GU47 was released today - and again, a huge congratulations to SOE for pulling it off. The servers have been up (and stable) for the last four hours and here are my first impressions of things that I interact with on a fairly frequent basis. Other updates you can of course read the proper notes about.

Number one the new in game voice chat is amazing. I played around with it some in group with a friend, and it was nice and clear, simple to use (would have been even more simple were it not for my UI). The only issue I had with it is the bind command. It would not recognize the 0 key on the number pad (or anything on the number pad for that matter). I have it set to the default Left Control key right now, but how many others out there use that to view gear in the changing room? That’s what I thought.

Number two, the live event with the storms. Surprised me, because I wasn’t expecting the actual storm to come to life as I did the ring event. People have been linking the amazingly detailed weapons and while they’re certainly under par as far as stats go, they are amazing for looks. Mannequins rejoice.

Number three, the crafting stuff. Ok, new red shinies in Enchanted Lands, and they reward you with of course another house item. Not so much an item though as a living creature. Get your epics and go hunting for this one, or you can read the spoilers over here at eq2traders.

A new crafting quest was also added, which rewards you with a new version of the formal gear you can purchase with guild levels and faction. It’s purple instead of the typical blue. If you’ve managed to get ally faction with any of the 4 major sections (mage, priest, scout, fighter) be sure to look for new titles (in a few cities) and new outfits (black version of the formal gear). Very nice looking things, and it’s nice to see rewards that are not based only on the level of your guild.

There were also new pieces of crafter gear (for appearance only) added to Gorowyn tradeskill merchants, and Kelethin, which I adore (and Silhouette is sporting proudly).

I have not noticed a significant stat increase to gear and items from 1-59 but then again I wasn’t exactly looking. I checked the broker briefly to look up some items and see if they’d change, they all remained (at level 17 gear) with +2 to stats and very low health and power (compared to the gear of TD which is what people term ‘the only place worthy of leveling up in’ these days).

The work on the guild halls seems to be coming at a steady pace, and leaves enough teasing to keep players wondering what’s next. There’s workers now found outside at the docks of the two major cities, stop by and take a look.

As a side note, those two books I quested for yesterday with Silhouette had their appearance changed, which I am happy for. There are some books that come in a “set” such as the Varsoon collection, and Blood of The Bear collection. Before today they were all different sizes and shapes, not matching at all. They certainly didn’t remind me of a “set”. As I placed the books today, I noticed they are all nicely shaped, blue, matching.

As for the faction bits. I’m not exactly happy about. I liked the amount of work it required to get those titles, and people who do have the titles worked really hard on them. I hate seeing things getting easier over time, though I know it happens as a game ages.

The epic changes didn’t affect any of my characters aside from the coercer, and that was quite minor. All in all, I’m happy with the update, and glad to see people excited about things.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Station Voice is now available!
• Equipment changes have been introduced to improve item progression from levels 1 – 59 worldwide.
• Check out the sections below for details on these highlights and other details of “Storm Break” (GU47).

LIVE EVENTS

• “Storm Break” (GU47): Librarian Feldarn of Freeport’s Academy of Arcane Science and Librarian Dungil of Qeynos’ Concordium are looking for volunteers to help battle the onslaught of darkness from beyond.
• Qeynos and Freeport have broken ground on major construction projects just off of the coast of Antonica and Commonlands respectively.  Visit the docks to see the new activity!

STATION VOICE

• A new Voice Bar will appear that provides options and indicates who is currently speaking and when you’re talking.  It can be docked with any chat windows.
• A new Voice Users window will show all users in the current channel.  This window can be changed to be transparent and show only active speakers if you’d like.
• Group and Raid windows have speaking indicators to show who is currently speaking.
• Voice options are available in the Options Menu under the “Voice Chat” tab.
• If you’re not currently in a voice channel, you will be placed in the first channel that becomes available.  Subsequent channels that become available can be selected through a dropdown on the Voice Users window, a button on the Voice Bar, or a link that appears in text chat.
• Left Control is the default push-to-talk key.  You can change the key in the “Voice Chat” tab of the Options Menu.
• If you need more info, do “/help vchat” in game.

