6-24-08

Posted on June 24, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Wow…it seems I’ve forgotten about this for a while. Well, not all that long, compared to other things I forget. But anyway, I’ll do my best to bring you up to date.

So I’ve been hanging out, getting gold and getting stronger too. I found a new place for gold, only it’s a bit higher level than most. You will note that I have mentioned Actar as being good for fresh-out-of-newbie-schoolers. Well, there’s another that I would say is good for those who are fairly strong, and can take out a low-hitting Extrodinary Power denizen.

It turns out that the strongest I can take is probably the wolves and boars in the Black Forest. These are classified as the “Appears to be Extraordinarily Strong” types and I have died frequently to them in the last few months. Most people equate your strength with your level, but I have found that this is not always the case. Defences and experience in certain skills affect your percentage strength also. I mean, I figure a good solid experience-gain denizen should be easy to kill, but not too easy. It should not hit too hard and yet, if it doesn’t hit hard enough, you will not gain much. I have found that most Extraordinarily Strong denizens will hit, and I can hold out just long enough to kill them, but they slowly wear on my health and more often than not I have to retreat in order to regain health. The wolves in Black Forest are this way.

Anyway…back to the place. It’s the island of Ulangi. If you’ve been around a while, you know about it, not only because it’s there, but because IronRealms has included a map with it. So here it is: Ulangi. Very nice for making gold. It includes some rather strong buck deer, and extraordinarily strong moose. Both of these have extremely high gold return, which I really like. They amount to about 8 Actar goats each (a little more than 600 gold). And there are quite a few, so you will get a credit’s worth of gold in no time. Plus there are a few quests that you can discover that have very high return (I just completed the Pirate Treasure one).

So I’ve been hanging out there. In fact, I have my soul “bookmarked” there for when I return because too many people were hanging out and making all the gold in the world, while I struggled to find any serious game to hunt (they hogged it all first).

Another trick I just came up with…that is Grove Vigour. It boosts your health about a third per hit. Very nice. I didn’t remember it and because of it I’ve died I don’t know how many times in my grove when I could have sacrificed a hit on the denizen for a Vigour boost. Unfortunately, last time I tried it, I almost died, so it still didn’t do much good. I think the problem is that I’m not used to using it. I’ll have to practice on them wolves.

I’ve been at level 62 for the past 3 months and can’t seem to get further. I’m hovering at 63 and for some reason keep dying to stuff and dropping below. This happened at least three times just this month. Fortunately I used those 5 lessons before I died the last time, so I had my abilities heightened before I died.

More later…because I can’t think of anything else.

One more thing I forgot…next month is my birthday. I’ll be turning 22 I think!

6-11-08

Posted on June 11, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

This month was a bit more boring than others I’ve seen. Probably because I’ve been busy with other things. But I did manage to get a few days in the realms later on. And I learned all about prickly pear from the dear fellow Apprentice, Druuna. Actually, we’re no longer titled apprentices, but whatever. Druuna’s the same house ranking, and yet she’s been around a LOT LONGER than me, so she knows her way around.

I finally found the cyclops village in the Vashnars. It’s on the way to Actar, only instead of going southeast from the turnoff, you go east and up the trail aways. I also learned that heading down-river, you can jump off of a waterfall and land near the island in Actar. That was pretty fun. And I didn’t even break anything! It was like and indian canoeing of the waterfall and landing without sinking. Of course, I couldn’t get back up without going all the way around again, but it was exciting!

Other things. Not much else. A quick bit of advice…if going to the Shala’jen Monestary, DO NOT go into the cave down in the canyon below. That is the hangout of the Prince of Thieves, and since I got my vials stolen by an Adventurer a couple months ago, I was not prepared with immunity when the prince hit me with Voyria. Thankfully the others in the house were aware and got me resurrected rather quickly. With all this dying (and I am good at it), I’m finally beginning to learn some strategy in order to get resurrected as quickly as possible. Of course, having the Resurrection ability would be awfully nice, but I’m not there yet.

One big annoyance…people keep killing the cyclops in Actar. He gives good gold! Please don’t!

Anyway, that’s all for now. I bought a new game called Myst Uru…Complete Chronicles, so I have a new deterrent to keep me away, but I’ll try to get as much time in as possible.

