the fact that she lives alone out in this wilderness, there is a kindness about her. Her wrinkled face shows the lines of a lifetime of smiles, not worry.

"Oh my, a channeler comes to grace my little home," the old woman says. "I'm afraid I don't have any of the finery you may be accustomed to, but you may have a bite of my ganoid soup if you are hungry."</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>Thank you, I will join you.</ShortTextAccept>

<RewardText>Potion of Restoration</RewardText>

<RewardImage>CeramicJug01.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>You pack the potion carefully in your bags. It will be a powerful tool when your champions are weakened by the wars that are coming.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>The soup is, well, not poisoned, and that's about as good as you can hope for. The old woman introduces herself as Lybbestre, a mother and grandmother who has outlived her husband, children and grandchildren. She is also a sometime alchemist and claims to be able to brew a Potion of Restoration, a rare healing potion that removes all injuries, from Tilda Leaves. If you will bring her some leaves she will gladly make you one.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>Q_TheCrone.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_01.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>Yes, I'll gather the flowers.</Description>

</QuestChoiceDef>

<ChoiceText>It is dark when you arrive at the field Lybbestre described. More than once you feel like you are being watched, and a shadow seems to dance at the edge of your vision. Despite the ominous feeling, you find and gather the tilda flowers without incident.</ChoiceText>

<Description>I don't have time for this. (abandon the quest)</Description>

<ChoiceText>Lybbestre is excited by your return and thanks you for the flowers. She has already cleaned the ganoid soup out of her kettle and has what looks to be a thin, white cream boiling in it. She presses and squeezes the flowers until a small drop of oil drips from them into the kettle.

"There," she says, "let me get a bottle and your potion is ready."

But when she turns the remains of a man stand before her, as patchwork as Lybbestre's robes. Dried blood covers every part of him, and a sword has pierced his chest and still hangs out of him. He has broken off the hilt of the sword and uses it as a ragged dagger, which he uses to slice through Lybbestre's throat.

"The potion is mine," he wheezes, and his words whistle through the wound in his chest with a sick hollow gurgle.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>M_Butcherman_Card_01.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_01.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>You will pay for your actions, creature. (Attack)</Description>

<Description>I cannot kill that which is already dead. (abandon the quest)</Description>

<PopupMessage>The creature greedily devours the contents of the kettle, burning himself as he does. After it is gone he simply lies down on the ground beside Lybbestre and dies. Maybe it's a good thing you didn't drink it.</PopupMessage>

<ChoiceText>You collect the potion in one of Lybbestre's bottles and bury her by her small hut. But when you start to go, you see the corpse of the butcherman begin to writhe.

"The potion," He gasps. "Please..."</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>M_Butcherman_Card_01.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_01.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>Ignore the creature.</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Bandits on the loose!</DisplayName>

<Description>A group of wounded travelers has gathered here. They tell you about how a band of brigands has been terrorizing the local countryside by intercepting caravans, stealing their wares and then selling them to the highest bidder.

If only someone could put an end to the bandits...

Are you up to it?</Description>

<ChoiceText>"I am king here," The bandit captain says. "I will not stop taxing my citizens any more than you will stop taxing yours. And it is only by my grace that you are allowed to cross my lands at all."</ChoiceText>

<Description>For now, I will leave you to your "kingdom."</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Blood Season</DisplayName>

<Description>The air crackles with the scent of lightning and arcane magic. An energy has now been set loose in the world, an energy that feeds the savage in man and Fallen alike, an energy that strips away the mask of civilization and lets loose the beast within.

All players declare war on every other player they know, unless they are in an alliance</Description>

<Description>The coin and drinks are both flowing freely in the small inn. A grey-haired bard has a seemingly endless variety of songs, from baudy Yithrilian rhymes to ancient Imperial ballads.</Description>

<ShortTextDeny>Finish your drink and leave</ShortTextDeny>

<SuccessText>The song drifts on the wind long after the bard has stopped playing. As music goes it wasn't very good, it was a simple harmony more than anything beautiful or elegant. It was the sound of insects in a summer field or the tide against soft beaches. Everyone sits waiting afterwards, but there is only the echo until...

A shadow passes over you, and you feel the dim rush of magic, excitement and fear that comes with the presence of one of Elemental's oldest creatures. While you stand in awe of the sighting, the dragon has ignored you, at least for the time being.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>You are complimenting the bard when he offers the following:

"These songs are fun, but I know of some that still have some magic in them. One is said to be able to summon a dragon."

"You can command a dragon with a song?" you ask.

"I never said control, he may land and kill everyone. I've always wanted to try it, but never had anyone powerful enough to protect me if it works. If you're willing to pay a few gildar, I could give it a try."</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>K_CreatureRecruitment.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_01.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>Yes, play the song. (-10 gildar)</Description>

<Description>I'll come back later if I'm interested.</Description>

<Description>No, I don't need an angry dragon.</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Eclipse</DisplayName>

<Description>The moon has leapt across the sky, blotting out the sun. This is the black day, the day the priests of Ancient Al-Ashteroth feared above all others, for this new, unnatural darkness empowers the forces of chaos and destruction.

---

<DisplayName>The Fearful Merchant</DisplayName>

<Description>Inside the Inn is a frightened man. Seeing you, he says, "My Lord, Brunthus the Tenebrous has taken over my workshop. If you can take care of him, I'll give you an enchanted shield I own."</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Maggie's Lost Ring</DisplayName>

<Description>You meet an old woman named Maggie.

Looking at you, she says, "Ah, I admire what you are doing to bring civilization back to the land. To aid you, I have a magical ring that will make your enemies unable to strike you. Unfortunately, I kept the ring in a chest, and I lost the key in the woods nearby. I can tell you where the key is if you're willing to take some risk."</Description>

</QuestChoiceDef>

<Description>I'll return later.</Description>

<CompletionText>The wolves were drawn here by the remains of a camp. Searching the camp, you find the delicate ring Maggie spoke of.</CompletionText>

---

<DisplayName>Rats in the Ruins</DisplayName>

<ChoiceText>You place the rat's corpse at the young man's feet.

"Your word would have been enough," he says. "But about that Doom Club… it's not in good condition. Would you rather have some gildar?"</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>Rats in the Ruins</DisplayName>

<ChoiceText>Rats flee the crypts in terror. You find a few in the crypt’s shadows, trapped in thick, wet webs, eyes wide with panic but too exhausted to struggle.

Deep within the webs something moves, something the color of drowned flesh. The crypt isn't empty, and if you enter it unprepared you may not return.

Do you enter the crypt?</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>You place the rat's corpse at the young man's feet.

"Your word would have been enough," he says. "But about that Doom Club… it's not in good condition. Would you rather have some gildar?"</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>Refugee Camp</DisplayName>

<Description> People gather here to escape the wilderness, but you wonder if this is worse. The old and infirm lay dying, covered by scavenged strips of cloth or nothing at all. The weak work endlessly to rebuild the sparse tents and overhangs that are as quick to fall apart. Dirty pots sit empty and untended on burnt out fires; it has been days, maybe weeks since they were used to cook anything. Everyone looks at you with a mix of hope and fear.</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>Enter the camp.</ShortTextAccept>

<ShortTextDeny>Ignore the camp.</ShortTextDeny>

<Description>Transport the refugees to your capital. (-30 gildar, +20 population in your capital)</Description>

<Description>Collect "taxes" from the refugees. (+20 gildar)</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Snake Oil</DisplayName>

<Description>A merchant has setup a stand here, selling or trading colorless potions to anyone who will buy them. A sign on his wagon reads "Enchanted Elixirs". When he spots you he quickly begins packing up his wares, but you arrive before he has time to store them all. Reaching down you pick one up; you can't sense any magic within it.

"This is what, simply water?" you ask.

"With a bit of sugar and grain alcohol..." the merchant replies timidly, "I used to be an honest man, but the world has no need for virtue anymore."</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>Do you have anything else to sell?</ShortTextAccept>

<ChoiceText>"I do have one item of some worth," he says, "a map to a treasure, though collecting it may be dangerous. I would sell it to you for only 20 Gildar."</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>Thumb_Altar.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_17.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>I will buy the map; it is wasted on you. (-20 Gildar)</Description>

---

<DisplayName>The Assassin's Blade</DisplayName>

<ShortTextAccept>Pick up the sword.</ShortTextAccept>

<RewardText>Druss Blade</RewardText>

<RewardImage>W_Druss_Blade_Icon_01.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>The Assassin's Blade flares to life, so hot you drop it on the ground. When you pick it up the sword is changed, flooded with dark energy. Though its whispers are gone, the power remains.</SuccessText>

<Description>A voice whispers to you, "I am the assassin's blade, enchanted to fulfill the tragic desires of those that wish upon my altar. Use me to fulfill those requests and I will seek your enemies as well."</Description>

</QuestConditionDef>

<ChoiceText>"A farmer came to me, his crops spoiled by blight and drought. He had purchased the seeds on loan, and when the merchant came to collect payment the farmer's only thing of value was the thin livestock he needed to feed his family. The merchant took the livestock and slaughtered it on the farmer's lawn, wasting it rather than transport the sickly things back to his home. The farmer was then left to watch his family starve; he was near death himself when he prayed at my altar."</ChoiceText>

<CompletionText>At the death of the merchant, the sword warms. The jeweled pommel is no longer cloudy, and the blade seems newly sharp.</CompletionText>

</QuestConditionDef>

</QuestObjectiveDef>

<Description>"The next is the cruel wife of a wealthy trader," the sword whispers. "Though she wants for nothing, she inflicts pain on those that serve her. She has killed a half dozen of her maids and a stableboy barely past his eighth year. It was her son who came to me, too meek to end his mother’s tyranny himself. Now the task falls to you."</Description>

<Description>They are fools to try; her execution is at hand.</Description>

<Description>I'll return later.</Description>

</QuestChoiceDef>

<Description>Tyranny inspires little loyalty; I can bribe my way past the guards (-30 Gildar)</Description>

<CompletionText>At the death of Mortessa, the sword warms. The cracked leather hilt is supple and unblemished; the blade dances with an inner light.</CompletionText>

<Description>"The last victim is Petar," the sword whispers, "a husband and father. Another man desires his wife, and with Petar dead, he believes he can have her."</Description>

<ChoiceText>It is easy to find Petar in the dingy village; he is known and liked by everyone. He sits on his porch guarded only by two content dogs.</ChoiceText>

<CompletionText>The village looks on in shock as you slaughter Petar, but despite their love for him, no one raises a hand to stop you.</CompletionText>

---

<DisplayName>Escort Noblewoman</DisplayName>

<ChoiceText>You arrive to find bandits camped outside of the estate. Their leader offers you a deal.