Also, you can see a mini-feature on the EQII forums.

HELP

The help system has received an overhaul.  Many game windows now have a help button in the upper-right corner that will open the appropriate help topic.

ENCOUNTERS

• The Tangrin and Avatar of Growth encounters now warn players three seconds before it’s time for them to start moving.
• The Tangrin will no longer spawn a new beehive if any raid member already possesses one.
• All Named and Boss NPCs in Kunark now drop Adept I and Master I scrolls equal to or lesser than their level.
• Many of the named creatures in Sebilis, Chardok and Karnor’s Castle no longer have place holders, have a longer respawn time, and will now always drop legendary rewards.
• The random Adept I and Master I spells you get while killing creatures in the level 1-20 range will now only drop spells you or your group members need.

QUESTS

• Adventure writs now award 500 faction points per completion.
• Adventurers working for the city of Neriak will now gain faction with the Agents of Neriak, Queen Cristanos’ eyes and ears in the outside world of Norrath. Gaining faction will lead to new city rewards!
• Adventurers working for the city of Gorowyn will now gain faction with The Watchers of Timorous, a group of sarnak which stand vigilant in the defense of their homeland.  Gaining faction will lead to new city rewards!
• A new shade of formal wear is now also available to those who are ranked as ally with any city writ faction.
• Page 5 of “A History of the Vah Shir, Vol. I” is now tradeable.
• The quests that awarded potions/elixirs from the Hand of Marr and Brethren of Night camps now award more.
• The quest “Vision of Fear” should no longer continue to offer the quest when a player walks through the entrance tunnel in Feerrott. It has been moved to a nearby curious totem that can be clicked to obtain the quest.
• The quest “A Calling in the Forest” should no longer continue to offer the quest each time a player walks over the Commonlands bridge in Nektulos Forest. It has been moved to a nearby skeleton laying on the bridge that can be clicked to obtain the quest.

RACIAL TRAITS

• Dark Elves
  • Innoruuk’s Gift now grants the full 2% spell critical amount.

ITEMS

RoK Legendary Armor Sets:

• The Wayward Moon set has been removed from the drop tables and replaced with the Sylvan Moon set which is only equipable by Furies and Wardens.  Those wishing to replace their Wayward Moon pieces for the new Sylvan Moon pieces should speak to Joonius Khristus in Teren’s Grasp.
• The Enigmatic Sacrifice set has been removed from the drop tables and replaced with the Cabalistic Sacrifice set which is only equipable by Defilers and Mystics.  Those wishing to replace their Enigmatic Sacrifice pieces for the new Cabalistic Sacrifice pieces should speak to Joonius Khristus in Teren’s Grasp.
• Adornments attached to Wayward Moon or Enigmatic Sacrifice set pieces will be lost in the process.

Epic Weapon Changes:

• Wrath of Nature (Fury)
  • Now gives out damage and heal amount bonuses.
  • The mythical version now improves healing and damage spells based upon a percentage of your wisdom and intelligence respectively.
• The Impact of the Sacrosanct (Templar)
  • The proc effect now lasts slightly longer.
  • Added a bonus to reactives based on the templar’s wisdom.
• Cudgel of Obviation (Mystic)
  • The mythical version’s Spirit Tap will only be triggered by the mystic’s group members.  Also the heal and power bonuses have been reduced.
• Dream Scorcher (Defiler)
  • This now gives heal crit instead of spell crit.
  • Now grants bonuses to both spells and heals.
  • Proc no longer drops when damage is taken.
• Penitent’s Absolution (Inquisitor)
  • Improved the healing power of aftershock. In the vicinity of 75% of the heal.  Also added casting and reuse bonus of 15% and reduced the time from 2 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
  • The mythical version’s intervene effect has been replaced by a powerful group cure which will cure arcane, elemental, noxious and trauma effects.  In addition, when it cures an effect it will also heal the player for each effect it removes.
• Dragon’s Temper (Berserker)
  • Adds an additional hate position boost to Insolence.
  • Changed the double attack bonus to melee critical chance.
• The Truth of Marr (Paladin)
  • The delay is now 6 seconds.
  • Added a damage proc to the weapon.
  • Now gives both spell and combat art damage bonuses.
• Sedition (Shadowknight)
  • The delay is now 6 seconds.
  • Added a damage proc to the weapon.
  • Now gives both spell and combat art damage bonuses.
• Death’s Grip (Warlock)
  • The dumbfire pet bonus has changed to improve the warlock’s critical damage by 10%.
• Eye of the Siren (Coercer)
  • Now gives a subjugation bonus.
  • The mythical version now removes the concentration cost of Possess Essence.
• Mirage Star (Illusionist)
  • Now gives a subjugation bonus.
• Havoc, Blade of Treachery (Brigand)
  • Proc now gives a bonus to double attack instead of haste.
• Gorynn’s Fist (Bruiser)
  • The proc will now give the bruiser an additional chance to critical melee attacks.
• Revitalized Vel`Arek (Guardian)
  • The mythical version’s proc will now only do 5% damage reduction.

