Current Training: Evus.

Donations: Bob (90-100%).

Exploration: Trips to the Marsh, Jade Noids, Orga Outback/Village and Kizmia's Island.

Terrdi, day 63 of Spring, 557.

While wandering around the South Forest recently, I was walking near a tree while dodging some Cougars, and then unexpectedly found myself in the South Marsh.

Curious, I went back to the area I had been in (Marsh-side all the way South, otherwise known as South Forest D6) and poked around.

What I found was that if I stepped close to the area highlighted in this sketch of the far Southeast corner of D6, I entered the South Marsh. Although I would also enter the Marsh by going South off the snell edge here (or by going East off that edge), I could do the same by stepping close to the highlighted area, even when walking so slowly there was no chance I had inadvertantly walked off the edge.

I never did see any pathfinding sparkles.

Indeed, I asked a non-pathfinder to try this as well, and the exact same thing happened to them, except that where they landed in the South Marsh was more random while I always ended up in the 2-islands snell as expected.

My curiousity piqued, I examined the snell corners all the way up and down the South Forest Marsh-side edge.

The only other odd spot I found was in the same snell, South Forest D6, but at the far Southwest corner. Stepping into the area highlighted on this sketch also brought me and a non-pathfinder to the South Marsh, but I ended up in 2-islands regularly while a non-pathfinder ends up in a random location.

I'm not sure these odd spots are very useful, since the regular entry to the South Marsh is just 1 more step away, and these entries act just like the regular snell edge entries in terms of where one lands in the Marsh.

However, exiles should be warned to avoid these two spots, since you end up in the South Marsh without any real warning. While that's not a real problem for me or other pathfinders, it can be very frustrating for non-pathfinders to make their way out of the Marsh again.

Terrdi, day 35 of Spring, 557.

Yesterday I went exploring with the Puddleby Task Force.

It was decided to examine the Jade Arachnoid cave for hints that even deeper sections of those caverns might now be accessible.

We quickly worked our way down through the narrow upper cavern, and were finally assaulted by a barrage of webs coming from the second cavern.

At first, no one could enter the lower cavern, as it was too crowded with Jade Noids to gain a toehold. After several attempts, Yor managed to squeeze in and then so did I. As we killed each Jade Noid and pushed against the remaining pack, other members of the group were able to enter too. Eventually everyone was inside.

Unfortunately, the single Emerald Arachnoid in the cave was stuck at the far North of the cave, and merrily spewed webs over us all. Try as we might, we could neither entice it to follow us South away from the wall (so we could surround it better), or even scratch it with a frontal assault.

We ended up ignoring the Emerald Noid and killing all the Jade Noids, and then verifying that the cave still ended abruptly at an impassable rock wall.

Having finished this mission pretty quickly, we moved on to Camp Dred via the Portal to try our luck in the Dredwood. The plan was to work our way across Dredwood and past the Orga Barricade into the Malachite Arachnoid caverns, with the hope of perhaps eventually reaching the pathfider book in the first Pitch Cave.

No such luck.

Due to some miscommunication, most of the group rushed in toward the Orga Barricade, but without our Rod. Several folks fell at the Barricade path, but I made it past and safely into the Barricade cave. Unfortunately it wasn't much safer than outside, as several large Death vermine were milling about in there. While I was slowly killing all these, a gravely wounded Sor stumbled in, and the LDV burst at him and felled him. I killed the LDV, but it was too late.

Everyone who hadn't fallen returned to the previous section of the Dredwood, where we had unfortunately left an Orga Hatred wandering about. Soon they were forced all the way back to Camp Dred, and started organzing a rescue.

While they were organizing, I had healed up enough to dash outside into the maelstrom to collect a fallen Dongle. When the other fallens outside began to get chanted to the Orga Village, I raced out of the cave with Sor and Dongle in tow, heading back into the Dredwood - hoping to get us all to Camp Dred or at least closer to the rescuers returning from there. I didn't get far, since I became entangled in my own chained fallens passing through the Barricade path, and was quickly fried by lightning bolts. Soon enough, all the fallens were chanted to the Orga Village by Zealots. There, we were finally all rescued.

I joined Mujin-kun and this small band for a night-time hunt on Kizmia's Island.

It began rather inauspiciously for me when I arrived at Fat Alice's beach before everyone else, and expecting things to be quiet there, I instead found myself amidst a large crowd of Harvest Lyfelidae and assorted Cobras. Ouch.

The hunt itself went quite smoothly, as we hunted until Dawn in the Lyfelidae caverns.

After sunrise, we headed to our trees and the North side of the Island. Since Nelaton and I were short on time, we bypassed the Lyfelidae Village, and headed instead to the Scarmis Hive. It was a fortuitous choice.

Before heading into the deeper hive, I made sure to check my pack for a free space in order to plant Kudzu, and wouldn't you know, I had picked up venom glands without noticing and had an entirely full pack!

We moved right into the deep hive and very quickly secured the area and vanquished the Scarmis Queen.

It turned out she had been a very busy lady, since we found an impressive four Scarmis Eggs!

With 4 eggs up for grabs, even I managed to finally win one of them on a dice roll.

Several days ago, a Fire Drake assailed town center and made off with at least 4 exiles.

A rescue effort was mounted, but apparently foundered before the group had made it out of McBolie's cavern.

When I awoke later, Talin and Raldin asked me to help with another Drake Den rescue attempt. We progressed into the Den very quickly with a small knowledgeable group, with no lost folks at any of the tricky one-way passages. After other mob trips here, it was a pleasure to make the trip out there for once.

We found 2 fallens in the Den but no Fire Drake, so it was quite easy to retrieve them and they were soon in town and raised.

Algernon was apparently among those taken to the Den, but we saw no sign of him when we were there, and he seems to have ended up departing days later.

Some time later, it was my turn to be chained.

I fell to pebbles in the Wendecka breeding grounds after getting myself surrounded.

Several would-be rescuers fell trying to reach me, so it turned ito a large operation as more and more exiles came to help.

Finally, Potz was able to get me out, and he and Typ managed to finally gather all the others as well. In the end, we were all chained home by Typ, who was the olnly one still standing.

Click here for my report on the previous storm.

Click here for my report on the next storm.

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