Tower Time

Okay, so I'm a follower. I still owe some friends some help, though.

Now _this_ is odd. I get up, and set my Riskiness to minimal. Then, I try to sell some things I'm not carrying anyway, and begin travelling. At the end of my turn, I set my Riskiness back to high, and attempt to use a Dragon Flagon. As I'm not anyplace where they're useable, the attempt fails. Confused, I make camp. What happened? For some reason, the system reprocessed a set of orders that were processed waaay back on May 12th (54 days ago), the very turn on which I created my first Dragon. Weird, huh? In any case, I was _probably_ going to go this way anyway, so I guess I'll just keep on...

Well, I seem to have made Camp just outside a Shroud Temple, so I tiptoe up near the gate and clandestinely leave some things for Skizlum. She'd wanted this Xanxu Webbed Feet for something or other, and the Banded Iron Armor I no longer need will go to a friend of hers. In return, she tells me where they just built the Fire Riders' Tower, and I'm invited to put myself up for the night. It's kind of a cool place, and I spend a night studying up on things like Wizard Magic and Magic Large Lockpicks. Nifty.

North! This is just travelling time, so I look for things to do as I go. A Large Cave gets me a Silver-Tipped Spear, and a Small Quarry (hey, I've never been in one of these before) gets me a second Iron Dagger. Not much else to report, I'm afraid.

Well, I try to make some Puffer Wings, but can't quite figure out how, so I'll have to keep looking there. I travel northish, and stop in by a Tomb of Mumi about three times. Treasure is four Silver Charms, 17 Bit Coins and a King's Spiked Gloves (cool!) and nothing on the third shot. I'm psyched anyway! I meet my first Billabob, and collect a Billabob Bill, but I don't know what to do with it, so I just stash it away.

North again, and I kill a Shotgun Serpent, a Huffinpuffer, and a couple Roaches hidden up in a Kongo-Mongo Tree. Finally, I'm at the Troll Bridge, and I hand over some cash and slide on past. I finish up the night with some Weapon Practice, and reach sixth level with Pole Weapons. Time to switch to my Grasping Scourge for a few days.

I put a lot of thought in as I travel, and I learn several things about the Zargnoth and how armor works. Food for thought. Personally, though, I'm more intersted in food for my stomachs and pockets, so I spend an hour or two poking around a Graveyard. I come out (after about four trips) with a Wooden Kabuki Statue, a Damaged Silver Helm, a Waterskin, a Silver Bauble, and nine Zoingo Copper Coins. Not bad for a couple hours. I also read four different tombstones, and each and every one credits some member or another of the Stark Fist of Fuvah with amazing feats. Okay, who writes these things? Moving on, I jog into a Large Quarry, and make it to the Pond before turning back. Maybe _now_ I can learn about Puffer Wings?

A quick Jazzercize, and I'm on my way. I kill a Vine Snake, and stop and quest. Lo and behold, Puffer Wings! Hooray! Moving on I find a Demon Condor, and thanks to my Dragon Breath spell I do do an impressive amount of damage to it (61 points) but it still lives. Someday I'll kill one of these things. I stop in a Graveyard, and collect some treasure: six Zoingo Copper Coins, eleven Oculars, six Oculars, a Damaged Silver Dagger, and some 'junk'. Hey, it's money. I move to the nearby Inn, and unload a lot of the stuff I've accumulated. Lo and behold, now I have both space to store stuff and a lot more money. These Inn places are nice...

Well, I know how to make 'em, so first thing in the morning, I do- Puffer Wings. I check out the Jossman bathhouse, but there's not really enough room to try 'em out, so I put 'em away until later. Step two through six: sell off more of my junk. I do feel much better now. Anyway, back on the road, and I'm heading north for another geyser. I kill a couple creatures on the way (a Chasuck and a Kabamongoose) and stop next to my goal. I pull out my Silver Dragon Statue, my Dragon Ichor, and my Dragonbone Necklace, and begin my ritual. Moments later, a Silver Dragon rises above me, as I've successfully recreated my third Silver Dragon. Of course, now I don't have _any_ Dragon items left, so my fourth one will be a loooong ways off... Anyway, I head back to the Far Forge with my head held high. The Forger interrupts me to tell me about Silver Plating, but I'm not impressed. I make Dragons!