In Other Item News:

• Worldwide equipment, ranging from level 1-59 (including heritage quest rewards), have been increased to create a better progression from Timorous Deep to level 80 Rise of Kunark zones. This increase includes accessories, armor, and weapons, as well as many tradeskill items. Shields, items with special effects, and tradeskilled armor have not yet been changed.
• House items now observe the ‘Lore’ flag, allowing only one of a lore item to be placed in a home.  The ‘lore’ flag has been removed from house items and pets that are primarily decorative in nature.
• Non-ubiquitous adornments used to add damage to symbols (arcane ornament, viral ornament, noxious ornament etc) now affect combat arts as well as spells.
• Crusaders can now wear the Mark of the Ankexfen.
• The Jungle Bow should now properly equip when double-clicked.
• The Supple Dogwood Staff now procs on melee attacks rather than ranged.
• Bruisers and Monks can no longer equip Edgewalker Chainmail Leggings.
• The mounted claw and fist of pestilence should now mount on a wall with the hand facing outwards.  The ornate spoon, fork, and knife should place more accurately on flat surfaces.
• Protection values have been adjusted on Guard of Drelikus, Vioren’s Forcefield, and Brace of Corporeal Darklight.
• Protection on the Shield of the Green Dragon was lowered.

POTIONS

• The potions and elixirs from the Hand of Marr and Brethren of Night heal a more appropriate amount of health/power.

TRADESKILLS

• The city tradeskill societies are dealing with a bulk order for some new formal clothing, and require some assistance.  Tradeskillers of the 60th rank or higher who have previously assisted their societies may speak to the Grandmaster for more details.
• Tradeskillers who are skilled enough to see the tradeskill collection quests may find more rewards available in their travels.
• Armorers now have a recipe for imbued devout ebon greaves.
• The fuel requirement for imbued rosewood shields has been corrected.
• The fuel requirement for ashen hearths has been corrected.
• Imbued fulginate devout greaves can now be created.
• Sparkling Cranberry Wine has been converted to Cranberry Cream Liqueur to avoid confusion with the existing Cranberry Sparkling Wine.

ZONES

Bloodline Chronicles

• Adventurers may now zone into any of the Tombs of Night and the Crypt of T’Haen zones that a member of the group has access too. Previously, these zones were only accessible if everyone in the group were on the same stage of the quest.
• Players can now zone into any of the Tombs of Night zones if anyone in their group is on the appropriate quest.

Sebilis/Chardok

• New mid-zone respawn locations have been added to Chardok and Sebilis.

SPELLS

Faction merchants in Maj’dul courts are now selling a number of tier 5 Adept III recipe scrolls they were previously missing.

A stacking issue with stealth and group invisibility has been fixed to allow attacking from stealth.