And a note to Profit…if he reads this. You may have gotten my journal, but you can’t get my logs. *tongue Profit* I HAVE BACKUP. And you won’t find much in there to help you, so HA!!!

6-10-08

Posted on June 10, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Wow, I’ve been out of the loop for a few months. Probably just trying to get something actually interesting to talk about. Which I did! Our dear Rinji got engaged this month! Actually it was even on the New Year. And who’s the lucky lady? Why, it’s Miss Linelle! Congratulations to them both! (Oh, and Happy New Year!)

On a different note, before the festivities and a few months ago, I got to kill my first wolf in the Black Forest! I’m so excited. Of course, I had to retreat to heal about five times, because he hit hard and my health elixer could not keep up. But I did it, and gained a bit of experience (more than the usual quarter percent).

A few of you, and others from different houses, have been asking about quests after the newbie area. Well, there are many, many places you can go. From fresh out of newbie training, a good money-maker is the valley of Actar. Experience can be gained there as well as in the Great Rock and the Enverin Marsh. If I’m not busy, you can send me an in-game tell, and I’ll see if I can help you out.

Of course there’s always the little animals like the jarbo and gecko lizard in the Mohjave Desert, as well as rabbits, groundhogs and what not everywhere else. The big advice you will get from anyone is PROBE THE CREATURE before attacking. Recall my previous post showing levels of Denizen strength and their respective descriptions. Figure out what you can handle and stick to that strength until you advance in the circles. Be aware that not all denizens who look “weak and feeble” will have the same attack scheme. A rattlesnake is rather weak, but venomous. Some denizens web in order to trap you so you can’t move. Others hit rather hard but will die within a couple of hits, while others don’t hit that hard but, for some reason, keep on living.

All in all, experiment and if you are getting low in health, get away. Don’t live by the old hunting saying of “put it out of its misery.” Don’t feel sorry for it. Remember that if you leave for a long while, it will go to sleep to regenerate its health, just like you do, and will be chipper and ready for the second round in a few minutes. And if you die, just remember that the Great Mother Maya is waiting for you.

Another idea from leaving the Newbies: if you have not already done so, you can work on your tasks. No doubt you have already seen some, as catching butterflies from Vellis and buying vials from Seasone will accomplish those respective tasks. There are some tougher ones though. You can get hints by looking at TASK DETAILS. Some fun ones for druids are the fire drill and the scavenger hunt tasks.

So here’s the rest of the story…late into the month, I attended an anti-theft class. Hopefully I’ll be able to deter any more attempts at this sort of thing, as I have been targetted by a few others lately. I won’t tell my secrets, as that will give them strategy on how to circumvent them. Heh. But I will say this. It’s going to be harder from here out.

6-5-08

Posted on June 5, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Early in the month, I spent my time learning the Grove skill from the dear Druidess Nixxe. After attaining the Rain ability, we discussed a few things before she moved on. That was in the early month.

Later in the month, I travelled to the deep Southern Vashnars where I climbed Mount Nicator to enter Erymanthus – The flying island above the mountin. I had visited it before while gaining my Voyager status, but it turns out I had not seen it all. I had only experienced the lower level of Erymanthus above the misty ascent from the gates. Here there was a waterway and a huge forest. But after wandering around some, I came upon a steep rise of a mountain. Finding that I could climb it, I did and discovered at the top a village known as Arcadia, where winged Atavians live. Of course, me being an Atavian, everyone there made me feel welcome.

Arcadia was reached by first wandering around the Erymanthus forest for a while, and then finding a cave, which I entered. This cave deepened into a long tunnel, which came out on the face of a hill. Climbing the hill, and following the path, I soon came to the gates, where I was greeted by the gatekeeper and addressed as “Dear Sister.”

Inside were somewhere around four to five different levels of city. Each level contained guards and archers. The first level consisted of the Plebians. Second was the farmers. Third level was the royalty. Fourth level was a market (in which the merchants did not sell anything). Fifth level was a university. In the middle of the university was a path that led to the top of Erymanthus and into the clouds where Lord Vastar’s Arcadian Temple was located. The temple is called the Sky Tower in which Cassandra, the healer-priestess resides. Of course why should I tell you about it. You can read it all for yourself at http://www.achaea.com/lore/Arcadia.

