Current Training: Fell Blade

Donations: Cassia Allin (40-50%).

Exploration: Poking around for Tremolite and Judder, unsucessfully.

Merdi, day 23 of Summer, 559.

After testing a substantial amount of iron ore over the past few years, I finally hit paydirt when I found an Earthstone.

Thanks especially to Farhope and Urgelt for giving me ore to test.

I still do not have enough Fell Blade training to make any kind of commitment, but I'm pretty close now.

And I'm starting to pack a mean whallop with it. I noticed I was hitting Pitch Arachnoids quite well on last week's trip to the Slate caves.

Rumours abound of so-called Tremolite and Judder to be found in the Lands, but to my knowledge there has been no confirmed identification of either of these substances.

Many folks are looking for them, but it remains unclear what their true value might be or where they might be found.

I've taken the view that these must be found in difficult or obscure locations, because otherwise someone would have stumbled across one or the other by now if there were in easy, high traffic areas.

Some difficult areas that are hunted regularly seem unlikely candidates: Tok'Han lair, Kizmia's Island, Pitch Arachnoid caverns (at least as deep in as PAG regularly survives).

So I have been concentrating on tryng to look at difficult areas that are not examined so often.

One such place is the inner Emerald Arachnoid room in the Jade Arachnoid cavern.

Tremolite is a mineral in the asbestos family. One variant is called nephrite, more commonly known as Jade.

I recruited a strong group recently, and we had a look down there.

After fighting our way down through the narrow Jade Arachnoid cave, we gained a foothold in the second cavern, and eventually vanquished the web-slinging Emerald Arachnoid there.

The cavern still ends abruptly, with no sign of anything new or any veins of useful substances in the walls.

Another possibility is that these might be found an area that is not really hard, just seldom visited. And likely underground, or at least rocky.

Among such places, I have recently scoured the two Trool mines, Gerag's Slime cave, several Foothills caves, deep in the old Arachnoid cave, and the "mini-Noid" Arachne cave.

The Arachne cave seemed a bit different than I remembered, although it has been a long time since I was in here.

Particularly, there is a spot in the farthest recess that seems like a possible way deeper, that is now blocked by a cave-in.

I just don't remember this spot being here before ...

I tried staring for a path through the debris, and picking at it with my shovel, but to no effect.

So far I've had no luck, but I don't feel too badly since no one else has either.

I'll keep looking, and eventually someone will get lucky or smart.

I was a bit surprised to find a Pallidew in the East Trool mine, along with a colorful mix of Ko'Kin and Vol'Kins.

Makes you wonder if they are up to something way down there!

I didn't see anything new to worry about though.

One never knows what Mainland celebrities might wash up on our shores ....

Even Joe himself made an appearance recently.

Quite a crowd of exiles made the effort to come hear what he had to say.

He seems as concerned as any of us that too many exiles are managing to escape to the Mainland, and too few folks are being exiled here anymore.

Hopefully he manages to surmount these obstacles, but at least we know he is on the case.

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