"There's no reason for unpleasantness. Simply give the girl to us, and we will pay you twice what that undeor merchant will offer."</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>B_Highwayman_Card_01.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<PopupMessage>The Bandit Captain shrugs. "More money for us then."</PopupMessage>

<ChoiceText>After the battle, the family steward emerges and quickly looks the young noblewoman over. He sends the young woman inside before turning to offer you reward.

<Description>I could use the bow.</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Three Sons</DisplayName>

<Description>This farmhouse's fence is broken down, and a cow lays dead in the field with a pair of bite marks nearly the size of short swords. The wound still oozes with a greenish-white infection, and the cow's eyes are forever trapped in an expression of terror and pain. Any other livestock that were once kept here are gone.

The farmhouse is so quiet it appears abandoned. But when you draw close a young man jumps up on the porch and grabs his spear. When he sees who you are, he tells you his story.

This farmhouse is his parents, and it was attacked by a giant spider. He and his two brothers arrived too late, and both of his parents were bitten in the attack. His father is already dead; his mother dies on her deathbed.</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>May I see your mother?</ShortTextAccept>

<RewardText>Spearman Unit</RewardText>

<RewardImage>W_Spear_Icon_01.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>The mother lives just long enough to hear that you killed the creature. With one long exhale she relaxes, and her life slips from her.

You join the sons in burying their mother. After it is done and they have kissed her grave, they swear their devotion and lives to your service.</SuccessText>

<Description>Heal the woman. (-100 mana)</Description>

<PopupMessage>You place your hands on the woman's chest; for a moment you share her suffering. She is deep under black, cold water, and life grows ever more distant and wavering for her. The only thing that sustains her is her fear that the creature will return, that her sons are here, that it will kill them too.

<Description>Find the creature that attacked the farmhouse.</Description>

<ChoiceText>The house, somehow, still stands in the waste... perhaps because of the finger-thick webs covering its every surface... webs that all at once begin to tremble as something from deep within the house approaches.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>Adventurer's Remains</DisplayName>

<Description> "Is there any work to be had?" you ask the innkeeper.

The innkeeper considers. "Not really. There is a cave nearby that a few adventurers disappeared into. But we stay clear of it. I don't know that anyone would hire you to check it out, but the adventurers may have had something valuable on them."</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>I'll check it out.</ShortTextAccept>

<RewardText>Random Magic Item</RewardText>

<RewardImage>Question_Mark_Icon.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>Searching the back of the cave, you find the remains of the adventurers.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>The trees around the cave’s entrance have had their bark stripped off up to nearly three times the height of a man. Paw prints in the ground are the size of a cow’s skull and show deep gouges from short sword-sized claws.

---

<DisplayName>Beneath the Cellar</DisplayName>

<Description>The innkeeper points out where the creatures broke through a crumbling wall into the cellar. Except for the stink and the collapsed wall, the cellar is undisturbed. Upstairs, where the creatures encountered a very surprised barmaid, there was little left but broken furniture, torn drapes and shattered pieces of the odd ceramic dolls the barmaid pelted the creatures with. The creatures eventually surrendered to her assault and fled into the wilderness.

“I don't know what they were,” the innkeeper explains, “maybe darklings, maybe small trolls. They smelled like an ogre’s outhouse, but they weren't very dangerous.”

“Then why hire us to deal with them?” you ask.

The innkeeper looks insulted and points to the stinking hole in the cellar wall. “Do you expect me to go in there?”</Description>

---

<DisplayName>The Brood</DisplayName>

<Description> As you enjoy your dinner, a merchant approaches your table. He bows so low he almost touches his nose to his knees.

"My lord," he begins, "There is a nest of dangerous Naja nearby. Right now they are few, but if they are allowed to raise their brood they will begin feeding on our pets, our livestock and then us. Please kill these creatures."</Description>

<RewardImage>M_Serpent_Naja_Card.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>You find a young naja in the remains of the nest. You share some meat with it, and it submits to you.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>The ground here is covered by dozens of waist-high piles of sand, each shaped roughly like an upside-down cone. On top of each pile lies a clutch of eggs; a half dozen of them have hatched. Tiny snakes heads appear from each, pushing forward...</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>The dirt floor of the cave is bare except for scraps of fur and dirt-stained blood. But the cave isn't abandoned; a great wolf enters the cave behind you, followed by his pack.</ChoiceText>

<Description>Searching in the darkness, you find the remains of the last explorer.</Description>

<ChoiceText>The remains of a campfire are set in the center of the cave. The low roof is blackened with soot. Mushrooms grow in the shadows, and a dark crevice leads deeper into the cave.</ChoiceText>

<Description>Searching in the darkness, you find the remains of the last explorer.</Description>

<PopupMessage>There is nothing but darkness at the end of the cave. You are about to turn back when you hear whispering around you. Your torch flickers in a nonexistent breeze.</PopupMessage>

<PopupMessage>A grey giant lies at the bottom of the fissure as if he has fallen out of the sky, and the cave is nothing but the ruins of his fall.

When you get close, the giant wakes and pulls himself out of the earth.

"The gateway cannot stand," the creature intones.

You have little time to consider its meaning before it attacks.</PopupMessage>

---

<DisplayName>Diseased Livestock</DisplayName>

<Description>The inn appears to be closed. There is no oil in the lanterns, no horses in the small stable and no sounds of life. But the faint flicker of firelight reflects through dirty windows, and you enter to find a few whispering farmers huddled around a table and a thin innkeeper, who eyes you with a mix of terror and excitement.

You order dinner and get a disappointing bowl of porridge and a tepid beer. There is no meat on the menu, and when you ask why, the farmers are eager to explain.

"Something is slaughtering our livestock."

"Whatever isn't killed grows thin and emancipated."

"Emancipated? They are freeing themselves?"

"Shut up Henri! You know what I mean!"

"I saw a shadow cross my rooftop; the next morning my cows were too weak to stand. Three days later they were dead."

<ChoiceText>You find the barn; the livestock is gone or dead, but something moves in the barn's loft.</ChoiceText>

<Description>Having survived the attack, you can follow the beasts’ tracks back to their lair.</Description>

<ChoiceText>You find the source of the attacks: a rotting glade haunted by dark shadows and echoing with ancient chants.</ChoiceText>

<Description>After a good meal with the innkeeper's family you retire to your room. A few hours later you are woken by the smell of smoke. You open your door to see the main room of the inn in flames. The rest of the inn's residents have already fled, but snake-like creatures are dancing in the flames.</Description>

<SuccessText>The innkeeper thanks you for killing the creatures that set his inn on fire. As a reward he offers you an axe an enchanter gave him a few days before, though he warns that the axe may have summoned the creatures.</SuccessText>

<Description>The front door has been broken in, and tables in the inn's common room have been overturned. All the food has been cleared out of the pantry and kitchen. There is a cellar door in the middle of the pantry that has been destroyed. You can hear the squeaks of rats from the darkness below.

You slowly go down the cellar stairs. At the foot of the stairs you see the body of a man; the rats are feasting on him, and they glare up at you with dark, angry eyes. As you get closer they rip off as much flesh as they can manage and disappear into the cellar's shadowed corners.

You check the body; he has been dead for a few days. His blood has spilled out on the floor from multiple spear and axe wounds and has dried to the floor like a thin brown scab. The fight looks to have continued through the cellar. There is a short splintered spear, axe marks in the support beams and shattered barrels that were used as last ditch weapons. But there are no more bodies.

Outside the inn you find the tracks of wildings, their sand brute mounts and the shuffling feet of men, women and children being led away from the inn. The wildings took the inn's residents captive.</Description>

<Description>I have come to end you and free these people. (attack)</Description>

<Description>Yes, I will give you 100 Gildar for your captives. (-100 Gildar)</Description>

<Description>No, I will leave you to your trade. (flee)</Description>

<Description>The inn is as somber as any you have ever visited. The innkeeper’s elderly wife has passed away, and her body lies on the bar. Her family and friends are gathered around sharing drinks and memories.

As tradition dictates, the innkeeper asks for pallbearers to transport his wife to a nearby graveyard. The locals are unwilling to do it.</Description>

<SuccessText>"Thank you," the innkeeper whispers as he hands you an amulet, "my Solia will never be forgotten."</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>All the graves have been dug up, and none are recent. There is a stone altar at the center of the graveyard with various weathered mementos and gifts around it. An open mausoleum is the only other thing in the graveyard. You place the innkeeper’s wife in one of the open graves and begin to bury her. As dusk approaches your work is interrupted by sounds from the mausoleum. As you watch, horse-sized maggot-white spiders crawl out of the mausoleum and come for you.</ChoiceText>

<Description>The inn echoes with songs, laughter and drunken arguments. The only quiet corner is occupied by an unkempt, grey-bearded hunter who is sipping on his beer alone. After your meal you wander over to ask his story.

"My beautiful Varkana is gone," he says. "He hunted at my side since he was a pup, and he knew the forest as well as I. Three nights ago I heard the howling of wolves and afterward I noticed Varkana had left our camp. The howls grew closer until I heard Varkana's yelp, and the forest went quiet. I searched all night, but I never found any sign of Varkana or the wolves."

The hunter takes another drink from his beer.

"If you avenge my dog and bring me back his collar, I will give you my bow. It has been in my family for generations and would serve you well."</Description>

<ChoiceText>Wolf tracks lead to cave; you can hear the howls of the creatures around you.</ChoiceText>

<CompletionText>After killing the wolves, you hear more howls and the bark of a dog. Is Varkana still alive?</CompletionText>

<ChoiceText>You have found the source of the howls, and the wolves set upon you. Varkana is with them; he has joined the pack.</ChoiceText>

<PopupMessage>The hunter considers your story for a long time before commenting.

"Died as a wolf; I knew it was in his blood. I can understand the lure of the wild."