Wed. June 4, 2008 – Denizen Afflictions List Part 1

Posted on June 4, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Denizen Afflictions List Part 1

Here is a list I’ve been working on that puts together some specific Denizens and their afflictions that they can hit you with:

Minia:
Imp – None
Pixie – None
Hellcat – None
Pygmy – None
Kobold – None

Actar Valley:
Goat – None
Rabbit – None
Crow – Runs away
Deer – None
War Goat – None
Cyclops – None
Halfling – None
Fish – None
Ghost – None
Owl – None

Savannah:
Hare – None
Gour – Unknown

Mohjave Desert:
Rattlesnake – None (Can Flay)
Sidewinder – None (Can Flay)
Hyena – None
Monitor Lizard – None
Gecko Lizard – Unknown (too weak and dies after first hit)
Jarbo – None
Coyote – None
Unformed Thing – Stun (may also have venom)
Scorpion – Paralyse, Stupidity (yellow are aggressive)

Great Rock:
Stirge – None
Cerberus – None
Cultist – None
Bearnath – Shield
Beastlord – Shield
Ophidians – Loki (can flay Sileris)
Beetle – Unknown
Arinas – Unknown
Kasha – Unknown
Lotash – Unknown
Slug – Electricity (no effect, but strong)

Black Forest:
Boar – Runs away
Wolf – None
Grizzly – Equilibrium strip
Woodsnake – Curare (following command not followed) and Epilepsy
Fisher – None; causes a lot of bleeding

Aalen:
Fox – None
Rabbit – None
Basilisk – Paralysis
Grizzly – Equilibrium Strip
Black Bear – Leg Break

Western Vashnars:
Sheep – None
Mt. Lion – None

Dun Valley:
Opossum – None
Frog – None
Crab – None
Lion – None
Snake – None
Gorilla – None
Hippo – Stun
Elephant – Stun
Elephant – Stun
Soul – Freezing
Wight – None
Warthog – None
Rat – Venom
Beetle – None
Water Strider – Venom
Mud Crab – None
Swamp Wyvern – Flame
Crocodile – None
Parrot – None
Jaguar – None
Piranha – None

Dun Fortress:
Ogre – None
Orc – None
Xulu (Orc Witchdoctor) – Flame
Ogre Mage – Freezing
Water Snake (Sewer) – Unaffecting venom (only really hard health hit)

Zanzibaar Island:
Cobra – Loki, Paralysis due to hypnotism

Green Lake:
Bear – None
Python – None
Fox – Runs away
Mosquito – Lose Footing
Horned Toad – Lose Footing
Clam – None
Eel – None
Pelican – Lose Footing
Flies – None
Qurnok – DSTAB Loki
Muskrat – Loki (got me with Voyria)
Troll – Unknown
Crocodile – None
Frog – None
Catfish – None

Siroccian Mountains:
Wolverine – None
Skunk – Stink
Treesnake – Voyria
Dwarves – None
Orcs – None

Water:
Salmon – Blindness
Oyster – Blindness
Carp – None

North Ithmia:
Lamassou – None
Tamarin – None
Buckawn – None

East Ithmia:
White Elk – None

Manara:
Gnoll – None
Mingruk – None

Mesmerium:
Dream Horror – Web, Venom (can flay)

Mhaldor Isle:
Leviathan – Doesn’t need any tricks.
Lycopod – Lose Footing, Web

Isle of Harae:
Wasp – Unknown, VERY nasty

Gypsy Village and Enverren Marsh:
Gypsy – Unknown
Mosquito – None
Slugfish – None
Rat – None
Glubber – None
Salamandrin – Venom (cannot flay)
Glubbian – Unknown
Enverren – Unknown
Bubblefish – Stun

Forestwatch:
Slugbeast – Flame, Lose Footing, Web
Buckawn – None
Buckawn Mage – Freezing
Zombie – None

Xhaiden Dale:
Weasel – None
Yak – Loose Footing, Crushes Limbs
Rajamala Villager – Unknown
Coyote – NoneMole – None
Ishkynd Worm – Venom, Breaks Legs (can result in lost footing)
Water Strider – Flame from Acid, Blindness
Crane – None
Caribou – Loose Footing
Veshina – Cold