While I'm snoring outside the Forge, a couple monsters come by and, obviously impressed by my formidable tattoos, want to give me things. OPUB hands me a Silver Temple Sword, and The Masked Marauder hands me a whole passel o' stuff: a Mining Pick, a Scorpion Fork, a Swinging Ball, a Hill Crystal, and a Kings Spiked Leggings. Yeesh, this is a lot to carry. I sell a couple things to the Forger, then jog back to the Inn and sell a couple more things, plus transfer TMM my old Greaves. Then, its off to the Train Station and a quick trip to Killar. From Killar, I head east, as I need to experiment with this Scorpion Fork. On the way, I jog through the amazing moving Tower (Xixmar's), but they don't like my type around there, so I keep on moving...

I pop back to the Tower, and turn my Dragonbone Sword over to the Tower Guardian as my price of entry. Much to my surprise, while I napped my group leader negotiated group admission, and I'm already allowed in anyway. Sigh. Well, I note the list of things sold, and head on east. Getting to the wall, I discover more of these really cool Hill Crystals that TMM gave me. I also learn how to make an exciting new weapon. Unfortunately, I'm not skillful enough to use it yet, so I decide to just hold on to the Hill Crystals, figuring I'll make one when the time comes. My task done, I head away from the wall and back towards town.

I pop in at the Tower for the third time, and this time decide to spend some money. I learn about Fool's Cry and Pink Lotus Elixir, and decide to leave it at that, as my money is limited. Anyway, on to Town, and I put up at the Inn for the night, ready to start my next project.

Wow, lots o' people here. Who says this island is underpopulated? Let's see- of four other monsters, I'm tougher than one, more muscular than all four, badder than three, and healthier than all four. Not bad, I guess. Anyway, I sell a little stuff and head south-east. I kill about three things on the way, and pull up outside a Mine Shaft. Two trips in, I kill lots of beasties in exchange for 32 Zoingo Copper Coins. Hmm, I'm not enthused. Still, I'm in this for the long haul.

Well, three more trips in kills twelve beasties, and I net 4 Gold Nuggets, 9 Silver Beads, 4 Copper Ingots, and 19 Zoingo Copper Coins. I imagine I can sell that for something. That's five trips down on my part. I turn and trudge back to town, where I sell and rid items patiently, and then put up for the night. Two new monsters here today, and I'm more muscular than one, badder than one, and less tough and less healthy than either. Not so good today.

Hi ho, hi ho, its back to the Mine Shaft we go. Before I leave, I check out the competition and find two more new monsters here. I'm Tougher than both, split on the Muscle, and beat 'em both on Badness and Health. Better. Anyway, back on the road again. I collect some more Zinki darts and kill a couple Dune Oozes on the way, but pull back up shortly in front of my new home away from home. This time around, three trips gets 52 Zoingo Copper Coins, and thats it.

Okay, once (well, four times) more. 36 Zoingo Copper Coins, 10 Zoingo Silver Coins, and 4 Copper Ingots later, I meet a Xanxu Cave Bear! At last! I kill him quickly, but, due to my item limits, I leave the Cave Bear Skin behind! Nooooooooo! I drop to my knees and heave a prayer out to the great God Ke-ith, in the hopes that he'll fix this travesty of justice, and the holy voice comes back: "1 bear skin coming...... :)". Well, it may be lacking in the thees and thous I usually expect from my deities, but I'll take it! Thanks, Ke-ith! I also pick up an Orb of Seeing and eight Copper Ingots after that, but its all gravy- the Cave Bear Skin is what I was after. I run away from one Rock Troll (no need to risk dying now!), and head back to Town, stopping only to kill a Mondoconda and a Sand Thug. Well, that and to be dropped painfully by a Demon Condor. In any case, I put up for the night in the Inn, happy knowing that with my Cave Bear Skin and the one OPUB has promised to transfer me, the Northern Knights of Kabuki can soon be on their way to creating their first Tower. By the by, total Mine Shaft trips was 17, between myself and OPUB both.

Well, two new people to measure up against here today. I'm more Muscular than one, Badder than the other, and Healthier all around. Anyways, OPUB has transferred my Cave Bear Carcas over, and I'm up and out of here. I head for the local DoL Tower (stopping to kill a passel o' creatures on the way), and prepare to teleport. Hmmm, there's a geyser right next door, adn Skizlum just handed me a bunch of Dragon stuff... I step next door, begin the now familiar ceremony, and voila! I've created my fourth Silver Dragon. After tossing a quick prayer to Kadar, I head back to the Tower and do my Teleport. Boom, I'm someplace I've never been before. Boy, there's lots of Fuvites around here, aren't there? Lets see, of the five here, I'm healthier than all of 'em, more Muscular than just one, and Badder than four. Not too sharp. When I leave here tomorrow I'll have to total all this up and see where I measured out.