The hunter doesn't speak again, but you share a quiet drink with him, and he gives you his bow in thanks for your help.</PopupMessage>

---

<DisplayName>The Haunter</DisplayName>

<SuccessText>A flock of black birds takes to the sky as the Haunter falls dead. Searching the creature’s body, you find a magical item.</SuccessText>

<PopupMessage>You approach the creature slowly with an offering in hand. Once you are close enough your hand closes on your weapon; you will not give gildar to this abomination, it will have to take steel.</PopupMessage>

<PopupMessage>You slip 10 gildar into the creature’s hand. It accepts your offering and disappears into the mist.</PopupMessage>

<Description>The scrap golems have outlived their use; tear them apart.</Description>

<Description>This should be amusing; let us watch the wildings be butchered.</Description>

<CompletionText>You watch as the wildings consecrate their dead. In thanks, the wildings offer the Umbran War Boar mount of one of the fallen warriors.</CompletionText>

---

<DisplayName>The Treasure Map</DisplayName>

"Leave," you say, and both groups scurry for the door.

---

<DisplayName>Winter's Touch</DisplayName>

<Description> "My fields are wasted," the farmer says, "my tomatoes are spoiled, my pumpkins never even started on the vine. Each time the ice elementals pass through, their frost sets the plants back weeks. Someone has to do something."

---

<DisplayName>Haitan's Summon</DisplayName>

<Description>An old man sits at the campfire. He doesn't look up as you approach.

“May I share your fire?” you ask.

He looks up, wondering if you are mocking him. Seeing that you aren't, he gestures for you to join him.

“I am Haitan,” he says, “former failed smith, failed farmer and most recently failed summoner.”

“Summoning is a rare talent,” you say, “How is it that you had it, or lost it?”

“I had a staff, and I could hear, I still hear, the whispers in the rush of fire. I thought I could use the staff to call to those voices, and it worked too well. A creature came out of the fire, but it no longer whispered. It took the staff and threw me aside.”

“I can teach you to use your skill, if you join me,” you say.

Haitan looks up, suspicious, but in the end he agrees.

“If you can regain my staff, I will join you,” he offers.</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>I will get your staff</ShortTextAccept>

<SuccessText>Haitan looks at you in awe as you hand over his staff.

"My meager skill is yours," he pledges.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>A thick, acrid haze hangs in the air. You see Haitan's staff glowing in the darkness. A creature hangs over the staff, examining it but unable to touch it. The creature intones, “burn,” but the

<Text>You have killed the elemental and recovered the staff; return it to Haitan.</Text>

---

<DisplayName>Hunger Pains</DisplayName>

<Description>You hear the problem before you can see it: screams and the pounding of an Ogre's hammer against the barricaded door of the inn. The people trapped inside the inn scream for your help, but the Ogre ignores you until you call to him.

---

<DisplayName>Hunting the Garrote</DisplayName>

<Description>Several villagers are arguing at the entrance to a pit. One of the rough walls of the pit has been torn apart; a corner of the iron and wood grate that once covered the pit has been broken through. There is blood and white fur at the edges of the gap, where something huge squeezed through.

It doesn't take long for the villagers to explain what happened. They held a garrote here. At first they claim it was to ensure their safety, but after you question further they admit that they used to fight the garrote for money, sometimes against wolves or bears, sometimes against captured darklings, sometimes against companies of men.

Last night the garrote escaped, and now the villagers are afraid that the bloodthirsty creature will come for them. They plead for your help, and offer to pay you if you return with the garrote’s head.</Description>

<ChoiceText>This is not the lair of a wild creature. Though there is no evidence of craftsmanship, there is a gathered nest of soft branches, a pile of rocks stacked to allow an easy climb to the top and tree branches stripped clean to let the sunlight through. It isn't civilization, but it is a place of quiet and natural comfort. You have entered the creature’s home; there is no doubt he will defend it.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>The Killing Jar</DisplayName>

<Description>A young boy is searching through the ruins by himself. When he notices you he comes over and proudly shows you what he has been doing. He has been collecting butterflies. He has a glass killing jar where his latest capture, a blue winged moth, is breathing its last few breaths.

"You shouldn't be out here alone," you say.

"I will be okay," the boy says. "If I find a few more, merchant Eblis will give me dinner and a better task."</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>I want to talk to Eblis</ShortTextAccept>

<ShortTextDeny>Enjoy your hunting</ShortTextDeny>

<SuccessText>When Eblis falls, the butterflies are freed, and in a flutter of bright wings they take off. You search Eblis's house for anything of value.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>Hundreds of live butterflies and moths are stuck to the side of the house. A small man goes to each, feeding them from the tip of a wooden needle.

<PopupMessage>The merchant is gone; a twisted demon stands in his place.

"You should not have done that," the demon snarls.</PopupMessage>

---

<DisplayName>Moriah's Lost Spell Book</DisplayName>

<Description>Within the ruins, you discover ancient glyphs. According to them, the ancient Sorceress, Moriah, could use mana directly as a weapon and shield. Her actual lost spell book is located within her tomb, which is well-hidden. After much effort, you manage to piece together where she dwelt while she lived. Your first task will to find the ancient village of her later days.</Description>

<SuccessText>The door to the tomb has been rolled aside. Inside, the grave lies open, and bones have been scattered about as thieves pried rings off of fingers and enchanted robes off of the corpse. Over the years animals have nested in here, as clueless as the thieves to the tomb’s real treasure. Around the tomb’s domed ceiling, in blue tiles so dark they almost appear to be black, there is another set of runes.

These describe spells both rare and powerful: one that allows a channeler to lash out with his stored energy and another that allows a channeler to draw that energy around him in a protective shield. With *

<ChoiceText>You arrive at the ancient village. No one has lived here in centuries. However, other, worse, things have taken residence. Very dangerous things.</ChoiceText>

<Description>The village offers few clues. Just as you are about to give up all hope, you find a wall carving on one of the abandoned structures. The carving is a poem in the ancient tongue that gives directions on how well-wishers could find Moriah's Tomb.</Description>

---

<DisplayName>Persecution</DisplayName>

---

<ChoiceText>The crossroad is alive with shouting voices and the strange warped shadows of an angry mob.

The local farmers are leading the protest. They are gathered around a former farmhouse, now marked with the symbol of Pariden. A small group of armed men defend the farmhouse.

"Are you so ignorant that you can't recognize holy ground? So blind you can't see that we are favored by the titans? So stupid that you would turn away their gifts?"

The speaker is one of the farmhouse's defenders, a disciple in blue robes surrounded by similarly garbed spearmen.

One of the mob lunges too close, and a spear pierces his shoulder. He screams, and his torch flies out of his hand. The mob surges in and out as one, threatening to close on the robed men like waves crashing against an island in a storm.

"We have purchased this building!" the disciple shouts, motioning to the farmhouse behind him. "It will be a temple to Pariden. And your threats, your fear and your ignorance won't stop us."

The air coils and twists around the disciple. For a second the mob struggles for breath; then the air rushes out from him and covers the mob with water. The torches are extinguished and the farmers are left drenched.

If the disciple expected that his spell would quiet the crowd, he was wrong. With their torches gone they turn to their clubs and knives.

"Do you want us to help keep the mob back?" you shout to the watchman that came to the inn.

"No," he answers, "I want you to help kill those disciples."</ChoiceText>

<PopupMessage>You return to the inn. By the morning, the farmhouse is empty and the symbol of Pariden is gone.</PopupMessage>

<CompletionText>After a few members of the mob have been beaten into unconsciousness the rest return to their homes. The disciples thank you for your help, and offer you a gift.</CompletionText>

---

<DisplayName>The Phoenix Shield</DisplayName>

<Description>You enter the tomb. The darkness is total, except for the very center where a shield with the symbol of a great bird covered in flames floats in the air.

As you head toward the shield you realize you are not alone!</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>The shield will be mine</ShortTextAccept>

<SuccessText>You take the shield. It doesn't take you long to recognize your good fortune. This shield will protect from magical damage as easily as it does from physical.</SuccessText>

---

<DisplayName>The Prisoner</DisplayName>

<ChoiceText>After you prod him awake, the old man squints at you through bleary eyes. “Are you the Dark Sorcerer?” he asks, his voice is broken and weak.

Once he realizes that you aren't, and you offer some water to soothe his throat, he begs for you to release him. His name is Kainen, and he was once a student of the Dark Sorcerer. Kainen traded his loyalty for the power of magic, but when he could no longer stand the Dark Sorcerer's cruel and unusual demands he attacked him. The Dark Sorcerer easily defeated Kainen and imprisoned him here.

Do you free Kainen from the cell?</ChoiceText>

<PopupMessage>"Thank you for letting me out," Kainen says, "I do know one spell that may help you."

---

<DisplayName>The Prisoner</DisplayName>

<ChoiceText> After you prod him awake, the old man squints at you through bleary eyes. “Are you the Dark Sorcerer?” he asks, his voice is broken and weak.

Do you free Kainen from the cell?</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>Q_Prisoner.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_01.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<Description>Yes, break the cell open.</Description>

<PopupMessage>"Thank you for letting me out," Kainen says, "but it's only the first of the many services you will perform for me."

As you watch, the old man transforms to his true form, that of a demon nearly 12 feet tall.</PopupMessage>

---

<DisplayName>Rampaging Umberdroth</DisplayName>

<Description>There used to be nearby village until a traveler brought an umberdroth to town.

After putting on a show, the creature went wild and wrecked half the town. Naturally, the villagers fled for their lives.

The umberdroth, on the other hand, has taken a liking to the village. Clear it out, and the villagers will give you their only item of real value, an enchanted sword.</Description>

<ChoiceText>There may be an alternative to killing the Umberdroth if you can track down the man who used to own it. Do you want to track the fool down and press him to solve the situation?</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>You arrive at the village to see the Umberdroth camped out amidst the wreckage of the town square.</ChoiceText>

<Description>It's not the Umberdroths fault, I won't kill it (abandon the quest)</Description>

<CompletionText>After killing the umberdroth, you travel to the village outskirts where the villagers are waiting.</CompletionText>

<ChoiceText>The villagers return to the village, cheering your success along the way. They offer you either the enchanted sword that they promised or an enchanted bow.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>The Voice of the Shard</DisplayName>

<Description> This shard is dim, quiet and set with runes that looked to be traced in shadows. Though there is no one here, you can see the reflection of a dark sorcerer in the shard’s smooth surface. He is chanting as he moves, inscribing the runes and binding the spirits in the shard to his will.