• Shaman/Druid
  • Spirit of the Wolf will now apply to the entire group within a 50m radius instead of being single target.
• Shaman
  • Shaman’s wolves should now have slightly more health to help their survivability.
• Fighter
  • Master’s Rage will now do a melee attack and debuff the target’s defensive skills.  It will also give an error if it is not useable on the target like the other archetype’s mastery skills.  The recast was also lowered to 30 seconds.
• Berserker
  • The Blood Rage line will not expire until the berserker dies instead of having a 15 minute duration.
• Scout
  • Sinister Strike should no longer debuff the target if it misses
• Assassin
  • Fatal Followup should no longer be useable after Sinister Strike.
  • The Hidden Assault line of skills should no longer apply the Damage over Time portion of the attack if the primary melee attack misses.
• Brigand
  • Safehouse now has a short cast time and can be interrupted.
  • Melee attacks which had secondary effects will no longer apply on a miss.
  • The Dispatch and Rake lines will now hit slightly more often.
• Enchanter
  • Sever Hate can no longer be used to pull through a crowded area.

PVP

• Assassin
  • Fatal Followup should now work properly in PvP based combat.
• Swashbuckler
  • Reach will now suspend while in PvP combat.

Yesterday was a mixture of gaming, in the later evening. I was restless and not sure what I wanted to do. Not because of anything going on in game but it’s just been one of those weeks. You know the ones, that just don’t end quite fast enough for you. I spent some time briefly finishing off book quests for Silhouette in Ruins of Varsoon, adding two more to her collection. The kills were easy and I managed to harvest a few shinies to put for sale. Nothing really of note. Once that was done I headed to Kylong Plains with Kasul to help him get started with the RoK quest chains - namely the sokokar quest.

It wasn’t long (maybe an hour) after working on those I decided I would head to EQ1 for a few hours before bed. Binxs was already there, making his way to the 50-55 hot zone.

“The Akhevan City of Ka Vethan, better known now as the Akheva Ruins, was built long before Vex Thal and served as a stronghold for the shadows of Luclin. Its current state can be attributed to a civil war among the Akhevans.

After their arrival and establishment on the moon, the Combine began building structures and outposts on Akhevan territory. The reigning High Priestess at the time, Akel Ha Ra, demanded that her fellow Akhevans not interfere with the imposing Norrathians. This caused some dissention among their ranks. Before long, an Akhevan named Aten Ha Ra emerged as the leader of this resistance and led her faction in a civil war among the Akhevans. One day, Aten Ha Ra summoned a storm of incredible power and used it to destroy the city of Ka Vethanat, an event which led to the death of Akel Ha Ra, many of her minions, and the end of the civil war.

Currently, one can find a countless number of Akhevan spirits lingering among these age old ruins in addition to a host of mind wurms, stonegrabbers, and centis.”

I asked if he wanted some company, and decided to tag along on Ishbel. She was still sitting at level 51, and I wanted 52 before Friday night’s dragon play. The pulls to the zone line were fairly painless. I managed to ding my 8th aa on Ishbel, and both Binxs and Ishbel hit level 52. Since EQ2 is down for a few hours with the GU47, I decided I will probably go back, this time with my beastlord / druid combination, and see if I can’t get the beastlord to ding a few levels, as well as gain some aa / buffer on the druid. So far I’ve just been hanging out at the entrance, and the one thing I dislike is the fact that everything wants to run away from me at 20% or so.

By now of course I expect it, but it makes duo’ing with my cleric / beastlord combination a pain at times. The cleric does get a root, but I find it wears more often then not. At least with the druid I can put down a snare or two (or three).

I’m hoping tomorrow night we get a great turn out as far as dragon-killers go. Gnewton should be there and that’s always a sure sign of some fun at least. If all goes well, we’ll get the last bit we need and the level cap will finally be lifted. It will be nice to be able to move to 55 instead of the 52 people have been sitting at for quite some time (does us no good to want to kill dragons if we’re getting banished left right and center).

Which reminds me, I need to look up spells, for the beastlord, druid, and cleric. Eventually, I’d like to get my necromancer a few levels as well. We’ll have to see how that goes though.

To those people who were having issues leaving comments using IE…. it should (fingers crossed) work now. Please let me know!

I’ve been playing EQ2 since release, and EQ1 before that though admittedly not for long. Both games for the past six years and of course like everyone out there I have my thoughts and opinions when it comes to game play, content, and mechanics. Here are a few of the very basics.