Ulangi/Mysia:
Balai – Freezing
Moose – Lose Footing
Stag – Lose Footing
Fawn – Flees
Doe – Flees
Bobcat – None
Buck – None
Balai – Frost
Drunken Pirate – None
Jarvace – Chases
Oyster – Blindness

Magma Caverns:
Beetle – Blackout
Wyrm – Flame
Ancient Wyrm – Deafness, defoot
Leech – Flame (I think)
Nuskuwen – None
Spindly Fire Centipede thingy – Flame
Wyrm Lord – Holocaust super-hit (3000+ health)
Whelp – None

Southern Vashnars:
Drake – Freeze
Grizzly – Equilibrium Strip
Manticore – None (Rear Cave Manticores are VERY hard-hitting)

Here is a list of the denizen probe descriptions in descending strength.
Almost glows with nearly god-like power
Does not even register your presence as a threat
Exudes an aura of overwhelming power
Has an air of extreme strength
Looks to be crushingly strong
Appears to be extraordinarily strong*
Is quite powerful
Is not one to be trifled with
Seems strong and confident
Exudes a quiet confidence
Seems to be unafraid
Appears to lack strength
Does not look particularly dangerous
Is a humble-looking creature
Looks relatively helpless
Looks weak and feeble

Note: as the Help scroll says, these descriptions are absolute. They are not based off of your current strength. They will be the same for everyone.

So, at Level 59, being a 20-year-old Druid with a Hyena Morph and a flailed quarterstaff, I have found that I can take out the White Elk of the Eastern Ithmian Forest, which registers as a Strong and Confident Denizen. I tried a Black Lamassou of North Ithmia, but she brought me down into the red at Not One to be Trifled With. I have a feeling that some Denizens hit harder than others, even if they have the same strength.

6-4-08

Posted on June 4, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

I really love this Father’s Day gift for us all. 30 free credits!! WOW!! That’s something like a free artefact vial from Moghedu. I’m not sure what I should spend mine on yet. I usually tend toward the lessons, since I have not transed in anything yet.

So, today, I did not get a lot done. I’ve been trying to put together a list of denizens and their tricky afflictions. I’ve gotten a fair list so far. Like the Worms in the Dakhota Hills have limb-breaking. Land-striders can set you on fire, blind you and poison you, or is that the worms? Things like that. Treesnakes inject voyria.

Not much else. I was in the realm for about a half-day today, and I think I can get in a few more days later. Where is that Aohara when I need her? She’s my mentor and she says she’s been busy. With these 30 credits I’ll have plenty of learning to do and I want to wait for her so she can benefit from teaching me. But on the other hand, I want to keep learning so I can gain more abilities, such as, say, harvesting. Hmm. I’ve gotten pretty far to level 60, and at 60 I’ll be getting another 10 credits, as usual, so I’ll have 60 more lessons to burn, or maybe I’ll break down and buy a vial or two. HMM!! This requires thought. What ever shall I do? And on top of that I’ve been trying to increase my income on the credit market.

Okay…enough ranting and dreaming. Because of the nature of myself, I’m going to post my list of denizens and their afflictions so everyone can benefit. The list is not going to be complete, nor do I have every single Denizen in Achaea listed, so it’ll be spanning over a number of posts. I’ll do my best though.

6-3-08

Posted on June 3, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Okay, so I was in fairly early this month. Ack…I can’t seem to figure out this time to time conversion. For some reason Iron Realms has us assume that one month is one 24-hour day. But for some odd reason, the “new-month” day shifts from one hour to the next. Using their conversion in the help scrolls I have calculated one Achaean month to be 1.2 days, but for some reason the math is off or I don’t take something into account.

So, anyway, early this month (I think), I was in the Realm butterflying and ratting to try to make money because my health vials had run dry. I learned last month that Mhaldor consists of a city AND an island. I can’t go to the city, but I can go to the island, which I did and found this wierd creature called a Lycopod. A probe of it showed that it is a huge carnivorous plant that can attack you, knock you off your feet and web you. I’m going to have to create a reflex for it.

On the way back was a small path to the Dakhota Hills, where I discovered a quest involving Flemming, the Ka’ah Botanist. That’s all I’ll say for that.