---

<DisplayName>The Ghost Helm</DisplayName>

<Description>The inn is warm and full of good cheer. Wagoneers are playing a game of dice and you join them. Fortune favors you, and you win an enchanted helm in the competition.

Later that night you dream of the helm’s last owner, a hero whose grave is a few miles away. He begs for you to return his helm to him.</Description>

<ChoiceText>There are no tombs here and no sign of the hero from your dreams. You are about to give up when a serpentine voice calls out to you.

"You would steal from me?" it asks.

"I steal from no one," you answer. "I came to return this helm to the hero it belongs to."

"Fool," the dragon answers, slipping out of a copse of trees. "There is no hero. Only my spell to return objects that are stolen from me, along with the thief."</ChoiceText>

<CompletionText>Searching the dragon's lair, you discover some gold and a magical item.</CompletionText>

---

<DisplayName>Trolls</DisplayName>

<Description>"I am so glad you are here," the hunter says. "Half my men were killed by a massive troll, and the rest of us barely escaped with our lives."

The hunter looks like he can handle himself, making you wonder how tough this troll was.

"I can offer some gildar if you can avenge my men and kill the troll," he adds.</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>The troll will be dead soon enough.</ShortTextAccept>

<ShortTextDeny>After what it has done to your men, no.</ShortTextDeny>

<RewardText>Scinan Broadsword</RewardText>

<RewardImage>W_Broadsword_Scinan_Icon_01.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>The hunter doesn't have the money he promised, but he does have an enchanted broadsword. You take it in payment for killing the troll.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>There are no signs of battle. The clearing is generally quiet and serene outside of a troll warrior, who is loudly chewing on the leg of a large, dark-furred animal. Satisfied for the moment, the troll growls in your direction, then goes back to his meal.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>As the troll falls, the hunter enters the clearing with his companions.

"I wanted to kill and rob you and the troll," the hunter says, "but that seemed like so much work, this way you did half the job for me."

With a smile, he and his companions draw their weapons.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>Troupe of the Wind</DisplayName>

<ChoiceText>You arrive to find the wagons surrounded and the surviving travelers holding the trolls at bay with sticks.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>The travelers explain their situation. They are traveling performers who have been wintering in a small village. They say that the surrounding countryside is getting far too dangerous to travel in.

Now they're in the middle of nowhere without their horses, and they would like your help in tracking the horses down. They'll give you their remaining coin if you can return the horses to their wagons, located at a nearby inn.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>Ascian Temple</DisplayName>

<Description>You find the entrance to an ancient dungeon, what was once the catacombs beneath the Ascian Temple. In ages past, men barred, locked and enchanted the entrance to the catacombs. But the enchantments have long since faded, the locks have crumbled and the bars can be broken.

Putting your hands on the granite doors, you feel heat through them. At first you think it is the trapped heat of the sun, but it is warmer than anything around it.

<SuccessText>With the elementals gone, you are free to search the dungeon for anything of value.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>Fire explodes out of the dungeon. Looking down into it, it looks to be a great furnace, not an ancient catacomb. You are about to close the doors when you see something moving inside the fire. As you cover your eyes, fire elementals rush out into the world. A few stay to punish you for disturbing them.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>The Capstone</DisplayName>

<Description>Centuries ago a cave system was blocked off by placing a great capstone over its entrance. Some suggest that whatever was dangerous in the cave must certainly be dead now, and it could be a good time to remove the capstone and see if anything valuable is inside.</Description>

<SuccessText>Searching the lair, you find hundreds of dried husks. Most are decayed beyond recognition, but one thin corpse still wears a pair of black boots that are as polished and supple as the day they came from the cobbler.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>There is a great hollow rushing sound as the capstone is lifted off the pit beneath. For long minutes there is only dakrness and quiet, then the sound of thousands of feet rushing forward, and spiders explode out of the pit and rush into the countryside.

<PopupMessage>A hundred feet beneath the surface, the pit ends in a large earthen chamber. The sides are beyond the range of your torchlight, at least until you see your torchlight reflected back from the darkness. Then you see what is reflecting the light: first a few, then more and finally dozens of large wet orbs flickering with light - spider eyes, coming for you.</PopupMessage>

---

<DisplayName>Cloak of Stars</DisplayName>

<Description>You enter the tower to find a befuddled old man trying to piece together the shattered remains of what appears to be a giant telescope filled with crystals and mirrors.

"Vatula, you old fool," he mutters to himself, "four years’ work destroyed because you let yourself be startled by that talking goat."

You look around for a goat, but there isn't one here, talking or not. Deciding the old man isn't going to notice you, you loudly clear your throat. He stops, looks at you suspiciously for a moment, then runs toward you in excitement.

"You can help me! I was going to use this device to scry the location of the fabled Cloak of Stars until that damnable goat -"

Vatula stops at this and looks around the room, finally settling his eyes on an empty corner which he glares into until you clear your throat again.

"I can fix the device, but some of the crystals are beyond repair. Do you have any crystals I could use? If not, there are a few Ophidian nests nearby that you could get some crystals from."</Description>

<ChoiceText>The ground is scorched and blackened by lightning strikes, shattered by enormous claws and the weight of one of Elemental’s oldest and most powerful creatures. A dragon dwells here.</ChoiceText>

<DisplayName>The Crone</DisplayName>

<Description>You've come upon the hut of an old crone, withered with age.

Looking over you briefly, she stops you in passing. "You look like a capable sort; I'm in need of some medicine. There are some enchanted spiders around here, be a dear and collect their silk for me. I'm much too old to do it myself."</Description>

<SuccessText>You arrive at the old crone’s hut with the silk thread from the spiders, but she's gone and instead a beautiful woman is standing in front of the hut waiting for you.

"You've proven yourself a worthy leader by bringing this back to me. I apologize for my deceit, but I needed those for a cloak, not a cure."</SuccessText>

---

<DisplayName>Destiny's Tutor</DisplayName>

<Description>This dungeon appears endless. It is clearly ancient in origin, from long before any of the current powers came to be. Whatever powerful civilization built this place is gone now.

Within the dungeon is vague evidence that it held creatures of terrible might. The walls are immense, and there are deep scratch marks made by claws larger than those of most beasts that exist today.

Eventually you make it to what appears to be an old archive room. The books that once lined the walls are long gone, but the stone back wall is dominated by an inscription that you loosely translate as being "Destiny's Tutor.” What this means, you cannot say. However, it describes an enormous structure that seems vaguely familiar to you. Your answer appears to be elsewhere.</Description>

<ChoiceText>As you near the great structure, a massive demon appears. He looks upon you keenly and smiles.

"This place attracts fools, the unwary, and the heroic. We shall find out which one you are."

The demon closes his eyes and then asks a riddle.

"The maker sells it, the buyer uses it not, and the user does not know it is being used. What is it?"</ChoiceText>

<PopupMessage>Wisdom makes a leader great. Without it, their nations are destroyed with ease. With a snarl the demon disappears, final words echoing, “I foresee your destruction.”</PopupMessage>

<PopupMessage>The demon nods. “Impressive. You have earned your reward... an enchanted sword for the wise sovereign.”</PopupMessage>

<PopupMessage>The demon snarls, “Anger? Such an answer proves nothing but your worthlessness to this world. Begone!”</PopupMessage>

---

<DisplayName>Slavers</DisplayName>

<Description>You come across a scene of morning, death and loss – such scenes are too common on the wastes. A series of farmhouses was attacked, anyone of fighting age was killed, and the children old enough to work or sell have been enslaved. Only the old or very young have been left behind.

One old farmer, who is as thin as a willow branch, begs you to find the slavers and return his granddaughter Girta to him.</Description>

<Description>The slavers were traveling slowly; it shouldn't be too hard to catch them.</Description>

<Description>The slavers are toasting to their good fortune. This may be a good time to put Daxus's loyalties to the test.</Description>

<CompletionText>You failed to protect the girl, and she died a most gruesome death, rescued from one fate only to find a worse one waiting for her.</CompletionText>

<Text>Don't send the girl home alone.</Text>

---

<DisplayName>The Obsidian Shield</DisplayName>

<Description>Within the hut you find a jolly old man. "Good to have some company; stay for some dinner," he says. You readily agree and soon lose track of time as you swap stories of adventure and glory. One story he tells catches your attention.

"Aye, I know an armorer that lives in the deep wilds. I don't know how old he is, but I've heard he used to create armor for the Emperor. Lately he's been looking to make a shield from a Midnight Stone. I bet if you provided him with the stone, he could fashion you up something amazing."

"If you don't have a Midnight Stone, there is an Obsidian Golem you could carve one out of, though the golem may not like it."</Description>

<SuccessText>The armorer is a giant of a man. He grins when he sees that you have a midnight stone.

"Excellent. People have no idea how valuable these are. They're not even of this world. Few can do anything useful with them, but combined with some iron I can make you a mighty shield."</SuccessText>

---

<DisplayName>The Abandoned Dig</DisplayName>

<ChoiceText>The temple's transept is ringed with the statues of ancient heroes. The back wall is covered in runes that may once have been enchanted but are now cold and empty. Using the notes from the dig site, you are able decipher enough to realize they are symbols of protection and warding. You can't help wondering what may lie beyond the wall.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>Arena of the Slakhanan</DisplayName>

<Description>Long ago the titans tested their creations here. Those that survived the trials cheered as the newest abominations triumphed or died on the sand floor. The arena was abandoned for decades after the titans’ passing, before being taken over by the Slakhanan, a wilding tribe. Although the wildings started by fighting wolves and stalkers, the arena now hosts warriors and monsters from all across Elemental.

<SuccessText>"Many have challenged my golems," Mehran says, "none have beaten them. I have an even more powerful weapon for your reward."</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>"Please, do not kill me," Pralius begs. "I will join you; my life will be yours if you spare me."