• Players need something to do that feels like progression

What I mean by this is that once you’re 80/80/140 (adventuring, crafting, aa) you’re out of things to do except work on gear (which can tap out depending on your play style) and make an alt. So many players I know have more then one level 80, in fact I’d almost say a majority have at least two, and quite a few range between 3-4 now depending on their commitment to the game. There are some (what I see as) very simple and easy solutions to give players the illusion of progress even if it is meaningless. Well take it.

Number one would be extend the achievement lines. All of those racial abilities that people are offered such as extended drink and food, 4% melee or spell crit chances, the ability to breath under water, a 15% bonus to run speed while invis - off those as achievements instead. Make each one or each rank of one cost a number of points rather then just one. Give everyone the same opportunity to personalize their characters. Is it really going to hurt if a high elf has extended food or can breath under water? It gives players something to aim for, a goal, that makes it feel as though they are making progress. All mmo’s need this. You should not be able to say you feel as though you’ve completed an mmo. The achievement line in EQ1 is a very fine example of this - and I realize there are flaws such as guilds requiring you to have a certain number of aa before you can join. However, I am not talking about game-play changing aa here, I’m talking about very basic ones that will not alter or change the way the game works in any drastic measure.

Another example of the illusion of progression would be to implement a Lost Dungeons of Norrath era in EQ2, or at least monster missions, or some other sort of mission that rewards the player with coins, points,  tokens, or shards that can be saved up and traded in eventually for gear, spells, adornments maybe - something, anything. Even having a tracking board to see who has beaten the most missions, have them scale by level and have different difficulties exactly like the LDoN in EQ1. Promote group play! With RoK solo quests rewarding things on par with grouping (the cloth gloves in Kunzar Jungle as just one example, the waste hunter line items as another) what is the point. Bring the game back to promoting group play. This does NOT mean neglect solo play since players need something to do in between grouping, but there should be a higher risk vs. reward if you’re grouping.

Even if a player KNOWS it is simply ‘busy work’ they will take it. At least it is progress of some sort.

• Stop trivializing your own zones

This one is more difficult. What I mean by this is that in EQ1/VG/WoW none of the zones ‘grey out’ per say. Sure, the lower level encounters no longer give experience as a reward, but they do all still drop loot. Yes, this means that lower level mobs and zones can be farmed - but as your player base levels up, this is almost needed in order to keep zones active and busy. If you allow zones to grey (such as they do in EQ2) you allow them to become empty of players - unless you are expecting players to level alts or always have a high flow of new players to the game (which is almost impossible these days with so many new games on the market).

I have ventured into so many ‘old world’ zones where there is not another soul in them. Not even that old per say - Steamfont mountains is only one expansion away and it’s quiet. Crushbone Keep, another example. If higher level players could still obtain anything at all from these zones (aside from shinies) we might actually see the population spread out a little, and see PEOPLE in zones. Wouldn’t that be great?

It’s not without its flaws. Yes, this means that lower level characters may have a difficult time obtaining what it is they need, but how would it be any different then any other game out there whose zones do not trivialize. They will find a way to make it work. Players are not stupid they can be resourceful. They don’t need to be hand fed as much as they are.

• Promote grouping

This is another trickey one. There’s a balance between solo content and group content that’s slightly out of whack these days in higher end zones. Aside from instance runs there’s no reason to group. What happened to the good ‘ol days of EQ1 where you’d sit in BoT or some other zone and camp for hours with a group. There needs to be more heroic content (separated from the solo content) with a significant bonus to being in a group. Something that won’t take away from the solo players. Perhaps an increase to the experience you obtain from a group encounter. Right now the difference in experience from killing a mob solo vs. group (in RoK at least) is so insignificant, it’s barely noticeable.

I realize this is not the case for all expansions and that from 1-60 running through dungeons in a group is probably the fastest way to level up. It is not the case certainly with RoK.

• Rare gear should be just that, rare

This one is a little difficult to explain. Does everyone remember Prismatic 1.0? It was quite possibly the MOST difficult quest chain I have ever done. It required numerous raids, and a long ’speak as a dragon’ quest that at the time of the level cap (50) was really hard. The quest required at least 6 different raids, and fabled gear was almost unheard of - in fact I don’t believe it was even implemented in game back then.