Doing a vanity search on myself showed that this blog has not been spidered yet, but my name HAS showed on a listing on the Achaea forums! Click Here to see. Of course, this was just a QW (quick-who) in a log, and nothing more.

6-2-08

Posted on June 2, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Okay…from here out I probably should journal in first person, rather than third as I have been doing.

So, last month, I was hanging out in Dun Valley. Of course, there, there are creatures that will attack because they are hungry. I have found that some places just leave you alone, while others attack for no reason, and still others attack if you stay too long.

Dun Valley is one place that for the most part leaves you alone, except for the occasional mountain lion or jaguar. These cats will attack because they are hungry. Alas, against a house recommendation I got to daydreaming (I left the MUD open without actually playing), and a mountain lion got me before I had time to get back to it. I mean, these things hit fairly hard, so it made quick work of me. This keeps happening to me. I’ll start attacking something and then I get sidetracked out-of-character and the animal finishes me off.

The only creatures that will eventually leave are rats. If you are strong enough, you can attack any rat and then sit there and it will eventually leave. Everything else, however, will keep attacking to the death.

I have this feeling that my fellow druids are getting pretty fed up with me always dying (at LEAST once a month). Fortunately I think I’ve gotten a system down. The idea is that if you write in a journal or in the news, thus starting the text editor, you technically enter another plane where nothing can bother you. Unfortunately you must have full mana and health to write anything.

So my idea is to create a sort of reflex that will restore health to 100%, meditate to 100% (or sip mana), and then enter the journal as a sort of “pause.” Of course, that will assume that something will not come along right then and attack me, which would throw off my 100% health. Iron Realms does not like auto-playing. In fact it’s a BIG violation, so I don’t know how far I can go (such as “sip health” whenever HP falls under 100%).

That’s all for now. I hope to be able to do this rather frequently.

Monday June 2, 2008 – About Sama

Posted on June 2, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Samakhulis of the Druids started out like any other adventurer. She passed through the flame. Of course, everyone knows that…everyone has to do this in order to enter Sapience. During her Trial of Rebirth, Sama chose to become a Druid and to join the city of Eleusis.

Being fairly familiar with the aspects of Achaea, she immediately traversed to New Thera where she began initial learning from Tyrandiel, the Wise. From here she travelled to Minia, where her training began. Hunting the evil there (in order to gain a Sepharic alignment of course), she was soon promoted to the 21st Circle. From here she was permanently banned from the Newbie areas and had nowhere to go, and nothing to do except hunt. Of course, her skills in the Druid Class were slowly being increased, but the potential was yet to be unlocked, as she did not know why she had them.

Deciding that the best option would be to join the Druid House, she did so. Upon induction, she was immediately greeted by Nixxe, a senior Druidess and leader of the newcomers of the Druid House. As with any house, there was required reading, which was immediately set to work.

A few days into her reading, she received a personal invitation by Druidess Aohara, a Rajamala, aide to Nixxe, to receive initial learning. Upon reaching the grove (the home) of Aohara, it was discovered that Sama had already used all initial lessons in learning much of what was required.

In short, Sama learned all the required abilities, and completed the required assignments and was shortly (to the chagrine of Nixxe, who didn’t like newcomers to rush) named Apprentice Druidess Samakhulis, Gatherer of Mistletoe. From here she joined the Green Thumb Institute, a required training clan of all members, and began her learning of the love of Nature and knowledge of how to protect Her (nature).

Here, experiences will be written in first person, just like the actual experience in-game.

Welcome (First Post)

Posted on June 2, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Welcome to this edition of Blogspot. Here I’m hoping to create a decent blog based off of the MUD Internet game Achaea, primarily the character Samakhulis of the Druids.

So…the deal is that I can’t stand surfing and finding AngelFire and Yahoo Achaea sites with all of their advertising and bragging, such as “My name is Smiktethor and I have (somehow) transed in all of the skills and have 5000000 credits to my name and I’m the strongest ever, even though I can’t prove it and blah, blah, blah….” Also, I’m tired of searching for help on certain aspects of the game and finding someone’s forum thread that gives some big log on the fight they had last month (yesterday).

I hope to accomplish a little more than the above, such as giving a detailed history/personal log without all of the extra junk.