You must kill Pralius to continue in the tournament. Will you spare him and leave the tournament or kill him and continue to your next match against a dark-robed summoner?</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>The crowd cheers as you kill Dhwene. Mehran rewards you with Heartseeker, the sword he promised. But before you leave he stops you. “I do have an even more dangerous enemy for you to face,” he says. “If you win, I can offer an even more powerful reward.”

---

<DisplayName>The Black Gate</DisplayName>

<Description>Though the cataclysm has scarred the mountains and ruined the massive statues that stand beside the gate, the gate itself is unmarred. It is a thing as much enchantment as it is iron, a spiritual construct as much as it is physical. A power as deep as the night sky flows from the gate, a lasting remnant of the titans.

Runes on the gate’s surface indicate that it is intended to keep whatever is on the other side trapped. On this side it is an abjuration, the magical equivalent of a simple latch. But even this simple charm, whispered from a titan centuries ago, is beyond your power. Your spells are broken into shattered light, and your weapons have even less impact.

Your scholars recognize the runes on the gate. They are similar to those that decorate Deorcnysse and the Shrine of Samarra. Maybe the shrine can offer a clue on how to open the gates.</Description>

<SuccessText>The gate is unchanged from your last visit; unchanged since the days Samarra held it open so the darklings could escape. Looking closely at the other side of the gate, you can see darkling footprints in the dry ground; hopefully that means the shaman was telling the truth.

You recite the spell, and it echoes out like a tiny hammer striking a bell. The gate shudders as the enchantments lift, and it swings slowly open. All the light around you dims as if the sun passed behind a cloud, though the sky is clear. The stench of dried bones, dust and something you don’t recognize floats down around you.

<ChoiceText>You only know pieces of the legend of Samarra. He is hailed as a savior by the darklings, a name chanted in battle or prayer, a god who guides and protects them. Based on the darklings’ lowly rank in the world you always assumed Samarra was either some token warthog they worshipped or one of the crude puppets they are fond of making.

But the murals in the shrine tell a different story: the story of a quest thousands of years old, a quest Samarra undertook to a place of death and loss that the crude darkling logographs translate to "the pit of lost voices," or "the pit where screams end." Numerous spirits encircle the pit, delighting in the suffering and waiting to devour the souls of those within.

All sorts of abominations were locked in the pit, things alive only because of the spells that forced blood and bile through their twisted flesh - things so dark and pained that death would be a mercy. And then there were those that were simply too weak to be of use to the titans, failed experiments that resulted in a stunted, cowardly race.

The center mural is dominated by the next scene. The gate is being held open by a being surrounded in a halo of power - this is Samarra, the logographs tell you. Members of a stunted race, the darklings, are running out of the pit and a host of demons can be seen chasing after them. One of those demons is flying, spitting fire towards Samarra; a man rides upon his back.

The rest of the wall is dedicated to the building of this shrine in honor of Samarra – the savior of the darklings.

You search the murals for any clues about how Samarra opened the gate, but there is nothing. If you are going to find out more, you will have to find a Darkling Shaman and have him tell you the tale.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>The camp does not look like much: a handful of small canvas tents, a half-dozen darkling warriors gathered around a small fire, a wagon filled with foodstuffs, and a cask of water nearby. And yet you sense danger. It takes you a moment to spot it - a worn footpath leading from the tents to the foothills just outside the fire's light. You see eyes in the darkness - more darklings, hidden in the caves, and perhaps other creatures as well.

The darklings at the fire see you; they scramble to their feet, and raise their weapons.

"I come in peace," you say. "In search of knowledge, not war."

"Knowledge of what?" A darkling shaman steps out from one of the tents; two bodyguards, each tattooed and adorned in the fashion of their people, flank him.

"I have been to the ancient shrine," you say. "I have seen the drawings: Samarra, saving your people. Holding open the gate, so that they could escape the Pit of Lost Voices. What I want to know is -"

"The shrine is sacred!" the shaman snaps. "Samarra's story is not meant for others - only our people."

"I don't give a damn about the story," you shoot back. "I only care about the gate. I want to know how he opened it. Or is that knowledge sacred to your people as well?"

The shaman's glare... the warriors’ raising of their weapons... the shuffling of feet from the caves in the distance... those are the only answers you need to know.

The darklings will give up none of their knowledge willingly; you will have to take it from them.</ChoiceText>

<Description>“Get up; I’m not going to kill you.”

The Darkling Shaman peeks up at you, obviously not believing your words.

“If,” you say, “you tell me everything you know about Samarra and how he opened the gate to the Pit of Lost Voices.”

“Oh, yes, yes” the Darkling blathers, “I can tell you everything about the great Samarra.”

One of the darkling warriors you assumed was dead unconsciously moans, “Samarra...”.

“He bore us up out of darkness, saved us from things as black as a shadow warg’s eyes and as hungry as ogre children,” the shaman says. “From the fire he saved us, from Curgen’s pit - “

“How did he open the gate?” you ask.

The shaman considers. “You give your oath on Samarra that you will not kill me?”

“I give you my word. That will have to do,” you say, resting your hand on your weapon to make sure the shaman understands how serious you are.

“It is a little thing, a spell to unlock the gate, even children can learn it. Those that can bind are sent to the gate with the secret. They go inside and look through the second gate into the writhing darkness. They call Samarra’s name. They ask his forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness? For what?”

The shaman looks at the ground. “I cannot say.”

You glare. “Never mind that, then. The second gate. How do you get through it?”

“I do not know. Darklings only go beyond the first gate.”

“Fine, then. Teach me the spell.”</Description>

<DisplayName>The Second Gate</DisplayName>

<Description>This gate appears similar to the first, but where the first was accustomed to being opened, this one hasn’t been opened in centuries. Iron joints are joined together by time. The spells are the same, changing from a bending of reality to an immutable law as firm as those that mandate that the earth is beneath the sky or that heat comes from fire.

You try the shaman’s spell but it has no effect; your spells and weapons do nothing. You examine the runes and enchantments, but they are the same as those on the first gate.

“There is blood here,” one of your soldiers says as he examines the gate.

You are about to look when a black arm reaches through the gate and grabs him. It pulls him tight against the gate with long thin claws that are easily able to wrap around his neck. You grab the creature’s wrist with one hand and draw your weapon with the other.

You can see unholy blue lit eyes within the darkness and teeth that curl into an inhuman smile.

“You are not darklings,” it whispers.

“And you are about to lose your claw,” you say.

The demon lets go, and your soldier falls to ground coughing and wheezing.

“What is beyond this gate?” you ask.

“Death, hunger, emptiness,” the demon smiles. "The power to rule this world."

You hear a distant roar from within the cave, like a dragon a world away… or maybe it is just the wind rushing through the valley.

“What is that?”

“The echo of a former mortal. Someone who stood against Curgen and was sent here to die, but still lingers on.”

“Samarra?” you ask.

The demons grin disappears. “The darklings’ faith, all faith, is a lie.”

At that the demon slips back into the darkness. Nothing else approaches the gate.</Description>

<SuccessText>There is no sound, there are no demons that you can see behind the gate. It still smells like a grave. Your soldiers fidget nervously as you approach.

“Demons, Samarra, anyone?” you call. There is no response.

“Knock, knock,” you say under your breath as you lift Curgen’s Hammer over your head. In one long swing you bring it down against the gate. A crack of thunder echoes through the valley. The gate explodes off of its hinges and bounces away into the darkness. For a second nothing happens; then the darkness comes at you.

“Demons!” one of your men screams. You strike at them with your hammer, but they rush by too quickly.

“Free!” one cries. “After so long - we are free at last!”

It does not take long for them to all pass by - leaving a path of devastation in their wake, wounding soldiers, including the man who had been attacked earlier - the one who cautioned you against opening the gate. You exchange a glance with him before turning back.

The way into the pit lies open before you.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>Storms rage in your dreams. Bursts of lightning reveal a battlefield littered with corpses. Around you, but always just out of your line of sight, powerful men - maybe gods - wage war.

When you wake, the world is the opposite of your dreams. It is a quiet morning, heavy with dew and the sweet air of spring.

Your soldiers are already preparing breakfast, and you sit down by the one that was attacked by the demon. You can still see red welts on this throat from the claws.

“Are you better?” you ask.

“Yes my lord,” he says.

“I think I know what we have to do next.” you say.

“Forgive me, my lord, but maybe the gate is best left closed. If the demon should escape...”

“Behind that gate lies the power to challenge the titans. I won’t let someone else claim it, or hope that if we ignore it everyone else will too. And now my dreams lead me to it; I will not back away.”</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>It has been centuries since a battle happened here. But you are sure that this was the place you dreamed of. Though the ground is bare, even green in some places, there are the remnants of war buried in the dirt, shattered bones, steel fragments and scales.

“I think this is where Samarra challenged Curgen,” you say.

You search the battlefield, but there is nothing left of value. Generations of looters have been through here collecting anything of value and then coming back and taking all the worthless stuff too. After a long day of searching you make camp and sleep.

Again the dreams come. Again there is war, but this time you see who is waging it: Titans and men, fallen and monsters... and dragons, who soar and rise through the skies, breathing flame. Dragons who fall before the might of Curgen and his great maul - the maul that can shatter mountains with a single blow.

When you wake, you know where it is.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>There are few creatures as powerful and cruel as an ogre. Created by the titans for war, they are well-suited for their task and have little talent for anything else. As you watch a small tribe of them eats, sleeps and grunts violently at each other.

Sitting quietly, face permanently pinched into a scowl, is an almost white ogre nearly the size of a small cottage. He looks old, but his arms have not withered with age, and his skin is not worn or grey. His age is in his eyes. He fought in the battles you dreamed of and has battled ever since. He fought drakes, fought slags and garrotes, fought earth elementals and golems. And he fought the younger ogres that were foolish enough to challenge him.

Resting easily on his lap, with his massive right hand wrapped around it, is the maul you dreamed of. His fingers have nearly grown together. It is as much a part of him as his foot. And he is as unlikely to give it up.</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>The Pit of Lost Voices</DisplayName>

<Description>As you step through the gate, a black mist rises up from the ground. Voices rise with it: whispered entreaties for mercy, prayers for forgiveness, screams of pain...

“What is this place?” one of your men asks, his own voice quaking. “Where’s all those noises coming from?” He is not the only one scared; others cast nervous glances as well. Your own heart is racing; you swallow your fear and take in your surroundings. The cataclysm savaged much of Elemental; you have seen wasteland before. But never land as broken as this. Rock burned black by energies too awesome to contemplate, crags of huge, broken stone and a monstrous hole, gouged deep into the ground...