Well, today's comparison is: two monsters to match up against, and I'm more muscular than both, badder than one, tougher than neither. More healthy than both too, not that it matters. So, what's the final rundown on all this? Of 15 monsters encountered recently, I'm Badder than 11 (73%), more Muscular than 9 (60%), and Tougher than 3 (20%). Hmm, looks like I need to work on my Toughness... Anyway, its off to the local Great Cave. First trip in, things die easily. As treasure, I come up with 6 Zingo Silver Coins, 26 Zoingo Copper Coins, and yet another Silver Dragon Statue. What is it with me and Silver? Are you trying to tell me something, oh Kadar? Anyway, No Webbed Feet, so I try this again. A second trip in gets me just one Zoingo Ruby dagger, but I do meet a Wart Toad and collect some Webbed Feet! Hoorah! Tomorrow, its off to our Tower site. Oh, by the by, before I left the Tower our friendly neighborhood Wizard stopped me and asks me to bring him some Hairy Coconuts. I've been on this island for years and never seen hairy coconuts. What're you smoking, pops?

Well, I may as well hit the Cave once more, as long as I'm here. What do I find as Treasure this time? One Unreadable Scroll and one Small Lockpick. Oh, yes, and 36 Bit Coins. Hmm, somehow I'd prefer last turn's treasure again. You win some, you lose some. I pop back in at Xoxmox's Tower, and try to learn the secrets of "Ever-lasting Breath", but the Wizard tells me I don't have enough money. Hmm. He says it costs 250 Oculars, and I have a whopping 329. Something seems amiss. I offer to teach the Wizard the secrets of "Mathematics" for 25 Oculars, but he doesn't seem to have a sense of humor. So, I ditch the Tower and start hiking northwest. Two turns to the future Tower of the Northern Knights of Kabuki...

From here, I zag quickly up to a local Koma Den, and start killing snakes. Let's kill some of those Yasmin-stoolies! One trip in gets me a Damaged Iron Helm, two Slink Baubles, and a Rattler Dart as treasure. Let's try it again: a Silver-Studded Club, 14 Zoingo Copper Coins, and 13 Oculars. Again!: Nine Zoingo Coppers and a Rattler Dart. That one sucked. One more time: a Damaged Large iron Shield and two Slink Baubles. Nice. I wish I could hang around another turn and finish the thing off, but duty calls. I head on out, stopping to do a little rebuilding on a local Fort (2848 AP left), and set up camp not far away. I pull out my Orb of Seeing and test the puppy out. Though it works and its very cool, there's no nearby Dark Places to loot! Wah! Oh, well- 23 Creatures killed, 42 excess food to consume at camptime- still not a bad day. One problem- I notice that I used 10 Dragon's Breaths on the various snakes. Combined with 52 Spell Points worth of Healing the the middle of that (I used a total of 270 Spell Points this turn!), there's not much in the way of Spell Points left in me.

Well, what an interesting day this turns out to be. For some reason, I do everything I had planned for the day twice, and never see what happens the first time. Fortunately, I can tell from what I have left in the second version that I did make it to the Tower, and did cache all my stuff. On the second version, however, I run a whole two squares into the wall of Crystal Hills, and then stand there beating my head against the Wall. I don't even use all my tons of spare APs to Weapon Practice, as I'd intended to end the turn at the Tower, I put all my points into rebuilding orders instead. What fun.

Well, back to the Tower square. I do one trip into the Tower dungeon (getting a Parachute as treasure, whee), and spend the rest of the turn doing what I'd intended to do last turn- using the Construct to rebuild.

We finish off the Tower during the night, and come daybreak, I head in to check it out! I stop to transfer a couple things to some younger monsters, and then apply for some new learning. Two of the Tower items are new, and two are repeats. Weird, they've always been new before. I learn the two repeats with no problems, but the blurbs on the two new ones come back mangles, and I have no idea what, if anything, I've learned. Sigh.

Well, now Skiz is crying for my aid, so I guess I'm off to do that.