The reward from all that hard work? Was legendary.

That’s right, we all worked for those prismatic 1.0’s and they were legendary.We were SO proud of those weapons.

Granted, they were some of the best darn legendary out there, but still. Now a days, everyone wants fabled. People can even obtain mythical if they complete raids. What happened to keeping those things rare and out of the reach of the average player. Legendary has become the new treasured. Fabled has become the new legendary. Mythical has become the new fabled. There’s only so many ranks of gear that can be introduced, and the easier they are to obtain, the more players want the next rank up.

There are solo quests now that reward fabled. There are group quests that reward fabled. This rank of gear should have never been allowed to become so common. The more common it is, the more it loses it value. Now, I realize that there is probably an outcry from people who do not raid, who also want to be able to obtain these levels of gear and perhaps that’s why they were made more common. As both a raider, and a none raider - I personally feel that there is no reason why fabled should drop anywhere aside from raids. There IS a difference between players. It’s not a bad one. It does not mean that one is any better or worse then the other. Personally, I don’t think the casual player should be wearing gear equal to or close to a raider. It is not a matter of deserving it or not, but simply the fact that raiding is heavily involved, it requires things that grouping and solo play does not. It’s not harder per say - but it is more involved. I’m a firm believer in rewarding people who take those steps, and I understand that not all players can do so. It’s complicated I suppose in the end.

Anyhow, those are just a few basic thoughts and ideas I had about gameplay and EQ2. No doubt more will follow, I didn’t want to ramble on for too long today.

Revamped it and tweaked it a little bit more… it still looks far better in person…

Now all that’s missing is all the books I need…

Lots and lots of books needed..

Changed the look of the seating area some

The rest of the house is very much a work in progress, but I’m pleased with how the library area turned out at least for now!

I had three booster packs unclaimed in LoN (which don’t sell for nearly as much in EQ2 as they do in EQ1 at least not on the Najena server) as well as an unclaimed cloak that gives you a purple tinge (I did not particularly care for the cloak) so I decided to set up a few trades within LoN and see what I could get.

I left the trades up for only a day before I’d gotten everything I wanted. Now, maybe it is because all I was looking for were house items (and a new cloak) and perhaps that’s silly of me, but I do love the items you can get.

I ended up getting three new house items plus the new cloak for my three boosters + old cloak (those boosters may or may not have had something interesting inside of them, I don’t know). There’s a trick to getting items you actually want from LoN - and that’s NOT to open the booster packs. The chance you’ll actually get a loot card can be very slim. If you’re one of those people who only stumbles across them from time to time you’re going to be far better off actually saving up those booster packs and creating specific trades instead of hoping for a chance that you’ll get what you want out of the package.

I enjoy playing the LoN game, though I am not that good at it. So the boosters I suppose could have been handy had I opened them - but with 1400 cards already in my collection, I didn’t see a reason to. I managed to get two paintings I did not have (pictured above) and a gold book (also a house item of course) that is filled with images of the paintings that came with LoN.

The cloak I traded for gives a reduced falling speed for the wearer (not that I really need that portion) and it also has an effect of a halo that hovers above the player (which is why I wanted it at all). You can have the effect on while you’re not wearing the cloak, which is nice.

The only issue for me now is who to claim the cloak on. I was contemplating Silhouette, just because it would be amusing to see a dark elf coercer with a halo above her head - but the utility of the cloak (reduced falling speed) would be completely wasted since dark elves come with the ‘hover’ ability that allows them to float. So ideally, I’d put the cloak on someone who didn’t already have that ability.

It’s not often I get LoN (Legend of Norrath) house items, and a lot have been released since the game came out. It’s nice to be able to add to my collection every so often though.

(Collection quest from The Estate of Unrest)

By Nicadius Quellborn

I, Nicadius Quellborn, praise the Tranquil One, the Goddess of Peace, Quellious, daily for the bounteous blessings she has blessed me with. The greatest of her gifts is the health and beauty found in my only child, my daughter Jessa. She is as every bit lovely and kind as her wonderful mother. May my wife’s soul always find peace and rest in the light of Quellious. I will one day also depart this life and be reunited again with you my love.