“The Pit of Lost Voices,” you say quietly.

“Oh they’re not lost. You can hear them, can’t you?” The voice comes from somewhere before you; you squint into the mist and see a figure approaching.</Description>

<ShortTextAccept>"Samarra?"</ShortTextAccept>

<RewardText>Quest of Mastery Victory</RewardText>

<RewardImage>Crown_Icon.png</RewardImage>

<SuccessText>The Dragonlord is dead.

You stand over Waerloga’s body and pry the scepter from his grasp.

The instant you touch it, you see them in your mind: the Dragons, all of them remaining in this world. There, in the north: storm dragons, half a dozen of them, hibernating in a hidden cavern not far from Isa Mere. And there, in the wastelands outside Cyndrum, a Fell dragon - ancient beyond belief, its mind filled with images of not just Curgen, but Pariden himself, the first Titan to stride this world. And there, hidden in the dunes of the Fist, two male Ashwake dragons, most powerful of their kind, feasting upon the remnants of a merchant lord’s army... you see them all, and dozens - perhaps hundreds - like them. And they see you.

This is the power the demon spoke of: the greatest power left in this world, the power Samarra sought, the power Waerloga possessed. It does not matter now how many of your soldiers died, or how many remain. This scepter alone gives you power enough to rule Elemental.

Your grip tightens upon it; the stone glows an even more brilliant blue. You feel them coming now, the dragons; you imagine the skies darkening at their approach, armies trembling at the sound of the beating of their wings. None can stand before them. And now...

None can stand before you.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>“Samarra?” you ask.

“Samarra?” The figure laughs. “No. Samarra was a demon. And a weak demon at that. So weak that he took pity on the darklings that were to be sacrificed in this pit and helped them escape. He thought to make them into an army - an army to rise up and crown him Lord of Imperium. Do you know how many followed him when the time came to fight?”

“I do not,” you say, as the figure steps closer. It is still hidden by the mist... but it is monstrously tall and hideously misshapen. Your hand tightens upon your weapon.

“None,” the voice answers. “Out of the thousands Samarra saved - none stood with him in the end. He stood alone, and I killed him.”

Behind you, one of your men screams. You turn just in time to see something pulling him into the blackness of the mist - and his screaming suddenly stops.

“You will all die here,” the voice says. “Excepting you, Lord. If you kneel right now and present me the hammer... I will allow you to join my service.”

“Show yourself!” you command, and at that instant... the mist clears. And you - and every one of your soldiers - gasp.

You are looking at a man seated on top of a dragon’s back. In his hand he holds a sceptre with a blue stone glowing atop it.

“I am Waerloga,” he says. “You do not recognize me from your dreams? From the Field of the Fallen? It was I who sent your visions: dreams of the maul. The dreams that led you to the only weapon that could free me from this prison.”

The dragon breathes fire and incinerates a half-dozen men. A dozen more break and run for the gate. The rest of your army follows, ignoring your cries to stand and fight.

“Just what happened with Samarra,” Waerloga says. “Now get out of my way or die.”</ChoiceText>

---

<Description>The crags around you give way to a flat, open steppe. A strange quiet surrounds this place, the sanctity of old gods and ancient rituals. The statue of a dragon towers over you. It is, you sense, immeasurably ancient, and yet it shows no signs of damage or wear. Placed in the statue's hands is a massive gemstone, a jewel whose color shifts and changes like a thing alive as you approach. In its facets you glimpse the reflections of the creatures of Elemental. Some are majestic and beautiful, others are monstrous and terrifying.

You reach for the gem... and the instant your fingers touch it, the statue speaks.

“I am Hengam, one of three guardians - those who guard the Scepter of Dominion, that which commands obedience from all living things. Do you dare quest for such power?”</Description>

<SuccessText>The Dragon's Eye gem slips easily from the statue’s clutches.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>“You are brave, little one, to attempt a quest so great. Very well. You must begin by walking the path of Wind and Woe. Wind first: journey to the Temple of Amokah, he who was once the Elemental Lord of the Air, and defeat the creatures who live there. Then Woe: visit the cavern of the Vengier and prove yourself worthy by overcoming the evil things that lurk within that darkness. Return to me after you do those things, and I will aid you in your quest.”</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>The walls of this temple have been worn smooth by the tempest that eternally rages around it. The rocks are split and blackened by lightning strikes, and the clouds above are broken by a single great circle directly above the temple, like a giant shining eye looking down. The prayers of generations of pilgrims still echo in the storm, as do the elementals they worshipped.

As you watch, these elementals begin to descend around you, brilliant creatures formed of the sky and the light. In a single voice, they command you to flee.</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>Blood stains the floor of the massive cave entrance, as if a river of it once flowed through here. You see scraps of armor, torn like paper, shattered bones, rusted weapons... but no evidence of anything alive. The back of the cavern descends into darkness, and you can't imagine what waits for you beyond it.

For this cave is said to be the grave of the citizens of Vengier, a great city captured by a Yithril general. After none of his soldiers returned from exploring this cave and he tired of executing and burying the citizens of Vengier, the general ordered the citizens marched into this cavern. The creatures within the cave feasted on the prisoners. But when the flow of prisoners stopped, the creatures, now hungry for the blood and flesh of men, came out of the cavern. They attacked the commander's army and dragged them all back into the cavern's depths.</ChoiceText>

---

<ChoiceText>You ask about the dragon statue, and everyone knows of the statue and the great gem it held. They call it the Dragon's Eye, and they say that it is rumored that there are two statues, each with an eye. If both eyes are brought to a third statue, then the Scepter of Dominion can be won, which will awake the dragons of Elemental and allow the bearer to command them.

But they are shocked to hear that the gem is gone; several rush off toward the statue when you tell them, seers, storytellers and adventurers who have been following the legend of the Scepter for years. You have given up questioning them when a woman sits down beside you. She has a stern but not unattractive face with short brown hair and armor etched in green.

"I am Kithra, a daughter of the Kings of Ithul, and I know who took the Dragon's Eye."

According to Kithra she was traveling with the man who took the Eye; they were going to win it together. But he betrayed her, took the Eye and left her here. She knows where he is, but she warns that he is a powerful man, especially in his lands. But she won't tell you who he is unless you pay her.

<PopupMessage>Kithra tells you his name is Arneson, head of the Free Riders - a powerful mercenary band. She also gives you directions to their distant compound where she believes he is heading.</PopupMessage>

</QuestChoiceDef>

<Description>I'll come back later if I'm interested</Description>

<PopupMessage>"I will be at the dragon statue if you want to pay my price," Kithra says.</PopupMessage>

<ChoiceText>The compound is full of what you could consider soldiers, except they are better armed.

"Turn back, magician," an armored sentry yells to you, "Arneson controls more than men, more than dragons; he controls the titans themselves. Should you irritate him, he will remove you from this world."</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>The gates of the estate open, and you finish the last of the guards. Another host of soldiers rushes out to meet you, or to guard the man who follows them. He is a giant; even the largest of his guard only comes to his shoulder. And when he speaks it is in the language of magic. He begins to summon...</ChoiceText>

<PopupMessage>Kithra tell you his name is Arneson, head of the Free Riders - a powerful mercenary band. She also gives you directions to their distant compound where she believes he is

---

<DisplayName>The Dragongate</DisplayName>

<Description>There is a dragon statue here, formed of smooth brown stone with veins of clear crystal running throughout. Light dances in the crystal like starlight and reflects pale images of the surrounding world. There are two empty eye sockets on the statue and a short inscription at the base which reads:

"To gain the power to rule this world and all who are born of it, seek my brothers."</Description>

<SuccessText>The dragons are beaten; the largest lays wheezing on the ground with barely enough strength to lift his head.

"Submit to me," you demand.

The dragon bows his head.</SuccessText>

<ChoiceText>You place the dragon eyes in the eye sockets, and for a moment there is no response. How would you know that distant fissures split the ground, that volcanoes erupted, that ancient chasms opened to the world for the first time in centuries? It isn't until the things released have come for you, when dark shadows bring the world to darkness and the screech of dragons jolt you out of your contemplation of that statue, that you realize what has occurred.

The largest dragon speaks in a voice that causes the ground to tremble. "You are not the dragonlord; kneel before the first lords of Elemental."</ChoiceText>

---

<DisplayName>Varda</DisplayName>

<Description>Searching these ruins, you find etchings detailing the location of a place long thought to be lost to time: Varda. Some say they were a great library, others a prison. According to legend, statues stand around the ruins, guarding it even though the citizens died of famine centuries ago. Rumors tell of a great treasure that is still stored in the ruined city vaults, but no one has been able to get past the guards to investigate.</Description>

<Description>Inside the ruins there are hundreds of corpses, now little more than weathered bones. They looked to have died trying to flee the city, trapped by the very guardians they built to protect them. You find an ancient library, but the roof has collapsed, and the books have been ruined by exposure to the environment. There are stores of lumber and metal, but they are all beyond salvage.</Description>

<ChoiceText>Inside the ruins there are hundreds of corpses, now little more than weather bones. They looked to have died trying to flee the city, trapped by the very guardians they built to protect them. You find an ancient library, but the roof has collapsed, and the books have been ruined by exposure to the environment. There are stores of lumber and metal, but they are all beyond salvage. What do you do?</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceMedallion>K_Adventure.png</ChoiceMedallion>

<ChoiceMedallionFrame>Medallion_Frame_17.png</ChoiceMedallionFrame>

<PopupMessage>While digging, you break into a crudely constructed tunnel leading out of the city. The tunnel was never completed, but at its end you find some more bodies and a maul that is in perfect condition. You bury the bodies and keep the maul for yourself.</PopupMessage>

Locked Post +3 Karma

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

Heavenfall
Gaunathor
AlLanMandragoran

This deserves a bump, good work

Successfully updated karma reason!

Gaunathor

Join Date 04/2006

+170

This work deserves karma!

Just don't forget, that you still have a whole campaign to proofread.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Quoting Gaunathor,

reply 2

Just don't forget, that you still have a whole campaign to proofread.

