Exploring the Zargnoth...

Having concluded my initial trek to the interior, it's time to head out from town.

Before we begin, however, I'd like to invite you to check out the Camp Mangy website, specifically the "Mr. Flex" section, and check out how your favorite Mistress of Muscle stacks up... (And if you like, check out the "Battle Masters" to check up on Skizlum too.)

Nice turn for my Badness- I receive training with my Pole weapon, achieving level 5, and at the end of the day I weapon practice my Missile weapon up to level 5 (finally!). With the training purchased last turn, that gives me +15 Badness in two turns. Anyway, out from the Inn- I do run across a Nitrohen, and kill it with ease, collecting its Nitroegg for likely later sale. The Nitrohen seems to be one of the lightweights of the Zargnoth: 52 points kills it, while it only does 12 to me (one round of combat). My planned goal here was to help Skizlum find a set of Temple Ruins. However... there seems to be a Loggerhead Camp less than half a turn away from the Far Inn. Hmm... it'd be easy, though it might perhaps take several turns, for the two of us to clear this out. I'll have to think about this one.

After receiving a few items 'tween turns from Skizlum, it's off to the wilderness for a short look around. Shotgun Serpents seem relatively harmless- 80 pts of damage kills it in two rounds, while it pelts me for 41. A Nitrohen is similarly killed- 54 kills it, while it does 11 to me. I collect Nitroeggs and a Shotgun Serpent Skin between the two of them- why is it that only the easy creatures let you get useful stuff off their corpses? I also mosey back past that Jagwere from a couple turns back, and equipped with the shiny Silver Temple Sword that Skizlum just passed to me, I finish it off in no time. This time I take the hide, and next turn I'll pop back in at the Inn for a shiny new suit...

Nothing to report this time around. My third order for the turn commits the most common order I ever see- my 'j' becomes a 't', and I go haring off north. Consequently, the remainder of my orders for this turn miscarry horribly, and I neither run into nor accomplish anything of note. Sigh.

A little better this time about- my first two trips into this Loggerhead Camp, I kill two Loggerheads. Of course, I go in twice more and end up with those two still alive, but I can fix that next turn... Not much else to report- I capture a Plodder for future Mounting, and meet a new creature- the Chasuck. But after the Loggerheads my Health is too low for me to even challenge it, and I retire to the Inn for the night.

Kind of a quickie jog-around turn. I unload my Nitroeggs at the local Forge, and collect some bounty on my Loggerhead trophies. The Inn turns my Jagwere skin into a lovely Jagwere haversuit, and now I can stop worrying about that nasty wear-and-tear I've been suffering with anymore... I discover that the Forge doesn't want my Shotgun Serpent Skin- I'll have to look around and see if anyone else will take it off my hands. And finally, I jog back to the Loggerhead Camp. Three trips in kills two Loggerhe ads (one of which I'd wounded last turn), and I make camp there. That's 10 Loggerheads down, but how many still to go?

Let's see... One more Loggerhead puts Skizlum and I up to twelve total. Nothing else really new- even with using Hunt orders ('H' instead of Travel 'T') I didn't encounter creatures I knew were in those squares. Annoying. Anyway, it's back to the town to do a lot of selling. I think it's also about time to start cacheing a lot of my 'big' items, just so I don't end up overloaded when I finish this Camp off...

I seem to be settling into a nice routine here. Jog out from the Inn, running past a couple creatures on the way (this time a Chasuck, my first, who dies after taking an even 100 Health loss, and doing 49 to me). I stop and cache a minor item, this time a Spare Rope. Into the Loggerhead Camp three more times, killing only one Loggerhead. The usual Jazzercizing galore, and finally back to the Inn for some beauty rest. Another day, another Ocular...

Let's see, what was I saying about routine? Out from the Inn, I run past a Chasuck and a Pummel Bear. The Pummel Bear dies instantly, while the Chasuck escapes my wrath. "Ugh- I almost killed it!" It took 64 damage, doing 18 to me. Anyway, through the Loggerhead Camp go I, where I cache a couple more items. Three more trips once again kills but one Loggerhead, much to my frustration. Back to the Inn, with my everyday Jazzercizing rituals thrown in, and yaaawwwwnnn... back to sleep go I.

Out we go again. I off one of those cuddly little Pummel Bears, but he seems to have a friend! This Mad Stalker isn't too happy about me killing the Pummel Bear! I do 104 points of damage to it, and it responds with 65 to me before it flees. Then I go mess with the Loggerheads. Sigh. Three attempts with my slightly lowered Health kills but one Loggerhead. Back to the Inn yet again. What's the count at now? Skizlum killed 10 of 'em, and I've killed 8, for 18 total. How many are in a Camp anyway?

This is staring to get annoying. I started out killing two Loggerheads a turn, suddely I'm only killing one with four trips into a Camp! Basically, once again today is the usual- I run out, kill my one Loggerhead, and run back. 19. Oh, yes, I stop and kill a Pummel Bear on the way. My Loggerheads, by the by, do seem to be suddenly better equipped as well- in the last three kills I've found Iron Gauntlets, a Large Iron Shield, and Kings Spiked Leggings. Unfortunately I've had to leave most of these treasures behind. I also notice that I've now killed more Loggerheads than I've killed Knolltir. I have a feeling that there's nobody else on the island with the dubious honor of being able to say that...

Continuing along with the routine. In I go, and kill a Loggerhead on my first try! Much better. Second try... there's no one here! The Camp's empty! Twenty Loggerheads and it's done! Let's check out some of the huts. What's this? Another Lantern, some Dragon Ichor (my second batch), two Unreadable Scrolls (destined for the Inn library, as I haven't quite figured out how to make magic work without "divine" intervention), and a Slink Bauble. That's it? Twenty Loggerheads and that's it? Oh well- unlike the other Camps I've worked on I don't have to split this one with anybody. Back to the Inn with my booty! On the way, I wale away again at that Mad Stalker (this time I do 106 pts before it flees, while it catches me for 72), and I dust another Pummel Bear. A grateful Innkeeper rewards me for my Loggerhead-slaying with a shiny new Trident, and I settle in for the night. Boy, it's loud tonight- where'd this crowd come from all of a sudden? It seems to be a Shroud's Own convention: Mirg the Magnificent, Xoq the Destroyer, and Tong the Mad (all run by the same individual). Color me One Pumped-Up Babe the Unimpressed- I'm for bed...

Having finished clearing out my Loggerhead Camp, it's about time to head back out into the wilderness and find myself some new challenges...