I sit now to write this account in the comfort of my home, the Estate of Rest. This marvelous house has become a sanctuary and place of relief and respite to the peaceful people of Faydwer. The creation of this estate is a special story to me and one that is my intention to record on the pages before me.

The history of this beautiful structure began five years ago. Our home at that time was nothing more then a meager hovel that Jessa and I lived in for all thirteen years of her young life. It was the same place I built when Jessa and I first came to this land, seeking to bring the word of Tranquility to the people of Faydwer and the knowledge of the goddes Quellious.

It was Jessa’s chore at the start of the day to draw water from the well and bring it inside for washing and cooking. One day my daughter awakened early and began her chores. When she went outside to draw water she found a wounded and unconscious dwarf lad next to the well. She was able to rouse the young dwarf with handfuls of water splashed upon his face and helped him inside our cottage.

Jessa quickly awakened me and urged me to attend to the dwarf lad. I tended to his wounds, cleaning and bandaging the cuts and gashes he sustained. Jessa was constantly over my shoulder, concerned for the welfare of the young lad. I suggested that the best way for her to help was to prepare something for the dwarf to eat and something for him to sip to help regain his strength. She quickly took to the task and allowed me to finish with the wounds.

Jessa took great care spooning the broth she made into the dwarf’s mouth. He was able to tell us that his name was Kyll Rucksif from the dwarven city of Kaladim to the north. Kyll said he had gone hunting with his younger brother several days ago and lost his way. He said that while he slept that night he was attacked by a crazed and misshapen bear. Kyll saw the light from our hovel and ran toward it, eventually collapsing near the well where Jessa found him in the morning.

After feeding and tending to the dwarf we let him rest upon my bed. It was only three days time before Kyll was arising from his bed before either myself or Jessa awoke for the day. He would draw the water and start the cook fires eager to assist those that helped him. I knew then that the boy was more than healed enough for the journey home. I anxiously realized then that the time had come for meto finally meet the people of Kaladim, if only to return the boy to his family.

Young Jessa was amazed by the sight of the Statue of Stormhammer, the mighty carving of rock that graces the entrance to the Halls of Kaladim. We were welcomed with open arms as we escorted the young Rucksif home to his worried father. Kyll’s father is a greatly respected and prominent dwarven mason by the name of Viktur Rucksif. Viktur was so greatful for the care my daughter and I showed his son. After showering us with a veritable feast of meats and cheeses, Viktur offered his home for as long as we wanted to rest.

Being polite, Jessa complimented Viktur on such a beautiful home and how it was so different from our own hovel. The elder dwarf inquired more of our living conditions and I humbly told him of the place I had built with my own hands near my beloved wife’s grave. Upon hearing this Viktur insisted that to properly thank us he would offer to build us a proper home. As much as I declined the offer Viktur persisted until I finally gave in and agreed to let him build us a small house.

Viktur asked us to stay as his guests for a couple days while he finished his commissions in Kaladim and then escorted us back to our humbel abode to the south. He set out right away creating plans and recruiting apprentice masons for the work. What started out as a humble and quiet home in my mind became a magnificent manor of exquisite workmanship. Viktur had created a marvelous estate that represents gratitude and friendship.

Whenever I mention that the estate is too much Viktur quickly rebuttals with a grin that I speak nonsense and this is the standard size for a house built in gratitude for caring for one’s child. Viktur and I have become the closest of friends, even though he has jovially resisted all of my friendly attempts at converting him from his unwarvering devotion of Brell. The same was true for all dwarves of Kaladim, except for Kyll. He has been forever grateful to Jessa and me and has grown up with Jessa. He alone has spent equal time in the chapels of both Quellious and Brell.

My hope and prayer is that Kyll’s perpetually troubled younger brother would also follow the footsteps of his sibling and take to the words of the Tranquil One. That lad shows disrespect for his elders and even to Brell. In spite of the efforts of his family, the guards are always escorting that boy home in the middle of the night.

Quellious knows that poor Garanel would benefit from the teachings of Peace and Tranquility.