/wrists

Successfully updated karma reason!

One of the default unit designs for the Magnar (sp?) is called "Slave Calvarly" or something lie that. (I guess this fits the thread, just fyi )

Successfully updated karma reason!

<PopupMessage>The hunters considers your story for a long time before commenting.

This should be "The hunter considers your story for a long time before commenting."

<QuestDef InternalName="Quest_RampagingUmberdroth">

<DisplayName>Rampaging Umberdroth</DisplayName>

<Description>There used to be nearby village, until a traveler brought an umberdroth to town.

After putting on a show, the creature went wild and wrecked half the town. Naturally the villagers fled for their lives.

The umberdroth, on the other hand, has taken a liking to the village. Clear it out and the villagers will give you their only item of real value, an enchanted sword.</Description>

There should be a comma after 'Naturally'.

"Turn back magician," an armored sentry yells to you, "Arneson controls more than men, more than dragons; he controls the titans themselves. Should you irritate him he will remove you from this world."</ChoiceText>

There should be a comma between 'back' and 'magician', and also between 'him' and 'he'.

A further comment: both the Dragon's Eye quest and the Waerloga the Dragon-Lord quest indicate that upon completion you gain the power to command dragons, and neither is affected by the completion of the other. I think that completing one of these quests should give you the ability to set up 'dragon hatcheries' in your cities (one hatchery in your faction for each type of dragon) and the other should give you a staff (Staff of the Dragonlord) that grants the ability to take control of dragons. Currently, you get an Ashwake Dragon from the Dragon's Eye quest, and (at least, in 0.98x) nothing from the Waerloga the Dragonlord quest. Perhaps hatcheries from the Dragon's Eye quest, and the staff from Waerloga the Dragonlord (and make its appearance be as described in the Waerloga the Dragonlord quest text). I haven't seen Waerloga the Dragonlord since 0.98x, so I can't be sure that you don't get anything from that quest at present, but in 0.98x you did not receive any reward at the end of the quest.

Successfully updated karma reason!

You’re not going to like this suggestion, but you should re-edit these files. There are still a large number of errors, and I’m sure I didn’t catch them all. In particular, you should look for compound sentences missing commas.

"My lord," the alchemist begins, heading over to you. "I've an experiment, and I need sand from a sand golem. If you would be good enough to procure some for me, I can give you one of my pets."</Description>

Comma added after “experiment.”

<Description>The innkeeper is admiring a set of gold coins on the bar. They are perfectly formed, and the inn's firelight dances across their smooth yellow surface, but there is no insignia on any of them. No nation appears to have printed them, and although warlords or smuggling guilds occasionally mint their own coins, they usually imprint them with their own symbol and never use such pure gold.

Comma added after “printed them.”

<ChoiceText>After you kill the Air Shrills, you are surprised by a dark figure who steps out of the ruins.

Comma added after “Shrills.”

“The spell then; it is of little use to me. But I will stand aside and let you go in and read it for a small price. If you will be able to summon gold, the least you can do is share a little with me, say, 100 coins, and I will need payment before you enter the ruins.”</ChoiceText>

<Description>Despite the warm autumn evening, this area is covered in frost, and a pillar of ice stands at the center of it. Inside you can just make out a hazy figure trapped in the ice. Etchings in the ice tell the tale of a man garbed as a high priest, the servant of a titan, who was seduced and betrayed his lord. The titan killed his priest and trapped his lover here for all time.

Comma added after “frost.”

The ice is harder than midnight stones, and you are unable to make even the slightest crack in it. You are about to leave when a hollow voice, as if echoing from a great pit, calls out to you.

Comma added after “stones.”

<SuccessText>You snap the staff in two, and for a second there is nothing but the roar of fire and blinding light. When it has faded the icy pillar is little more than a pool, and a young man stands in its place.

Comma added after “stones” and “pool.”

<ChoiceText>This ancient temple appears to be empty. But there is an item of value that has not been stolen; a staff lies upon an altar decorated with serpents, and even from the temple entrance you can feel the heat emanating from it. As you draw close, the serpents begin to move, hissing and bursting into flame.</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “serpents.”

"I've talked to the village elder, and I've agreed to clear you from these lands," you say. "You can either leave, or I will string you up for your crimes."

Commas added after “elder” and “leave.”

<Description>A woman stands, unmoving, outside her small home. It isn't until you get closer that you realize that she is standing at a crude grave. She doesn't say anything at your approach and for a few long minutes after. Then she spits on the grave (comma removed) and turns toward you.

Her eyes go vacant again, then they snap back. When she notices you eyeing the grave, she says, "I didn't know this one. Three men... creatures... came to my house and attacked my husband, Neville. He was a strong man once, able to take branches off an oak with one swing of his axe. But that was years ago."

Comma added after “grave.”

<ChoiceText>There is howling coming from the cave, like an animal being torn apart. But the noise provides enough cover for you to slip close and look inside. There are three figures in the half light of the cave: two that you almost mistake for corpses except that they keep a watchful eye on the third. They wear ragged white gowns, and their skin is ash gray.

Comma added after “gowns.”

The third figure screams and chops at his own body with his axe, but his body is well past bleeding. As you watch he chops through his neck, stifling his cries and finally dropping him to the ground. Then in a few minutes the screams begin anew, and he rises from the ground like an old shipwreck being dragged off the ocean floor.</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “anew.”

Comma added after “wilderness.”

<ChoiceText>The soup is, well, not poisoned, and that's about as good as you can hope for. The old woman introduces herself as Lybbestre, a mother and grandmother who has outlived her husband, children and grandchildren. She is also a sometime alchemist and claims to be able to brew a Potion of Restoration, a rare healing potion that removes all injuries, from Tilda Leaves. If you will bring her some leaves she will gladly make you one.</ChoiceText>

Commas added after “watched” and “feeling.”

Commas added after “him” and “dagger.”

<Description>The air crackles with the scent of lightning (comma removed) and arcane magic. An energy has now been set loose in the world, an energy that feeds the savage in man and Fallen alike, an energy that strips away the mask of civilization and lets loose the beast within.

<SuccessText>The song drifts on the wind long after the bard has stopped playing. As music goes it wasn't very good, it was a simple harmony more than anything beautiful or elegant. It was the sound of insects in a summer field (comma removed) or the tide against soft beaches. Everyone sits waiting afterwards, but there is only the echo until...

Comma added after “over you.”

Looking at you, she says, "Ah, I admire what you are doing to bring civilization back to the land. To aid you, I have a magical ring that will make your enemies unable to strike you. Unfortunately, I kept the ring in a chest, and I lost the key in the woods nearby. I can tell you where the key is if you're willing to take some risk."</Description>

Comma added after “chest.”

<ChoiceText>"A farmer came to me, his crops spoiled by blight and drought. He had purchased the seeds on loan, and when the merchant came to collect payment the farmer's only thing of value was the thin livestock he needed to feed his family. The merchant took the livestock and slaughtered it on the farmer's lawn, wasting it rather than transport the sickly things back to his home. The farmer was then left to watch his family starve; he was near death himself when he prayed at my altar."</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “loan.”

<Description>"The next is the cruel wife of a wealthy trader," the sword whispers. "Though she wants for nothing, she inflicts pain on those that serve her. She has killed a half dozen of her maids and a stableboy barely past his eighth year. It was her son who came to me, too meek to end his mother’s tyranny himself. Now the task falls to you."</Description>

Comma added after “nothing.”

<Description>"The last victim is Petar," the sword whispers, "a husband and father. Another man desires his wife, and with Petar dead, he believes he can have her."</Description>

Comma added after “wife.”

"There's no reason for unpleasantness. Simply give the girl to us, and we will pay you twice what that undeor merchant will offer."</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “us.”

<Description>This farmhouse's fence is broken down, and a cow lays dead in the field with a pair of bite marks nearly the size of short swords. The wound still oozes with a greenish-white infection, and the cow's eyes are forever trapped in an expression of terror and pain. Any other livestock that were once kept here are gone.

Commas added after “down” and “infection.”

<SuccessText>The mother lives just long enough to hear that you killed the creature. With one long exhale she relaxes, and her life slips from her.

Comma added after “relaxes.”

<SuccessText>You find a young naja in the remains of the nest. You share some meat with it, and it submits to you.</SuccessText>

Comma added after “with it.”

<ChoiceText>The remains of a campfire are set in the center of the cave. The low roof is blackened with soot. Mushrooms grow in the shadows, and a dark crevice leads deeper into the cave.</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “shadows.” This text is repeated.

<PopupMessage>A grey giant lies at the bottom of the fissure (comma removed) as if he has fallen out of the sky, and the cave is nothing but the ruins of his fall.

Comma added after “sky.”

Commas added after “windows” and “innkeeper.”

You order dinner and get a disappointing bowl of porridge and a tepid beer. There is no meat on the menu, and when you ask why, the farmers are eager to explain.

Comma added after “menu.”

Comma added after “broken in.”

You slowly go down the cellar stairs. At the foot of the stairs you see the body of a man; the rats are feasting on him, and they glare up at you with dark, angry eyes. As you get closer they rip off as much flesh as they can manage and disappear into the cellar's shadowed corners.

Comma added after “him.”

<Description>The inn is as somber as any you have ever visited. The innkeeper’s elderly wife has passed away, and her body lies on the bar. Her family and friends are gathered around sharing drinks and memories.

Comma added after “away.”

"My beautiful Varkana is gone," he says. "He hunted at my side since he was a pup, and he knew the forest as well as I. Three nights ago I heard the howling of wolves and afterward I noticed Varkana had left our camp. The howls grew closer until I heard Varkana's yelp, and the forest went quiet. I searched all night, but I never found any sign of Varkana or the wolves."

Comma added after “night.”

"If you avenge my dog and bring me back his collar, I will give you my bow. It has been in my family for generations and would serve you well."</Description>

Comma added after “collar.”

<ChoiceText>You have found the source of the howls, and the wolves set upon you. Varkana is with them; he has joined the pack.</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “howls.”

The hunter doesn't speak again, but you share a quiet drink with him, and he gives you his bow in thanks for your help.</PopupMessage>

Comma added after “him.”

Comma added after “a staff.”

<SuccessText>When Eblis falls, the butterflies are freed, and in a flutter of bright wings they take off. You search Eblis's house for anything of value.</SuccessText>

Comma added after “freed.”

<SuccessText>The door to the tomb has been rolled aside. Inside, the grave lies open, and bones have been scattered about as thieves pried rings off of fingers and enchanted robes off of the corpse. Over the years animals have nested in here, as clueless as the thieves to the tomb’s real treasure. Around the tomb’s domed ceiling, in blue tiles so dark they almost appear to be black, there is another set of runes.

Comma added after “open.”

Commas added after “close” and “screams.”

<CompletionText>After a few members of the mob have been beaten into unconsciousness the rest return to their homes. The disciples thank you for your help, and offer you a gift.</CompletionText>

Comma added after “help.”

Once he realizes that you aren't, and you offer some water to soothe his throat, he begs for you to release him. His name is Kainen, and he was once a student of the Dark Sorcerer. Kainen traded his loyalty for the power of magic, but when he could no longer stand the Dark Sorcerer's cruel and unusual demands he attacked him. The Dark Sorcerer easily defeated Kainen and imprisoned him here.

Comma added after “is Kainen.” This text is repeated.

<Description>There used to be nearby village (comma removed) until a traveler brought an umberdroth to town.

The umberdroth, on the other hand, has taken a liking to the village. Clear it out, and the villagers will give you their only item of real value, an enchanted sword.</Description>

Comma added after “out.”

<Description>The inn is warm and full of good cheer. Wagoneers are playing a game of dice and you join them. Fortune favors you, and you win an enchanted helm in the competition.

Comma added after “favors you.”

<ChoiceText>There are no tombs here (comma removed) and no sign of the hero from your dreams. You are about to give up when a serpentine voice calls out to you.

<ChoiceText>There are no signs of battle. The clearing is generally quiet and serene outside of a troll warrior, who is loudly chewing on the leg of a large, dark-furred animal. Satisfied for the moment, the troll growls in your direction, then goes back to his meal.</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “warrior.”

<Description>Centuries ago a cave system was blocked off by placing a great capstone over its entrance. Some suggest that whatever was dangerous in the cave must certainly be dead now and it could be a good time to remove the capstone and see if anything valuable is inside.</Description>

Comma added after “now.”

Comma added after “forward.”

"You can help me! I was going to use this device to determine the location of the fabled Cloak of Stars until that damnable goat -"

“Scry” is intransitive. Who knew?

Comma added after “not.”

Within the dungeon is vague evidence that it held creatures of terrible might. The walls are immense, and there are deep scratch marks made by claws larger than those of most beasts that exist today.

Comma added after “immense.”

<Description>You come across a scene of morning, death and loss – such scenes are too common on the wastes. A series of farmhouses was attacked, anyone of fighting age was killed, and the children old enough to work or sell have been enslaved. Only the old or very young have been left behind.

Comma added after “killed.”

<CompletionText>You failed to protect the girl, and she died a most gruesome death, rescued from one fate only to find a worse one waiting for her.</CompletionText>

Comma added after “girl.”

Comma added after “stone.”

"If you don't have a Midnight Stone, there is an Obsidian Golem you could carve one out of, though the golem may not like it."</Description>

Comma added after “Stone.”

You must kill Pralius to continue in the tournament. Will you spare him and leave the tournament (comma removed) or kill him and continue to your next match against a dark-robed summoner?</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>The crowd cheers as you kill Dhwene. Mehran rewards you with Heartseeker, the sword he promised. But before you leave he stops you. “I do have an even more dangerous enemy for you to face,” he says. “If you win, I can offer an even more powerful reward.”

Comma added after “win.”

Runes on the gate’s surface indicate that it is intended to keep whatever is on the other side trapped. On this side it is an abjuration, the magical equivalent of a simple latch. But even this simple charm, whispered from a titan centuries ago, is beyond your power. Your spells are broken into shattered light, and your weapons have even less impact.

Comma added after “light.”

You recite the spell, and it echoes out like a tiny hammer striking a bell. The gate shudders as the enchantments lift, and it swings slowly open. All the light around you dims as if the sun passed behind a cloud, though the sky is clear. The stench of dried bones, dust and something you don’t recognize floats down around you.

Commas added after “spell” and “lift.”

Comma added after “more.”

You try the shaman’s spell but it has no effect; your spells and weapons do nothing. You examine the runes and enchantments, but they are the same as those on the first gate.

Comma added after “enchantments.”

The demon lets go, and your soldier falls to ground coughing and wheezing.

Comma added after “go.”

Your soldiers are already preparing breakfast, and you sit down by the one that was attacked by the demon. You can still see red welts on this throat from the claws.

Comma added after “breakfast.”

“Forgive me, my lord, but maybe the gate is best left closed. If the demon should escape...”

Comma added after “me.”

Comma added after “battlefield.”

<ChoiceText>There are few creatures as powerful and cruel as an ogre. Created by the titans for war, they are well-suited for their task (comma removed) and have little talent for anything else. As you watch a small tribe of them eats, sleeps and grunts violently at each other.

Sitting quietly, face permanently pinched into a scowl, is an almost white ogre nearly the size of a small cottage. He looks old, but his arms have not withered with age, and his skin is not worn or grey. His age is in his eyes. He fought in the battles you dreamed of (comma removed) and has battled ever since. He fought drakes, fought slags and garrotes, fought earth elementals and golems. And he fought the younger ogres that were foolish enough to challenge him.

Comma added after “age.”

“What is this place?” one of your men asks, his own voice quaking. “Where’s all those noises coming from?” He is not the only one scared; others cast nervous glances as well. Your own heart is racing; you swallow your fear (comma removed) and take in your surroundings. The cataclysm savaged much of Elemental; you have seen wasteland before. But never land as broken as this. Rock burned black by energies too awesome to contemplate, crags of huge, broken stone and a monstrous hole, gouged deep into the ground...

“Oh they’re not lost. You can hear them, can’t you?” The voice comes from somewhere before you; you squint into the mist (comma removed) and see a figure approaching.</Description>

You stand over Waerloga’s body (comma removed) and pry the scepter from his grasp.

“Samarra?” The figure laughs. “No. Samarra was a demon. And a weak demon at that. So weak that he took pity on the darklings that were to be sacrificed in this pit and helped them escape. He thought to make them into an army - an army to rise up (comma removed) and crown him Lord of Imperium. Do you know how many followed him (comma removed) when the time came to fight?”

“You will all die here,” the voice says. “Excepting you, Lord. If you kneel right now (comma removed) and present me the hammer... I will allow you to join my service.”

“I am Waerloga,” he says. “You do not recognize me (comma removed) from your dreams? From the Field of the Fallen? It was I who sent your visions: dreams of the maul. The dreams that led you to the only weapon that could free me from this prison.”

The dragon breathes fire (dash removed) and incinerates a half-dozen men. A dozen more break and run for the gate. The rest of your army follows, ignoring your cries to stand and fight.

“Just what happened with Samarra,” Waerloga says. “Now get out of my way (comma removed) or die.”</ChoiceText>

<ChoiceText>“You are brave, little one, to attempt a quest so great. Very well. You must begin by walking the path of Wind and Woe. Wind first: journey to the Temple of Amokah, he who was once the Elemental Lord of the Air, and defeat the creatures who live there. Then Woe: visit the cavern of the Vengier (comma removed) and prove yourself worthy by overcoming the evil things that lurk within that darkness. Return to me after you do those things, and I will aid you in your quest.”</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “strikes.”

Comma added after “statue.”

"Turn back magician," an armored sentry yells to you, "Arneson controls more than men, more than dragons; he controls the titans themselves. Should you irritate him, he will remove you from this world."</ChoiceText>

Comma added after “him.”

Comma added after “open.”

<ChoiceText>You place the dragon eyes in the eye sockets, and for a moment there is no response. How would you know that distant fissures split the ground, that volcanoes erupted, that ancient chasms opened to the world for the first time in centuries? It isn't until the things released have come for you, when dark shadows bring the world to darkness and the screech of dragons jolt you out of your contemplation of that statue, that you realize what has occurred.

Commas added after “sockets” and “statue.”

Comma added after “collapsed.” This text is repeated.

Comma added after “completed.”

Successfully updated karma reason!

Quoting zigzag,

reply 7

I was putting too many commas in the earlier threads, but now I see I've gone the opposite way. It doesn't help that I was going faster through these than normal.

Back when I taught English in college the older professors would all say not to correct students on commas because it would mess with their heads, and the next papers we'd get from them would be written entirely in simple sentences. Now I know what they mean.

I think your additions (which I will incorporate tomorrow) are going to have to do. At one point, in despair, I toyed with the idea of just pointing out the 20 or so flagrant misspellings and typos since these files are so large, and the amount of time I have has been greatly reduced due to personal/work stuff. But these are all excuses; I will have to do a better job going forward.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Quoting JackArbiter,

reply 8

I don't blame you. It's really hard to read through thousands of lines of text and correct everything. I'm sure that I and the other second-pass reviewers also missed many errors. There's no shame in picking out the most obvious errors to correct. And, of course, what counts as most obvious differs from person to person.

I think the eventual solution may be to make the files available through some kind of version control system, but this won't be useful until the game reaches a stable state with relatively infrequent patches.

Successfully updated karma reason!

JackArbiter: In all honesty, I'm impressed that you've kept doing these, as I would not usually go through XML files looking for spelling and grammar errors. Just reading through what you post up is enough work for me, and I think the majority of the forum users would not usually even go that far (though I could be wrong). Even reading through what you post up I am often tempted to only make corrections to things I think are most egregious, rather than correcting anything I think is incorrect (and don't correct me on the split infinitive I just used, since you taught English - I like them, and I see no reason why they should be grammatically incorrect).

I think you've been doing a very good job on all of these.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Thanks guys. Sorry, it took longer for me to get these changes incorporated than it should have but I've been taking on some extra stuff at work and I've been backed up until now.

Hopefully I can get to random events soon. I will likely wait until 1.01 is out, which is hopefully... today?

Successfully updated karma reason!

I've looked around but I can't tell if there has been any work on the game as far as grammar. Is it any better these days? There are still 4 or so posts here with fixes that could be incorporated if not. I'll be picking the game back up in a week or two so I'll post back again if I still find these problems.

Successfully updated karma reason!