I spent a little time yesterday (ok, a lot of time) working on Silhouette’s house. I typically devote a lot of time working on everyone else’ house. While my own may seem impressive, they are nothing compared to the ones you can find on the forums at the Norrathian Homeshow. With the new RoK recipes, it’s easy to design some amazing things - and the Gorowyn houses surpass all others that I’ve seen so far except perhaps the Neriak ones. I used one of the expanders, and am able to place 600 items in my house now instead of the regular 500. I also used a vault expander, so instead of 5 vault slots, I have 6. Granted, it’s not as though I have that much to sell, but you never know when they will come in handy.

Pictured above is the start of Silhouette’s library. I figure even though she’s a carpenter and spends most of her day covered in sawdust and smells faintly like coal and other fuels, there’s no reason why she can’t also be well learned. She is a coercer after all. She had to learn how to manipulate others to do her bidding some where!

For now I’ve blocked off one of the rooms in the home, there’s just too much space. The ceilings are really high which makes for great lofts, but I mean they’re REALLY high so high in fact that hanging anything from them is practically impossible without some fancy manipulation of some sort.

A little reading area I designed for the library. I’m thinking in the center I’ll place a large ornate table of some sort and surround it by chairs, and stacks of books, scrolls, and what ever else someone would have strewn about such as in a study. I haven’t decided on anything for the remainder of the house yet. Perhaps a games room along with the weapons display, a bedroom area, a kitchen and dining area. Maybe a garden. It also depends on the item limit and how close I get to it. I typically work on rooms one at a time until I feel like they’re completed. If anyone wants to view the house in person (because honestly the screen shots do not do it justice) please feel free.

As a side note, I love decorating houses. I think every owner has a particular look or feel that they want for their homes and it’s fun to try to display that. Granted my characters are some what boring and very similar to one another, but I still have fun adding to their various collections.

Instances, and lots of them. That was the goal for yesterday. Kasul, Shadowgeist, Eyenstein, and myself first headed to Obelisk of Blight in LesserFaydark and lay waste to the voidbeasts tucked within. The drops were alright - the final two named actually dropped legendary which is something they rarely do for me. Shadowknight set gear dropped, of course. It always does when we have someone along who can actually use the gear. We headed off to Crypt of Valdoon afterward, drops were all treasured except for the class piece for dirge/troubador. Again of course because no one needed it.

Eyenstein switched out for his defiler, and his wife Albrta joined the group on her paladin. We decided to head to unrest, I relogged to Stargrace (illusionist) for some power regen and mez abilities (though we didn’t need them). To most people the group probably looked a little odd. We had:

• 66 Assassin
• 67 Defiler
• 67 Paladin
• 80 Shadowknight
• 76 Illusionist

We didn’t mentor for this zone, having three people who were over what the cap would have previously been for Unrest when it was first released. We had a lot of fun (I think) and it was great to be bringing someone new to the zone and watching their reactions as we ran through the script. It’s by far one of the more complicated scripts in EQ2 to run and this puts it very high on my list of ‘absolutely must go see favorite zones’. I wish we had more areas like this one.

The drops were alright, Kasul picked up a new piercer from the bartender, and he also got his class hat from one named. Albrta got her paladin breastplate though we didn’t see any of the fabled cloaks. I wanted to give bugaboo a shot since he’s white at level 80, but for now he’ll live and roam around the outside of the house.

Before all of the instances, Mayadhros, Said, Kasul, Shadowgeist, and myself made new characters. Ah yes that’s right, even MORE alts. Shadowgeist was interested in trying out a paladin (for whatever reason) and I decided to join on a mystic. Said created a brigand, Mayadhros his wizard, and Kasul had his neglected coercer. We played for a little while and practically flew to level 10-12 and obtaining a few aa. Things go really fast on double exp weekend with a group.

For once, I didn’t craft. I know, I checked for a pulse too to ensure I was still alive. Well, I suppose that’s not exactly true, I did craft for a short while to try to get Nostalgia 2.0 level 21. We’re pretty close, only a few % away. I ended up calling it a night though, and spent some time lamenting over the fact that I only have 4 gigs of space left on my hard drive. I’ll have to fix that, eventually.